According to a study by Accor, 97% of hotel guests have read online reviews from other guests before making a booking. Almost 60% of respondents regularly write hotel reviews themselves.
That’s why your guests’ opinions count so much
The experiences of other guests are a decisive factor when it comes to booking a hotel: among the decision-making factors, reviews are in second place – right after rooms and facilities.
Before booking, guests read an average of 9 reviews per hotel. Women (91%) do this more often than men (84%). Source: Accor
Guest reviews: An important factor for hoteliers too
However, hotel reviews 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.
The right request for reviews
Resourceful hoteliers actively motivate their guests to leave feedback on one of the major online portals or to fill out their own guest questionnaires. This is essential, as there are many reasons why guests do not leave a review
- Guests do not know where to leave their feedback.
- Writing a guest review seems too time-consuming.
- Guests are already mentally back in their everyday lives and no longer want to think about their holiday.
It is therefore important to counteract these factors with the following measures:
- Send all guests a request to rate their stay, e.g. in a post-stay mail.
- Send a link directly to the relevant review platform or your internal questionnaire in the Digital Guest Directory.
- Indicate how much time guests should allow for feedback, e.g: “Please take 5 minutes to rate your stay.”
- Pay attention to the timing: ideally, you should send the request just a few hours after departure so that your guests’ memories are still fresh.
💡 Tip: Would you like to collect guest feedback easily and provide your guests with all the information, tips and offers relating to their stay at any time?
Then the Digital Guest Directory by Hotelcore is just right for you! We will be happy to advise you without obligation.
Put your guest reviews on your website!
Once you have collected the first – ideally positive – reviews, you have gained a valuable marketing tool: social proof. You can take advantage of the fact that people tend to copy the behaviour of others and therefore trust the guest reviews more than the hotel’s statements. Communicate your hotel’s reviews openly on your own website and use social proof to provide more arguments in favour of a booking.
You will also keep travellers on your website and even achieve more direct bookings. Practical: Portals such as HolidayCheck, TrustYou or TripAdvisor generally offer integration options for websites so that the reviews on your site are always automatically up to date. Incidentally, data integration increases visibility with 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.
Responses welcome! – Never leave guest reviews uncommented
Of course, hotel reviews also have a strong influence on the reputation of the accommodation, the online reputation! This is not just about the content of the reviews themselves, but also about how they are handled. In short, the hotel’s response is at least as important as the guest review itself: 71% of guests say that they appreciate it when the hotel takes the time to respond to their own reviews.
Rules of thumb for your responses to guest reviews
General tips:
- Respond in a timely manner.
- Thank them for their feedback.
- Signal to the guest that you are pleased with their positive review.
- Interact with the guest and build a lasting relationship with them – this is how you gain regular guests and build your own community.
- Respond personally and individually to both positive and negative feedback.
- Avoid standard formulations and empty phrases.
- Share the feedback with your team.
Special recommendations for negative reviews:
- Do not take criticism personally and remain calm.
- Signal that you understand and take the guest seriously.
- If necessary, explain the situation and apologise sincerely.
- Avoid discussions in public forums and clarify any further issues by phone call or e-mail.
- Do not offer monetary compensation in public.
- Refer to social media to keep the guest up to date.
- Analyse the hotel reviews and improve the points of criticism raised.
Automated review management: AI support for guest feedback
The big challenge here is that responding to every single review can sometimes be very time-consuming and labour-intensive. If staff are scarce, review management usually takes a back seat to other tasks. However, technology can help here: More and more hotels are turning to AI-based tools that allow you to answer responses within seconds, instead of spending several minutes pondering the right wording.
Honest complaint management instead of bought reviews
The importance of guest reviews in the booking decision unfortunately also means that some hotels even pay for fake, positive reviews. It may sound tempting to “spruce up” your own rating with purchased reviews. But beware: Purchased reviews violate the guidelines of hotel review platforms, and lawyers also strongly advise against them. Fake reviews are illegal under Section 5 (1) No. 1 of the German Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG) and could, for example, be warned by competitors for a fee. It is therefore better to proactively collect honest reviews from your guests and handle them correctly.
Get the best out of your guest reviews!
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