In times of Google, Booking, TripAdvisor, HolidayCheck & Co., online hotel reviews are gaining more and more importance. Millions of holidaymakers click through online rating platforms and online travel agencies (OTAs) before booking their trip and decide for or against a certain hotel based on hotel ratings. It is therefore all the more important that hoteliers react to guest reviews accordingly and get digital support.
- The importance of hotel ratings
- Tip: Respond individually to both positive and negative reviews
- Stay away from fake reviews!
Hotel ratings: an important factor for guests and hoteliers
Nowadays, the experiences of other guests have become a crucial decision-making criterion when booking a hotel. After the price, reviews and ratings are decisive for booking or not booking a hotel. It is therefore clear what an enormous influence rating and booking portals have. There, travellers inform themselves above all about the cleanliness, the location and the service of the hotel. Many holiday seekers trust authentic hotel reviews and take them into account in their decision.
But hotel ratings are not only helpful for guests, but also for hoteliers: they are an excellent tool for attracting new guests. Many positive reviews and a good overall rating lead to more bookings. Resourceful hoteliers therefore actively motivate their guests to leave feedback on one of the major online portals or to fill out their own guest questionnaires. Guests are 3.6 times more likely to give a review when asked to do so by their hosts, a study by TrustYou found. They are also more likely to be “very positive”.
f you then openly communicate the reviews of your hotel on your own website, you will keep travellers on your website and even achieve more direct bookings. In addition, data integration increases the visibility in search engines such as Google, as the regular updating of reviews increases the ranking; the hotel becomes easier to find and is booked more frequently.
Conversely, hotel reviews naturally also have a very strong influence on one’s own image, the online reputation! This is not only about the reviews themselves, but also about how to deal with criticism online. Your reaction to the guests’ reviews is at least as important as the reviews themselves.
Answers wanted!
On average, 95 % of hotel reviews are positive, according to TrustYou. However, many hoteliers wonder whether they should react to guest feedback at all. And what if a negative comment from a guest lands on a rating platform? The answer to this is quite clear: respond as quickly and personally as possible to any kind of review! Of course, on the one hand it is about mitigating negative effects. At the same time, show the guest that you value their opinion, learn from the reviews and care about their satisfaction. Here are a few rules of thumb that you should follow:
- Reply in a timely manner.
- Thank the guest for their feedback.
- Signal to the guest that you are happy about their positive review.
- Interact with the guest and build a lasting relationship with them – this way you will gain regular guests and build your own community.
- Respond personally and individually to both positive and negative feedback.
- Avoid standard phrases and empty phrases.
- Do not take criticism personally and stay calm.
- Show that you understand and take the guest seriously.
- If necessary, explain the situation and apologise sincerely.
- Avoid discussions in public forums and clarify further matters by phone call or e-mail.
- Do not offer monetary compensation in public.
- Refer to social media to keep the guest informed.
- Analyse the hotel reviews and improve the criticisms raised.
- Share the feedback with your team.
Ultimately, hotels benefit in many ways from the opinions of their guests: Through the analysed reviews, hoteliers can directly address the comments or criticism and specifically respond to the needs of the guests. This in turn leads to an improvement in guest satisfaction and online reputation.
Honest complaint management instead of purchased reviews
However, the crucial trump card for any hotel is staff who respond to dissatisfied guests on the spot with perfect complaint management and are not intimidated by threats of negative reviews. This also illustrates how much hoteliers have to struggle with fake guest reviews nowadays and why some hotels even pay for fake, positive reviews. But be careful: Purchased reviews violate the guidelines for hotel rating platforms and lawyers also strongly advise against it! Buying reviews is not a punishable offence, but their use is to a large extent an unfair business act, thus a breach of competition and accordingly often associated with legal consequences. So stay away from dubious ratings! Rather, proactively collect honest reviews from your guests and deal with them properly!
In the next article, you will learn how you can easily improve your hotel ratings thanks to digital helpers and keep track of countless ratings on various platforms.
Get the most out of your hotel reviews!
