An unanswered review just sits there for the next guest to read.
A short, plain reply written by a person is enough.
What Google says about replies
Google’s own pages on replying to reviews and managing reviews say a few simple things:
- Your replies are public, and the reviewer is notified when you post one.
- Be professional and polite, and keep it short and simple.
- Skip the copy-and-paste thank you. Reply where you can add something helpful.
- On a negative review, use the guest’s name and acknowledge what they said.
- Be conversational, not promotional. Your reviewers are already customers, so do not use a reply to offer deals.
- Reply promptly.
The same habits suit any review site, but each platform has its own rules for owner replies, so read the one you are using.
Three replies you can adapt
Change the brackets so each one says something true about that stay. The names below are invented.
A good review. "Hi Sam, thank you for the kind words about [the thing they mentioned]. I have passed them on to [the person or team]. We hope to see you back for [a season or event that fits]."
A mixed review. "Hi Alex, thank you for the honest feedback. I am glad [the good part they named]. You are right about [the issue], and we are [what you are really doing about it]. We would like another go at it next time."
A complaint. "Hi Jordan, thank you for telling us about [the specific problem]. That is not the stay we want you to have. [One sentence on what you have checked or changed.] Please email us at [address] so we can look into it properly."
Four things to leave out
- Arguing. A reply is for the next guest as much as the reviewer.
- Private details such as the booking, the room and who was travelling with them.
- Discounts or offers, which Google says to avoid.
- Anything you would not say to the guest’s face.
A reply shows how you handle a problem. If the same complaint turns up twice, fix the cause.
What this is one piece of
Replying is one habit, and it is worth doing whoever looks after your marketing. Once the reviews are answered, a guest who is still interested taps through to your website. What they find there matters, and so does how many taps it takes to book, which we covered in our post on counting the taps it takes to book you. You can also see which of those visits become bookings with the link-tagging trick in the direct bookings your analytics never shows you.
Replies are a weekly job, though. Reviews keep arriving, and the website and the ads need watching alongside them. That ongoing work is what Boost Direct is built for. It is our fully managed marketing for accommodation providers: website, SEO, paid advertising on Google and Meta, social media and ongoing support from a team that keeps optimising, on a flat fee or a performance-based model. If you would rather keep answering reviews yourself, this post is written for you. The rest of what we do is on our services page.
Open your reviews and answer the oldest one first.
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