Good reviews are fundamental to the service industry and hosting your guest is no different. Websites like Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO actively ask for reviews by travellers.

Through this feedback, your customers can freely express their opinion. Hotels, restaurants and short term rental properties are evaluated for their quality of service thanks to this system. Reviews may also influence your appearance in their search engine.

For example they may move your property higher in the search results or lower, in harmony with the feedback of your clients.

I am no stranger to receiving a message from a potential guest complimenting the reviews and saying that they want to stay in a place with so many good reviews.

So, how can you obtain good reviews? Is there a recipe to motivate your guest to give you a review? Here are my six tips on how get high quality feedback:

1. Communicate With Your Guests Before Arrival

Make sure you communicate with your guests before they arrive in order to explain how to reach your place and remind them about the small guide that you built about your apartment, neighbourhood, and city. Give them your contact information and make sure you arrange the arrival time a day in advance. If you will not welcome them yourself then let your guests know that someone else will be on site. The last thing your guest want is to deal with surprises when they arrive at your apartment, after a long day of traveling.

2. Contact Your Guests After the First Night

This is particularly important if you are not there to welcome them personally. Check with them if everything is okay and if there is anything that you can do to improve the quality of their stay. If they have a problem you will have opportunity to fix it and if everything is resolved to their satisfaction, they will hopefully not give you a bad review.

3. Describe Your Property in Detail

The expectation of your guest is based on your description: if it is not accurate, you can have a disappointed guests on your hands. Therefore, your description should be a true reflection of your space. The amenities you specified should be available and working. The proximity to various point of interest should be as precise as possible. Spend some time asking them if they have a special request. Also make sure that your place is a good fit, if something does not seem 100% right just inform them in advance.

4. Inform Your Guests That You Will Write a Review About Them

Actually… inform them that you will write a GOOD review! This will release the “pressure of being reviewed” and it will set a positive mood. They will hopefully want to reciprocate and they will be more inclined to give you a higher review.

5. Leave a Review for Your Guests First

Leave the review when the option becomes available. Write a review for your guests and inform them that you wrote positively about them. Not only will this help your guests make subsequent reservations in other locations, but your guest will be notified that you’ve left the review. Probably your guest won’t be able to read it until they wrote your review, but your message will reassure them and they will hopefully reciprocate.

6. Ask Your Guests for a Review

If your guest are not giving you a review you can always ask them. Sometimes they simply forget or sometimes they procrastinate until it disappears from their mind. If this is the case, be proactive, send them a thank you note and ask them for a review

Summary: Best Practice for Good Reviews

Below you can find what are the most actionable techniques that can guarantee you a 5-stars review. If you follow these rules will see that the quality of your review will increase over time.

If you want to visualise it, I kindly ask you, as token of appreciation to like our Facebook page or tweet this article to your followers. Thanks in advance!

Contact your guest before the arrival and make arrangements for the keys

Check with your guest after the first night

Make sure that your property is conform with your description

Been open with your guest and inform them that you are going to write a good review to them

So what do you think? What is your best practice for ensuring good reviews? Please, drop me a line or a comment below if you have any suggestions!