When your hotel receives positive ratings or reviews, it's important to respond in a way that's friendly, courteous, prompt, and professional.
You also need to strike the right balance between personalization and brand identity. On one hand, it's vital to customize each reply to the reviewer — but on the other, it's also important to stay on-brand and ensure that your messaging is consistent.
If you're new to review management, it can feel like a lot to remember. This guide will make it easier by covering everything you need to know to get started, including:
We've broken this down into three sections:
Let's begin with techniques and examples before moving into some usable templates.
Following the best practices below will help ensure that your responses positively impact existing customers and potential guests researching hotels.
Never use generic placeholder titles, like "Dear Customer" or "Valued Customer," when you respond to reviews of your hotel. Be sure to respond to the reviewer by name, unless they've left their review anonymous.
From a simple "Thanks for the review!" to a more elaborate response like the example below, always make sure to acknowledge your guests for sharing their feedback with you.
Exceptional customer service doesn't stop when guests check out. Show reviewers that you're listening to them and care about their customer experience by personalizing your responses to reviews.
The best way to personalize your responses is to incorporate details from the original review into your reply. For instance, in the example below, the business owner specifically references the guest's easy check in process and enjoyment of the hotel's "historic art deco style."
As research by Skift shows, members of hotel loyalty programs “contribute between 30 percent and 60 percent of room revenue and tend to pay higher average daily room rates (ADR) than non-members.”
Help your hotel retain customers and earn repeat business by warmly welcoming reviewers to return.
Responding to reviews promptly is courteous to your reviewers — but just how quickly should you really reply?
Brightlocal asked this question in its 2024 Local Consumer Review Survey. Here's what the results revealed:
The safest approach is to respond to customers within 24 hours, aiming for the fastest response time possible. You can significantly increase your average response time by using ready-made templates, an AI-powered content generator, or a review response service.
Here are three examples of effective responses to positive reviews of hotels. Each example includes a brief explanation of what makes the business owner's response successful.
Why it’s effective: This response uses the reviewer’s name; thanks them for sharing a positive review of the hotel; references specific details from the original review, like the guest’s recommendation of the hotel; and invites the guest to return again in the future.
Why it’s effective: This review response starts with the customer’s name; incorporates details from the original review, like the guest’s clean room and hotel’s central location; thanks the reviewer for their positive feedback; and warmly invites the reviewer to return on their next visit to the area.
Why it’s effective: The business uses the reviewer's name; brands the response by referencing the name of the hotel; calls attention to the hotel's positive qualities, like its large room size; mentions specific details from the review, like the indoor pool and helpful staff; and invites the guest to return in the future.
Now that we've covered some examples of reviews and best practices for responding to guests, here are six customizable templates for replying to customers online.
Quick Tip: When using review response templates, remember to double-check that you've inserted the correct reviewer's name before publishing your response.
"Hi [ Customer Name ], thank you so much for your rating and review! We're so delighted to hear about the outstanding customer service you received from our reception staff throughout your stay. It was our pleasure to provide you with a pleasant stay and a positive experience visiting [ Location ]! We hope you'll be back again soon and look forward to making your next stay enjoyable. Thanks again for your review, and safe travels!"
“Hi [ Customer Name ], thanks for taking the time to rate and review [ Hotel Name ]! We are truly grateful for your kind words about the outstanding service our attentive staff members provided, and we'll be sure to pass your comments along to [ Staff Member Name ]. It's fantastic to know how much you enjoyed our spacious rooms, heated indoor pool, and the fresh fruit at our continental breakfast. Reviews like yours motivate us to continue creating 5-star experiences for our guests. Thanks again for visiting, and we hope to welcome you back soon!"
“[ Customer Name ], thank you so much for your review! We're happy to hear that our front desk staff were friendly and helpful throughout your visit. It was our pleasure to help create a wonderful experience for you, and we truly appreciate your valuable insights about our amenities and dining area! We truly hope you'll be back again soon for another pleasant stay here at [ Hotel Name ]. Thanks again for your 5 star rating!"
