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Increase your scores by responding to reviews

Hostel Reviews, Booking Engines, and Directories

Rucksack Brian started this discussion 12 years 2 months ago

Margaret Ady, Director of Marketing at an online reputation management company, says that To increase scores and bookings, hotels must respond to guest reviews.

Responding to online reviews from guests is crucial. It makes them feel heard, and it is one of the best ways to improve customer satisfaction and guest loyalty post-stay.

Seeing management responses also improves perceptions of a hotel and impacts purchasing decisions of future guests.

She explains how her company’s study showed that hotels that respond to reviews have an average rating 6% higher than those hotels who do not respond. This is because:

1) The guests are happier, even before they arrive at the hotel.
2) Hotels that respond to guests indirectly encourage other guests to write reviews following their stays.

She also offers suggestions for responding to both negative and positive reviews.

Key ingredients to a response to a negative review:

Thank the guest for their stay

Apologize for their problem or complaint

Address the specific problem mentioned and offer a solution/explain how the hotel is taking action

Invite the guest back to the hotel

Key ingredients to a response to a positive review:

Thank the guest for their stay

Let the guest know that the hotel is delighted to hear about the positive experience

Ensure that the hotel strives for this sort of excellence with all its guests

Invite the guest back to the hotel

Comments

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IndyHostel

12 years

Thanks for that article Brian, that's actually really helpful. When I first started working at the Indy Hostel I responded to all of the previous negative reviews with extensive answers to the problems that existed. Now that we have gained a many more positive reviews I have not been responding to them (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g37209-d1150349-Reviews-Indy_Hos...). Do you find that it is helpful to go ahead and respond to every review on all of the sites that there are reviews on? For us those sites are tripadvisor and hostelworld.

Just so you know, I really appreciate you digging a lot of stuff up like this. I hope that I start to become more of an active part of this community and help it stay more active itself.

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Rucksack Brian

12 years

It’s worth responding to any negative review that mentions something that you can control. For example: The dorm room was dirty. The toilet was clogged. Breakfast wasn’t put out on time. My bed was extra squeaky.

Those are things that you can actually do something about. Responding to those reviews tells everyone how you have resolved the issue and reassures future guests that they won’t suffer from the same problem.

If someone says “I didn’t really like the hostel” there’s no way that you can take action on that. At most you could respond with, “I’m sorry you didn’t like it.” But that doesn’t really benefit a future guest. People are entitled to their opinions, and those reviews don’t tend to sway the booking decision of a traveler as much as reviews with specific details might.

Responding to negative reviews on both HW and TA is a good idea. Not all sites let you respond to guest comments, so it’s best to take advantage of the opportunity when you have it.

There are mixed opinions on this forum about whether you should respond to ALL reviews, both positive and negative. Some folks don’t respond to positive reviews, saying that they stand on their own already. Sometimes receptionists or other staff members will respond to a positive review to give a personal "thank you" if the comments mentioned them by name. Others say that you should respond to all reviews in order to show your past and future guests that you really do take their reviews and comments seriously and care what each and every one of them has to say. Both are valid arguments, so in the end the choice is yours.

I’m really glad that you’re finding the site helpful and that you’re interested in getting involved. The more people we have contributing questions, ideas, comments, and any other thoughts they have about hostels, the better off we will all be!

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matt70

12 years

Sorry Brian - we are no hotels, and the fact that someone is trying to drag us into "hospitality industry" hype, and force us to provide THAT level of service and care in price range of 5 to 15 euros per night is simply sick, unrealistic and outrageous.
If a hostel does not have its independent flow of guests, I mean independent from booking engine companies and alike, than they are cooked already. You have to be capable to operate even without single membership with booking engines. Reviews are crap and we all know it - so it is meaningless to try to repair the system broken deep down in its core by participating in it. TripAdvisor is equivalent of pirates in 17/18th century Caribbean. They basically hijack your business and never ask you if you want to be listed and allow XY person to write anything they want. WTF !!! Honest people do not work or negotiate with pirates...

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matt70

12 years

It’s worth responding to any negative review that mentions something that you can control. For example: The dorm room was dirty. The toilet was clogged. Breakfast wasn’t put out on time. My bed was extra squeaky.

I am around since first reviews were introduced. Never received negative comment about such things, and you know very well that professional hostels do not have such problems. Only crappy ones - and these have bigger problems than reviews.

Those are things that you can actually do something about. Responding to those reviews tells everyone how you have resolved the issue and reassures future guests that they won’t suffer from the same problem.
If someone says “I didn’t really like the hostel” there’s no way that you can take action on that. At most you could respond with, “I’m sorry you didn’t like it.” But that doesn’t really benefit a future guest. People are entitled to their opinions, and those reviews don’t tend to sway the booking decision of a traveler as much as reviews with specific details might.

Yeah, right. "Hospitality industry" mantras all over again. No hostel should be forced to play by these rules. Yes - people are entitled to their opinion. With local tourist board or police or local government tourist control authority - where you actually have to prove your accusations, and not on web sites where you can insult and accuse without proof and with no consequences, often anonymously. If you depend on booking engines and their reviews and their customers - you will not last long in this business.

Responding to negative reviews on both HW and TA is a good idea. Not all sites let you respond to guest comments, so it’s best to take advantage of the opportunity when you have it.
There are mixed opinions on this forum about whether you should respond to ALL reviews, both positive and negative. Some folks don’t respond to positive reviews, saying that they stand on their own already. Sometimes receptionists or other staff members will respond to a positive review to give a personal "thank you" if the comments mentioned them by name. Others say that you should respond to all reviews in order to show your past and future guests that you really do take their reviews and comments seriously and care what each and every one of them has to say. Both are valid arguments, so in the end the choice is yours.
I’m really glad that you’re finding the site helpful and that you’re interested in getting involved. The more people we have contributing questions, ideas, comments, and any other thoughts they have about hostels, the better off we will all be!

Good part of hostel owners and staff are not poltroons, and they do not play by rules set by online booking web sites and TA.

This forum is OK, but it crawls with aspiring hostel owners and beginners in our branch. Really seasoned hostel management and hostel staff mostly do not use this forum. Reasons are different, but I will not go deeper in this matter.

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gordo

11 years

Am I the only person that sees an inherent problem with the initial study? Correlation =/= causation. A hotel that takes the time to respond to reviews is also far more likely (since apparently only 32% respond at all) to actually CARE and thus be at least 6% better. Honestly, I'd have imagined that number to be higher, though I do know of a few... shall we say 'confrontational' responses in the past. Hotels (and hostels) that respond to reviews are hotels (hostels) that care about reviews. I doubt too many guests are actually thinking 'oh they responded, they must be good'. the nature of the response will have a greater impact in that regard, far more so than the act of responding itself.

that said, responding to reviews is important - particularly if its in response to a complaint or issue that has since been rectified or an issue that is easily fixed at the time. I cant count how many responses ive read that include the line 'had you let our staff know at the time...' or something similar. it gives you the chance to let other potential guests that negative comments may be more reflective of the guest than the hostel.

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