What are Tripadvisor reviews?
Tripadvisor reviews are a way for travellers to share their experiences on Tripadvisor, one of the world’s largest travel websites.
Unlike online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com, where you need to book a stay or an experience through the site in order to leave a review, Tripadvisor is an open platform where anyone can leave a review for any hospitality business. This openness has made Tripadvisor immensely popular, with the site now featuring over one billion user reviews.
This blog will help you understand Tripadvisor reviews and how to optimise them for your hotel.
Table of contents
Why are Tripadvisor reviews important for your hotel?
Tripadvisor hotel reviews are important because Tripadvisor is an incredibly popular and very trusted platform. By some measures it is the world’s largest travel platform, attracting almost 500 million visitors every month.
Work hard to build a good reputation on Tripadvisor, fuelled by plenty of five star reviews, and you can secure a slice of this rather large pie. What’s more, because the platform works a little like a traveller’s version of Google, you won’t have to pay a cent to TripAdvisor for this business (unless you choose to boost your listing).
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Tripadvisor reviews: Questions and answers
Tripadvisor is a unique platform, so as a hotelier you’ll no doubt have a few questions about how it works. Let’s take a look at a few of the most important things you need to know about Tripadvisor.
How do I see reviews on Tripadvisor?
Your hotel most likely has a presence on Tripadvisor, even if you haven’t created a profile. Business profiles are automatically created to allow users to share their thoughts on any establishment. As such there are a few ways to check your reviews on Tripadvisor:
- If you have a Tripadvisor account, navigate to the Tripadvisor homepage and click on your profile picture in the top right of the page. Select ‘View Profile’ then scroll down to see your reviews.
- If you don’t have a Tripadvisor account, you can check whether your hotel has a listing with reviews by typing your hotel name here. If your hotel is listed on Tripadvisor you can claim that listing, then you can follow the steps above to find and manage your reviews.
- You can also check your hotel reviews – but not manage or reply to them – as a traveller would: by simply typing your business name into the search bar on the Tripadvisor homepage.
How long do reviews stay on TripAdvisor?
Traveller reviews stay on Tripadvisor indefinitely. But if your hotel undergoes a significant change, such as a change of ownership, reviews may be removed allowing a new owner to start fresh. Reviews may be removed in certain other circumstances too, which we take a deeper dive into below.
What happens if you report a review on Tripadvisor?
Tripadvisor has a ‘report’ function for reviews, which allows a hotel owner to flag any reviews that they feel are unfair. But Tripadvisor makes it clear that it will only remove the review if it “violates our guidelines or we determine there is something improper about it”. Simply disagreeing with a review will not see it removed. Tripadvisor has also stated that it “does not arbitrate or referee factual disputes”.
Can owners delete Tripadvisor reviews?
As mentioned above, hotel owners cannot delete Tripadvisor reviews, but you can report them. Tripadvisor then checks the review to see whether it violates the platform’s guidelines, which you can find here. Guidelines include:
- All reviews must be based on first-hand experiences
- Reviews must be completed within a year of a stay or experience
- Information contained in reviews must be relevant
- Reviews must not be biassed or manipulative
If the review is found to violate one or more of the platform’s guidelines, Tripadvisor will take it down. But if the review represents what Tripadvisor sees as a difference of opinion between hotel and guest, it will stay live.
How to get more Tripadvisor reviews
A generally accepted and followed rule is that the higher your hotel ranks on Tripadvisor, the more bookings you will get. This is because the positive social proof from peers gives travellers the confidence to book the property.
With that in mind, here are four tips to make sure your ranking on Tripadvisor is as high as it possibly can be.
1. Ask guests to leave a Tripadvisor review
TripAdvisor gives more weight to new reviews, and properties with more reviews receive a higher ranking than hotels with only a few hotel ratings.
The more 4- and 5-star reviews you can get, the faster you will rise up the rankings as you aim to be the top-rated property in your area.
Ask guests to review you at check-out or in a follow-up email after they depart. Place review information on guest receipts at the end of the stay. Include a TripAdvisor badge on your website’s guest testimonials page.
As the saying goes – if you don’t ask you don’t get. Always make requests to guests for reviews and feedback.
2. Update your profile seasonally
Once a season, check your Tripadvisor profile. Does it list all of your amenities and include updated photos of your property? Are your hotel details up to date?
Add at least 10 high-quality photos, since these can sell the property to guests.
By keeping your profile updated, you can manage guest expectations ahead of their stay. This increases customer satisfaction.
3. Analyse your existing Tripadvisor reviews
Most hotels have a few areas that need improvement. Check your existing Tripadvisor reviews to see what guests like and what they complain about.
Then take action by planning to improve the areas where your property is not offering high value. For example, if guests mention tired towels or linen, it may be time to replace them, review your laundry service, or work with housekeeping to ensure all linens are fresh.