“Thank you so much for your 5 star rating and review, [ Customer Name ]! Your kind words about our friendly staff were truly a delight to read. We love making our guests feel warmly welcomed from the moment they arrive here at [ Hotel Name ]. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything we can do to make your next stay with us even more comfortable and relaxing. We hope you'll be back soon, and wish you safe travels!"
“Thank you, [ Customer Name ], for sharing your review. We are truly grateful that you highly recommended [ Hotel Name ] to others! It was our pleasure to provide you with a very pleasant stay, and your kind comments about our quality service are appreciated by every member of our team. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to increase your guest satisfaction even more in the future! We look forward to your next visit soon."
"Thanks for sharing your review of [ Hotel Name ], [ Customer Name ]! We're so glad that you had a chance to check out the gorgeous beaches within walking distance of our [ Town or City ] location. We appreciate your warm words about the exceptional service you received from [ Staff Member ], and will be sure to pass your comments along to them! We hope you'll be back again the next time you're in [ Town or City ], and look forward to providing you with another convenient and comfortable stay."
In general, yes: with a few exceptions that we'll cover in just a moment, you should aim to respond to all the reviews you receive. That includes not just positive comments but also mixed and negative reviews.
You don't have to take our word for it, either: Google Business Profile's support center recommends responding to reviews as a method of improving your local ranking.
And not only does Google recommend it — data shows that consumers strongly prefer it.
According to Brightlocal’s 2024 survey, which included more than 1,100 participants, consumers are more likely to choose businesses that respond to all reviews vs. businesses that only respond to positive or negative reviews.
The survey revealed that 88% of consumers are "likely" to use a business that replies to every review, compared to just 58% for businesses that only respond to poor reviews and 54% for businesses that only respond to good reviews.
While you should usually respond to reviews, there are a few exceptions as we mentioned earlier. Instead of replying to them, you should flag (report) reviews from spam-bots, as well as reviews that contain offensive language or other prohibited content.
You can get more reviews of your hotel by using effective methods of requesting customer feedback. According to Brightlocal's 2024 survey, here are the top ways consumers prefer to receive review requests:
Interestingly, while most of the above methods are losing popularity with consumers, two of the less-preferred methods seem to be growing in popularity:
Two other review request methods held steady in popularity, with consumer opinion unchanging from 2023 to 2024:
For maximum efficiency collecting guest feedback, consider using a review generation service like Shout About Us, which automates the review request process for you with personalized SMS, email, and in-store campaigns. That means you can focus on your company’s other priorities while the reviews come rolling in.
When you're running a hotel, guest satisfaction needs to take top priority. That doesn't leave your business much time to individually respond to reviews, especially if you're a large hotel serving thousands of guests at multiple locations.
Fortunately, there's a better alternative to time-consuming in-house review management.
ResponseScribe is a review response service that provides personalized, on-brand replies to customer reviews within 24 hours across 50+ review sites, including Google, Hotels.com, Expedia, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Facebook, Apple Maps, and other platforms.
Your business can choose an AI-powered or 100% human-written response strategy, with the flexibility to cancel, upgrade, or switch plans at any time. You'll receive alerts and notifications before any content is published, ensuring that every response we create meets your quality standards and aligns with your messaging.
Want to take your reputation management strategy further? In addition to ResponseScribe, we offer a comprehensive suite of review management services, including review generation and review removal.
Attract more guests, reduce customer churn, and promote your hotel for free—all without writing a sentence. ResponseScribe manages your review response strategy from start to finish, making it effortless to provide reviewers with fast and friendly responses.
Discover why more than 10,000 customers trust their reputations with ResponseScribe. Get started with a free trial of our review response service today.
Done-for-you review response service for local businesses.
Part of the Shout About Us family.
