Reviews and ratings decide whether the person who sees a listing will book, and they affect your performance on the platforms. Filling the villa or hotel is not enough: a villa or hotel that gets bad reviews loses the revenue of the seasons that follow.
Why is a review revenue?
When a guest looks at a listing, after price and photos they look most at the rating and the latest reviews. A listing with a low rating gets fewer bookings at the same price. As the booking rate falls, the platform also shows the listing less. So one bad season affects not only that season’s revenue but the revenue after it.
Most reviews come from the same six topics
- Expectation gap: The photos and text got ahead of reality.
- Cleanliness: The first impression on arrival.
- Check-in process: Confusion about the key, the address and communication.
- Equipment: Problems such as an air conditioner, pool or Wi-Fi that does not work.
- Communication: Late or incomplete replies.
- Service in a hotel: Breakfast, attentiveness at reception and noise.
Six ways to improve reviews
- Set expectations correctly. Let the listing text and photos reflect the villa or hotel as it is. Stating shortcomings openly is better than a surprise.
- Communicate before arrival. Send the guest the address, check-in time and house rules in advance.
- Use a checklist for cleaning. The same list, in the same order, after every check-out.
- Ask on the first day of the stay whether there is a problem. If a problem is solved before the review, it does not show up in the review.
- Check critical equipment such as the pool, air conditioning and garden at the start of the season.
- Fix a repeated complaint at its source. If three guests write the same thing, it is not a review; it is a task.
How to reply to a negative review
A reply is written not only to the person who wrote the review but to the next guests who read the listing. Be short, calm and solution-focused; do not become defensive. Acknowledge the problem and write what you did. A reply that adds your solution as well as the complaint often reduces the effect of the review.
Operations and revenue are not separate
Revenue management alone can raise occupancy; but whether that guest leaves satisfied depends on operations. That is why tracking reviews and ratings is part of our consulting. We describe optional operational support for villas and hotels in Bodrum on our Bodrum page. For steps to increase visibility, see our Booking.com article too.