The way people book hotel rooms, what they expect during their stay, and even how they want to be treated is evolving. So, what’s the deal, you ask? Well, by understanding and adapting to those changes you’ll not only meet but exceed your guests’ expectations.

More than that, it opens up a world of opportunities for your business to grow. Curious about how? Look no further because we’ve got you covered in this blog.

We’ll delve into how these shifts in guest behaviour can impact your hotel business and, most importantly, how you can transform these changes into opportunities that will make your hotel shine.

The Changing Consumer Behavior in Hotel Industry

Consumer behaviour in the Hospitality Industry has undergone significant transformations in recent years. These changes have been influenced by a variety of factors, including advances in technology, socio-cultural shifts, and global events like the pandemic. 

Guests no longer seek just a bed and a roof over their heads. They now expect a personalized and seamless experience from the moment they start searching for a hotel. These expectations are often shaped by their online interactions and previous hotel stays. The key to meeting these expectations lies in understanding the guest’s psychology and adapting accordingly.

Let’s explore some of the key impacts these shifts are having on hotels:

1. The Rise of Online Booking:

Remember the time when you had to call hotels to book a room? Well, with the evolution of technology, things have changed a lot. In today’s digital age, we all know that travellers are more likely to grab their smartphones and start searching for the perfect hotel online. 

In response, it’s crucial to establish a strong online presence. Invest in a user-friendly website that works seamlessly on mobile devices. Consider collaborating with online booking platforms to expand your reach and cater to the modern traveller’s needs.

According to Hotel Mize, online travel agencies (OTAs) accounted for 40% of global hotel bookings in 2023. At the same time, online reviews and ratings have become more influential in shaping travellers’ decisions and expectations, as they seek to hear from other guests about their experiences with a hotel’s service, brand, product, or value.

2. Demand for Personalization

Guests now expect a more personalized experience during their stay, from tailored room amenities to personalized recommendations for dining and activities. They crave a personalized touch that makes their stay unique and memorable. As hoteliers, it’s your job to cater to this desire. 

Getting to know your guests’ preferences can help tailor their experiences. To achieve this, what you can do is invest in data analytics to understand your guests better. Create guest profiles and utilize loyalty programs to tailor their experiences. From room amenities to local recommendations, a personalized touch can go a long way in earning guest loyalty.

3. Sustainability Matters

We all are aware of the environmental damage that has happened in the last few decades. That said, travellers are more eco-conscious than ever. Many guests actively seek eco-friendly accommodations that align with their values. So, what can you do to go green? 

Implement eco-friendly practices like reducing waste and conserving energy. Highlight your sustainability efforts to attract environmentally-conscious guests. By going green, you not only help the planet but also build a reputation as a responsible hotel.

4. Technology Integration

Technology has become an integral part of our lives. These days, guests expect technology-driven conveniences, such as preferences for contactless check-in, keyless entry, a good Wi-Fi connection and smart room controls. 

Investing in technological infrastructure to offer these services, not only enhances your guest experiences but improves operational efficiency. Keeping pace with technological advancements ensures your hotels remain competitive, attract tech-savvy travellers, and deliver the convenience and connectivity guests now demand.

5. Alternative Accommodations

Changing consumer behaviour in choosing alternative accommodations in the hospitality industry is marked by a significant shift away from traditional hotels. Travelers increasingly opt for alternative options such as vacation rentals, hostels, boutique inns, and even home-sharing platforms like Airbnb. 

To compete, hotels are diversifying their offerings, focusing on unique experiences, and digital convenience and redefining their value proposition to differentiate themselves from the competition. 

6. Social Media Influence

Social media’s importance in consumer-changing behaviour cannot be overstated. In today’s digital age, social platforms are where people share experiences, read reviews, and make decisions. Modern travellers usually expect quick responses to their inquiries, and insights into the guest experience. 

“A study by TripAdvisor found that 72% of travellers are more likely to book a hotel that has positive reviews on social media.”

Social proof in the form of positive reviews and visually appealing content plays a vital role in their hotel selection process. To align with these expectations, you can actively engage with guests on social media, encourage user-generated content, and respond to reviews. 

By embracing social media, hotels can shape perceptions, attract potential guests, and build trust in an increasingly interconnected world. In short, social media isn’t just a tool; it’s a cornerstone of modern consumer behaviour and hotel success.

7. Health and Safety Concerns

The pandemic has heightened guest concerns about health and safety, making these factors one of the top priorities when selecting accommodations. 

As a hotelier, it’s more of a responsibility to align with these expectations to maintain a healthy environment at your property. Implement cleaning protocols, promote transparency about safety measures to guests, and ensure staff are well-trained. By prioritizing health and safety, hotels can build trust with guests, reassure them and enhance the overall guest experience.

8. Blurring Lines Between Work and Leisure

Modern travellers value work-life balance and they like to embrace the concept of “bleisure” travel, a trend where work-related trips seamlessly blend with vacation experiences. 

