Google hotel reviews are user-generated ratings and comments specifically about hotels, displayed on a hotel’s Google Business Profile.
NB: This is an article from Lighthouse
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They help potential guests evaluate a hotel’s quality, service and amenities, and impact its ranking in local search results.
Reviews are one of the most effective ways of getting people talking about your property and making it stand out to potential guests.
Monitoring and curating reviews gives you the ability to continuously improve your hotel’s offering and reinforce your reputation through the feedback provided by guests.
6 strategies for increasing hotel reviews
Collecting guest reviews is an ongoing process, but very well worth the effort.
Don’t simply hope for guest reviews based on goodwill alone – a proactive approach, including directly asking and offering a gentle nudge, is often necessary to encourage reviews. Here are some strategies that will help you collect more reviews for your hotel business:
- Ask at the right moment: The idea of the guest journey should always be top of mind for hoteliers, looking at every touch point with the guest to help form their opinion of the hotel. Kindly ask guests for a review during their stay or after check-out. This way they can share their experience when the memory is fresh.
- Make leaving a review effortless: Share a direct link to your Google review page where guests can leave a review in a few minutes. Add it to your emails, thank you messages, and even on a small card with a QR code in the room or at the front desk.
- Consider your international guests: If you have international visitors, offering review requests in multiple languages can significantly increase participation. It shows that you value and respect your guests, and it creates a more personalized experience that they will definitely appreciate.
- Involve your team: Encourage your hotel staff to mention reviews casually during friendly interactions, during check-out and any time your guests express anything positive about their stay. A simple “We’d love to hear your feedback on Google!” can go a long way.
- Respond to every review: Whether it’s positive or negative, replying to Google reviews in a timely manner shows guests that you care about improving your services. This builds trust and encourages more people to leave feedback.
- Offer a reminder and incentives: With a software tool like the SabeeApp Property Management System, you can send guests a follow-up email a few days after check-out, thanking them for their stay and inviting them to leave a review. Consider offering a nice incentive, for example a 10% discount on their next stay. This can also encourage rebooking.