By improving your weak points, you can boost guest satisfaction and reduce the number of complaints that appear in the future.
4. Provide great customer service
You never know which guest is a passionate online reviewer and which one never leaves reviews. The best way to boost the number of five-star hotel reviews on TripAdvisor is to provide excellent service every day, to every guest.
Train staff in hospitality, which can increase cohesiveness and boost skills among your workers. Then recognise employees who have gone above and beyond for guests to cultivate a team that’s motivated to best serve guests. When employees are praised and rewarded for their work, they will be internally motivated to care for guests.
Pichata Ritchie,
Cluster E-commerce Manager
VALA Hua Hin – Nu Chapter Hotels
Responding to Tripadvisor reviews with examples
For hotels, one tip is more important than any other on Tripadvisor: respond to reviews.
The platform is (understandably) hesitant to delete reviews, because that might open the door to businesses manipulating listings, making themselves look better than they actually are. This in turn would hurt TripAdvisor’s reputation, as users may no longer trust the reviews they read.
Unfortunately this can work against your hotel, particularly when you feel a review is unfair, but it doesn’t explicitly violate any of TripAdvisor’s guidelines.
In these situations a response can be invaluable. Negative reviews might hurt, but they’re also an unmatched opportunity for you to show who you are as a hotel. Replying to positive reviews, meanwhile, gives you a chance to soak in the applause and show your appreciation to the customer.
Wondering how to respond to a bad review on Tripadvisor? Or how to graciously accept a good review? Here are a few tips, along with Tripadvisor management response examples.
How to reply to a positive Tripadvisor review
Good news: your hotel has earned a glowing five star review on Tripadvisor. You don’t need to reply to every positive review – the sweet spot for review response rate is 40-50%, and negative reviews should be prioritised – but it’s wise to respond to the detailed and particularly flattering ones, as it shows the reviewer you appreciate that they took the time.
But replying to a positive review can be surprisingly tricky. Your response should be personalised to the review and reviewer, and it should be humble. Other tips include:
- Use the reviewers name, and thank them for taking the time to write a review.
- Use ‘we’ not ‘I’ to ensure that your entire team gets the credit.
- Re-emphasise the highlights featured in the review, e.g. “we’re so glad you enjoyed X!”
- Finish by inviting the guest back to encourage return business.
Replying to positive reviews: example template
“Thank you for taking the time to write a review Sean!
We are delighted that you enjoyed your stay. We’re particularly happy to hear that you had such a great night’s sleep, and that you found our staff so friendly – we think they’re great too!
We work really hard to create memorable experiences for our guests, so comments like yours are truly rewarding to hear.
We’d love to host you and your wife again, so be sure to let us know if you’re ever back in the area. Safe travels in the meantime!
– The A1 Hotel team.”
How to reply to a negative Tripadvisor review
Negative reviews will occur – it’s unavoidable in a hospitality business. What’s important is how you respond, as potential guests will read the reviews and pay close attention to your reply.
As a best practice, acknowledge and apologise for inconveniences. State how you plan to do a better job next time and try your best to resolve any grievances.
No matter what’s said in the bad review, do not get defensive or attack guests. This will drive away potential bookings. Other tips include:
- Always reply in a humble and calm tone.
- Use ‘I’ over ‘we’, as it shows an individual is taking ownership of the issue.
- Avoid generic responses – always personalise 100% of your reply to negative reviews.
- Be objective and professional – don’t let emotion cloud your judgement. It might be wise to wait 24 hours to formulate a response, as this ensures you don’t reply in the heat of the moment. You might also be wise to ask for the opinion of a third party before you reply.
- If the guest had a genuine issue during their stay, it’s critical that you take responsibility and show TripAdvisor users that you’re aware of and learning from your mistakes.
- Address any issues that the reviewer raises, explaining how you plan to improve when the feedback is fair, or offering further (and always polite) context when you feel it’s appropriate. If the review is a surprise, it may be wise to ask for more information.
- Thank the reviewer for taking the time to provide feedback, and highlight any positives they may have mentioned.
- At the end of your reply, extend an invite to the guest, as this shows you’ve taken relevant feedback on board and would appreciate a chance to prove yourself.
Replying to negative reviews: example template
“Dear Karen,
Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed our pool area, but I’m disappointed that you felt your room could’ve been cleaner on arrival.
At A1 Hotels we take cleanliness incredibly seriously. If you are willing to offer us a little more detail on the experience you had we’d greatly appreciate it. You can get in touch with me using the contact details listed below.
If you’re ever in town again, and would like to spend some time lazing by our magnificent pool, we’d love the opportunity to host you again.
Ben R, General Manager (Phone/email)”
Whatever the current strength of your hotel reviews, these tips will help you thrive in the competitive world of online booking.