Hotels are proactively adapting to this evolving landscape by offering flexible workspaces, high-speed internet access, and business-friendly amenities. This accommodation evolution caters to the needs of travellers who desire a harmonious balance between their professional commitments and the opportunity to unwind and explore new destinations, all within the confines of their hotel stay.

9. Rising Trend of Micro-Travel

Have you ever felt the need for a quick escape, a short trip to unwind and recharge? Many of us have, especially in the last couple of years. 

It turns out that more and more people are taking short trips, known as micro-travel, within a few hours’ drive from their homes. Instead of staying in big city hotels, many are choosing to book stays at caravan parks, holiday parks, eco-lodges, or small hotels in quieter areas. These places are becoming more popular because people want to get away from crowded places.

To attract these micro-travellers, hotels and lodges can use special advertising campaigns. They can target people who live nearby or show interest in similar places on social media. This way, they can offer them the right deals and options for their short getaways.

10. Flexible Booking Options

Travel plans can be unpredictable, and last-minute changes might happen. So, today’s travellers value the freedom to modify reservations and seek options that accommodate their uncertainties. 

This flexibility is essential not just for guests but also for hotels themselves.  It may seem like offering such flexibility could lead to losses due to empty rooms. 

To align with these expectations and avoid such losses, you can provide flexible booking policies, clear communication, refundable rates, and loyalty rewards. In this dynamic industry, flexibility is key to influencing consumer behaviour and ensuring long-term success.

Feasibility of Adapting to Changing Consumer Trends for Hotels

Adapting to changing consumer behaviour can be a challenging task for hotels, but it’s not impossible. The feasibility of aligning with these changes depends on various factors such as:

1. Resources & Financial Considerations

Adapting to evolving consumer behaviour often requires significant financial investments. Upgrading technology, implementing sustainability initiatives, and providing personalised services can be costly. Hotels must assess their budget and financial stability to determine the feasibility of these changes.

Hotels might need to allocate resources, both financial and human, to implement the necessary changes. Investing in technology upgrades, sustainability initiatives, and staff training is essential. The feasibility of these investments depends on the hotel’s financial health and long-term strategy.

2. Target Market 

Understanding the preferences of your target market is essential. If your guests prioritize eco-friendliness, investing in sustainability measures makes sense. However, if your guests seek affordability, high-tech amenities may not be a priority. Hotels should tailor their offerings to match the needs and preferences of their specific guest demographics.

3. Competition 

The competitive landscape matters. Hotels facing stiff competition are more likely to adapt to stand out, while those in less competitive markets may not feel the same pressure. In less competitive markets, hotels should focus on differentiating themselves through exceptional service, unique packages, or special promotions.

4. Guest Feedback and Monitoring 

Continuous monitoring of guest feedback and behaviour is essential. You must be prepared to adjust your strategies based on ongoing feedback and market dynamics. 

Listening to guest opinions and preferences can help hotels prioritize which changes are most important and which may not align with their target audience.

5. Return on Investment (ROI) 

Hotels should assess the potential ROI for each change. Some investments may have a more immediate impact on revenue and guest satisfaction, while others may be long-term strategies with delayed returns. Evaluating the expected ROI is essential for prioritizing initiatives.

6. Long-term Vision & Adaptability 

Hotels should adopt a flexible approach to adaptation. Consumer behaviour may continue to evolve, and hotels must be agile in responding to these changes. Regularly evaluating the feasibility and impact of new adaptations is crucial for long-term success.

The post Beyond Traditional Hospitality: The Impact of Consumer Behavior on Hotels appeared first on eZee Absolute.

In simple terms, emotional intelligence or EQ refers to the ability to understand and manage emotions, both within ourselves and in others. It’s all about being aware of how you feel, and how others feel, and using that awareness to interact socially with grace and empathy.

Picture this: You walk into a room, and without anyone saying a word, you can sense the underlying vibes in the air. You know when someone is happy, upset, or maybe a little stressed out. 

Well, that’s the power of emotional intelligence! But do you know emotional intelligence plays a vital role in the hospitality industry as well? In fact, they go hand in hand like two peas in a pod.

Wondering how? Let me explain further in this blog. 

Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Hospitality

Hospitality, at its core, is all about providing exceptional service and creating memorable experiences for guests. It’s about going the extra mile to ensure their comfort, satisfaction, and delight. And that’s where emotional intelligence steps in as the key ingredient in the hospitality industry.

As a hotelier, emotional intelligence can bring you a multitude of benefits. In this industry, where interactions with guests are frequent and varied, having a high EQ can make a significant impact in providing exceptional service. 

And trust me, by combining your EQ skills with the core principles of hospitality, you can deliver extraordinary experiences, connect with your guests, and create a positive work environment at the same time.

From understanding guests’ needs to creating an effective work culture, EQ skills play a very important role in hotel service. Let’s explore a few of them.

