Online hotel reviews can act as both advantage and disadvantage for the hoteliers. It can be a source of motivation as well as matter of worry for different hotel owners. In today’s time, people don’t hesitate to express themselves on social media platforms. If they like or dislike anything about a particular product, they readily reach out to social media to comment about it.

It’s a norm these days for visitors to search online about a hotel and go by its review. For industry professionals, online hotel reviews posted by guests regarding their experience in the hotel and the product and features that they liked can be a matter of interest for hoteliers as it affects the click-through rates (CTR) and revenue through online hotel bookings.

This is where a hotel’s online reputation holds value as it affects the travelers for looking towards new destinations. Most travelers today go to review websites and other OTA platforms not just for the exciting deals, but also to gather more information about the hotel itself. To the new age traveler, what others say about their experiences in the hotel matters a lot. They make their decisions based on what other people have to say about the hotel. That’s why a 1 star or a 5 star rating on reputed platforms tells a lot about the health of the business going in the hotel.

Why does your hotel’s online reputation matter this much to the visitors?

1. According to a survey, 57% of all the travel reservations made in 2017 were done online.
This means that your target audience is out there, online! looking at your online hotel reviews and guessing whether to do business with your hotel or not.

2. Nearly 81% of all travelers took the help of online hotel reviews before booking a hotel and 49% of them don’t go for a hotel which has zero reviews.

Video blogs, photo albums and text messages posted by guests helps in influencing the minds of potential guests. Your hotel’s review on some of the best online review sites like Tripadvisor have a direct impact on the guests.

Maintaining a decent reputation online is not that difficult for hotels if done correctly. Besides, you also need to keep an eye on online hotel reviews as it directly impacts your hotel’s revenue.

How can you maintain a good reputation for your hotel online?

Hear what your guests have to say– Now, this part is really easy. A good guest experience starts with the process of a customer booking a place in your hotel. Make sure your hotel staff takes good care of him and takes feedback for your services during their stay. This will keep you alerted about any relevant queries or concerns raised by the guest at that time. A guest with beautiful experience will definitely tell others about their stay in your hotel. These posts naturally turn into testimonials that tell a lot about your property.
Look at the positive in Negative reviews– Not all the guests who visit your hotel will be with your services. They may be less satisfied with the way you resolved their concern or didn’t provide a service they were expecting. And then, their dissatisfaction comes out in the form of negative online reviews.
Now, this can stress you a little, but you can always take advantage of such reviews by responding to them with a solution that addresses the issue. Be polite in your reply and try to understand if the concern they are raising is related to your services or others. If it is related to your services, then first apologize for the inconvenience and come up with a resolution of the problem.
This effort of yours will not go in vain as there will be other potential visitors out there who are looking at your response and the way you addressed the problem, and will feel positive towards doing business with you.
Start Automating your services– Technology has made it easy for hotels to manage their online reputation. There are new smart reputation management tools that hoteliers are finding useful in driving more online hotel bookings. You can use star ratings system for your guests rather than the conventional feedback form.
You can use tools like Review express by Tripadvisor which will help you to easily customize your emails to obtain feedback. The Property Management System can store and use this data for making future predictions. Automated emails are sent out as soon as the guest checks-out of the hotel. These processes will help in improving your Tripadvisor ratings which will generate more online hotel bookings for you.
A good online reputation for your hotel will have direct effect on your bookings and occupancy levels. Combine your services with technology and you can use online reviews to increase your business and stand out from the competition.