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It seems the general consensus is to delay bad guest reviews as long as possible to discourage retaliatory reviews.
Does this mean that it’s better to speed up with good reviews as a way of encouraging good reviews in response whilst their experience is top of mind?
If you’re sure the review is going to be good and the guests aren’t two faced.
I review guests right away most of the time. (well over 400 times at this point) Even the few that I’m not sure are going to leave me all 5 stars. Given that I have 98% 5 star I’m admittedly not taking much of a chance.
Now, if I was certain I was going to get a poor review I would wait.
I usually review as soon as possible (I am an off-site host).
I had one experience recently - I left my great review a day after he checked out. This triggered the guest to review me - and the guest responded with a ONE star review - complaining about many things - things that he never mentioned when he checked in or during his stay - he never contacted me - just slammed me in the review. If he had contacted me at check in or during his stay, I would have resolved all of his issues. Instead, I got an unwelcome surprise from his review.
So - the point of my story is… sometimes you never know.
What was communication like during the stay?
I’ve reviewed almost everyone right away. It’s easier for me to keep track and easier to remember each guest that way. I’ve only waited a couple of times thinking I might get a bad review, and that was early on. Now I don’t worry too much although admittedly if my review of the guest might not be favorable I sometimes drag my feet.
I hear you. But to be honest I don’t think it matters with great guests. If you haven’t heard from them in a week then sure. I decided I would only write reviews when it suited me neither early or late. I haven’t had a bad review in so long but I still am anxious when I read them just in case so I don’t let it bother me in advance. I don’t take any guest experience for granted but when you have a couple of hundred mostly great reviews it is easier to be relaxed about them.
Yeah! I still have a long way to go! So far 5 x 5* out of 6 visits. (The 6th one not rating was a blessing)
At least you can respond to it. (in a calm firm ‘voice’ of course)
I usually do not reply to negative reviews - it makes them stand out more. I would rather they just drift away.
Even on TA a place will get 500 4-5 star reviews and then a couple of 1 star ones because it isn’t the Marriot. “The staff were rude” is my favourite comment because it means eventually the staff told them they couldn’t deal with their non-existent problem and they would help them book another hotel.
As far as I’m concerned, yes. For the simple reason that on the day the guest leaves and given the time to do so, I can remember the guest and how they were. Leave it longer than a couple of days and I have to dredge my memory so the review can be more time consuming.
Leaving reviews to the last minute to avoid retaliatory reviews has never been an issue with me. I just want to move on from yesterday’s guests and concentrate on today’s. I really don’t have time for all the shenanigans of waiting until the last minute.
Guests are gone, move on.
I’m glad I am not the only one that feels slightly anxious every time I read a review. I have over 500 and my rating is 4.9* so you would think I could relax a little about it, but I often think: is this the one that is going to be scathing?
I do know that when I travel I have learnt to stay away from places with mixed reviews. When you read mixed reviews it’s sometimes difficult to know if there is actually an issue. However, I have learnt from experience that there is a problem, it’s just that 50% of people are too nice to mention it.
It depends what the mix is. 1 in a 100 don’t worry, 50:50 don’t stay.
That’s exactly what I was trying to say, you just put it more clearly.
Bad reviews in my opinion keep it real. If you have a gazillion 5 stars, and then someone critiques you (“I thought the house was larger!”) It makes the rest of them sound more credible.
If you have 500 reviews, a bad one is not going to affect you much, if at all.
For potential guests, if they see 500 or even 50 good reviews and one bad, they will assume it’s a bad egg and ignore it.
Dear @Fahed Yes, leave good reviews as soon as possible. In short, the more reviews you get, the better your listing’s SEO ranking and the more bookings you’ll receive. When you leave a review for your guest, he/she is more likely to return the favor. With regards to bad reviews (after all those do happen to the best hosts), you can make a bad review better by commenting on it to say that you’re sorry. If you feel that the review is not correct, you can share your point of view in a polite way on why you disagree with the bad review by backing it up with facts.
You mean ‘make a bad review worse’ surely?
To rephrase, if you do get a bad review, you can rectify the situation by apologizing (if you were at fault of course). This way others will see that you do care about your guests. I hope this makes more sense now.