Reviews of hotels and other accommodation facilities

A bad hotel can ruin your entire vacation. After a day full of experiences, guests return to it wanting to rest, sleep well, and have a regenerating meal. If the rooms are dirty, the food is not fresh, and the beds are uncomfortable - it's hard to talk about a successful holiday. One of the most commonly used preventive measures is to check the opinions about the facility before making a reservation. They are crucial and often outweigh the decision to choose a specific place. Positive opinions confirm the decision made, while negative ones make you look further.

If you run a hotel, check the opinions!

If you manage an accommodation facility - a hotel, guesthouse, or resort - it is extremely important to monitor the opinions appearing about you on the Internet. You should check if anything has appeared at least daily, and even several times a day. It is also a good idea to set up various types of alerts (e.g. Google Alerts) to receive notifications when your name appears online. If you don't have time to manually search for comments, and there are also a lot of them, a reputation management platform will help you with this.

Running a hotel business is particularly exposed to negative opinions. Of course, they are inevitable because - apart from obvious shortcomings - guests have different preferences and expectations. Some are looking for peace and classic breakfasts, while others want a lot of attractions and food they won't experience at home. Negative opinions will always appear, and it does not mean the end of the business, but in such cases, the owner's reaction is important. Sometimes polite apologies are enough, but it can also be an attempt to explain or even convince the guest to change their mind and the opinion they have given.

Where are hotel reviews posted?

If you are conducting a manual search for reviews about your hotel, start with the most popular travel portals such as Booking, Tripadvisor, and Holidaycheck. Then search for your name on smaller websites and of course on Google. If you have social media accounts, also monitor them - reviews about the company may appear there (e.g. on a fan page), as well as comments under posts or opinions expressed by tourists in thematic groups.

Best-rated hotels

In evaluating a hotel, "objective" factors such as price, location (close to the city center), facilities including a pool, spa center, sauna, and jacuzzi do not always prevail. Often, facts are not enough. People appreciate hotel features that are often very subjective, such as professional staff, cleanliness, tasty and varied breakfasts and dinners, and well-equipped rooms. Unfortunately, both 5-star resorts and small hotels are rated according to the same criteria. One thing is certain, the best-rated places have the greatest chance of being booked.

Guest reviews - what to do with them?

The more tourists we host, the more opinions about us will appear on the Internet - it's natural. Positive comments are not a problem, but it's always worth responding to them as the property owner - thanking and encouraging for another stay - and taking care to have as many of them as possible. How to do it? The easiest way is to ask satisfied hotel guests to leave a review on the designated website. This can be done by passing on the request through the reception staff, leaving information in the hotel room, or sending an email or SMS to the guests with such a request. If we know that a particular tourist may be dissatisfied because, for example, they reported faults, we must ensure that such a message does not reach them. In such a case, the risk of a negative review is high, so it is not worth encouraging it.

What should you do with negative reviews? Definitely not bury your head in the sand pretending that it doesn't matter - because it does, and it's huge! It is always worth clarifying the matter, ideally if the discussion can be moved to private messages. If we have something to blame, we must apologize, it is good to offer some discount or a large discount on the next visit. If the negative review is unfounded, we never argue with the guest, but try to explain the matter. After all, it is often a subjective feeling - such an impression was simply made by our facility or service. In this case, however, we can gently try to persuade them to change their opinion.