The internet has given travellers access to hotels in every part of the world. But how to sort the good from the bad when there are often hundreds of options in any given area? The system that the internet has settled on is as simple as it is effective: guest reviews.
Hoteliers often feel the need to respond to negative reviews, while positive reviews are more likely to be left ignored. However, it’s just as important to reply to positive feedback.
In this article we’ll look at how to respond to positive reviews, including why, how and how often you should do it.
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Reviews can define the success of your hotel, and for a few good reasons:
Hotel reviews create a particularly valuable currency for travellers, who are often unfamiliar with the area they’re travelling to, and will rarely have personal contacts to give them advice on where to stay. They instead use the internet to discover what travellers like themselves have to say about the hotel options in the area.
As part of this process, a traveller will compare overall ratings, read individual reviews and check for responses from the hotel.
The importance of positive hotel reviews and responses means that a hotelier should encourage guests to post reviews across all relevant channels – Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor and individual OTAs – and respond to them where relevant. A hotel property management system like Little Hotelier can make this otherwise time-consuming process incredibly efficient.
The reasons to respond to positive hotel reviews may not be immediately obvious – why not leave the review be and let it speak for itself?
Often that approach is absolutely fine – we don’t advocate that a hotel respond to every single positive review (more on that later). It is however important that a hotel responds to positive reviews semi-regularly.
Business success is increasingly predicated on building an online community, whether in the form of social media followers, email subscribers or loyal returning customers. Responding to positive reviews, particularly those that are detailed or personalised, is a great way to make people feel seen and build a passionate captive audience.
How you respond to reviews can tell potential guests a lot about your hotel. It offers insight into your personality, your values and the way you operate.
Finally, responding to hotel reviews, whether positive, negative or mixed, is simply good business. According to a study by TripAdvisor, hotels that respond to reviews are 21% more likely to receive a booking inquiry than those that don’t.
Taking a compliment can be a surprisingly tricky affair. Your response must be personalised, humble, and most importantly, worth writing – simply saying ‘thanks!’ after every five-star review can do your brand more harm than good.
There are a few basic rules to keep in mind when forming a response to a positive review:
A tried and tested technique is to thank, address the feedback, and thank again.
A positive hotel review response example:
“Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review, Debbie!
We are so happy to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us, and that our comfy beds and friendly staff were particular highlights. We work really hard to give our guests the finest experience possible, so comments like yours are truly rewarding to hear.
We’d love to welcome you back soon, so don’t be a stranger. Thanks again!
– The A1 Hotel team.”
While regularly responding to hotel reviews is important, that doesn’t mean you need to reply to every single one, particularly those that are positive.
Cornell University found that the sweet spot for review response rate is 40-50%. By replying to a little under half of all reviews you show that you are taking an active interest in what guests are saying about your hotel, but not in a way that makes it seem like a job.
Which reviews should you focus on? The following order of priority will direct your efforts in the most effective way:
The task of responding to guest feedback is uniquely challenging for hotels because there are so many review platforms to manage. While other businesses might only be rated on Google and Facebook, a hotel will appear on TripAdvisor and any number of OTAs, such as booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb.
But this challenge is far from insurmountable, particularly if you have the right tech.
Little Hotelier’s channel manager offers one-click control over your online reputation, pricing, availability and more. It can integrate 450+ booking channels and distil them into a single, simple portal, from which you can manage everything.
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By Dean Elphick
Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).
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