Role of Emotional Intelligence in Hotel Service

Emotional intelligence skills play a significant role in improving the hospitality industry. Here are some ways in which EQ can help to enhance your hotel service:

1. Providing excellent customer service

Have you ever thought about transforming a mere stay into a memorable experience for the guests? If yes, you’re thinking in the right direction but what you need is the right skill. 

When it comes to providing exceptional customer service in hotels, emotional intelligence is like having a sixth sense. With your EQ skills, you can tune in to their emotions, know how they’re feeling during their stay, and respond to them accordingly. 

You can go beyond the standard “How can I assist you?” and offer a personalized touch. Whether it’s suggesting activities they’ll love, or simply being there to listen and empathize, EQ lets us create experiences that make our guests feel truly special and cared for. 

These small moves can sometimes really make big changes in your hotel service, ultimately creating a loyal following of happy guests who can’t wait to return. 

2. Maintaining guest relations

Using EQ is all about understanding our guests on a whole new level, and let me tell you, it makes a world of difference. 

Your EQ skills can help to maintain positive guest relations by understanding guest needs, living up to their expectations and handling their feedback gracefully. It also helps create genuine connections with your guests ultimately building long-term relationships and brand loyalty. 

For Example: By understanding your guests’ preferences and cultural backgrounds, you can offer recommendations for dining and activities that align with their preferences. This gesture not only gets appreciated but builds a connection with your guests. 

3. Effective communication

Communication is the key to creating strong relationships. EQ is a powerful skill that helps strengthen your communication skills, helps to express yourself clearly and listens actively to guests’ concerns. 

EQ enhances active listening, understanding others’ perspectives, and expressing oneself effectively. It helps resolve conflicts and create meaningful connections with guests and colleagues. With EQ, communication has become a powerful tool for delivering amazing hotel service and building positive relationships with your guests. 

Must read: 9 Strategies To Master Guest Communication At Your Hotel

4. Hotel staff training

Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in training your hotel staff as they are the ‘Face of your Hotel.’ It helps them improve how they interact with guests and with each other. 

EQ helps them to understand people’s feelings, listen better, and communicate effectively. Also, it encourages them to keep learning and getting better at what they do.

Plus, adding EQ to their skillset can create a more motivated and productive workforce, which can improve the hotel’s overall performance.

5. Create a welcoming atmosphere

Just imagine, after a long and exhausting trip you go to the hotel for check-in. However, the staff member at the front desk simply started a physical check-in procedure and kept you waiting until all documentation was completed. It’s obvious, you’re going to feel unappreciated and not welcomed.

You might’ve heard it: First Impression is The Last Impression. A warm and welcoming atmosphere is crucial for a positive guest experience and relations. Using EQ skills, you can create an environment where guests feel comfortable and appreciated. 

Staff who display genuine warmth, friendliness, and a willingness to assist can create memorable stays. This positive atmosphere leaves a lasting impression on guests and enhances their overall experience.

6. Stress management

Being a hotelier is not easy, right? The industry can be fast-paced, demanding, and full of unexpected challenges but amidst all these, EQ can be a real game-changer when it comes to managing stress. 

From handling demanding guests to juggling multiple tasks, our EQ skills allow us to stay cool, calm, and collected. When we lead with EQ, we inspire our team members to do the same. 

Remember, you’re not alone in this journey, and with your emotional intelligence by your side, you’ve got to prioritize your well-being and do what it takes to shine in the world of hospitality!

7. Managing guest conflicts

No matter how hard you try, conflicts are inevitable, right? But clear and empathetic communication can help to bridge gaps in understanding and find mutually satisfactory resolutions during conflicts. 

Emotional intelligence can enhance your active listening skills so that you listen to the guest’s perspective attentively and offer alternative solutions that meet their needs while considering the limitations or policies of the hotel. 

Rather than seeing conflicts as negative experiences, you & your staff can use them as learning to identify potential areas of improvement in service delivery 

By using EQ, conflicts can be addressed promptly, resolved satisfactorily, and even transformed into opportunities for improvement and strengthening guest relationships.

Must Read: How To Deal With Guest Conflicts At Your Hotel?

Tips to provide emotionally intelligent customer service in hotels

1. Show empathy and understanding

Put yourself in the shoes of the guest and try to understand their emotions and needs. Show genuine care and concern when interacting with them. Instead of just analyzing their situation, try to empathize with your guests.

2. Continuously learn and improve

Maintain your composure even in challenging situations. Avoid reacting defensively or taking conflicts personally. Respond with professionalism and a focus on finding solutions that improve yourself. Look for win-win outcomes that address their needs while considering hotel policies.

3. Offer personalized service

Tailor your service to the specific preferences and needs of the guest. Show that you genuinely care about their satisfaction by going the extra mile to make their stay memorable. For example; asking for and serving their favourite drinks as a welcoming gesture.

4. Practice self-care

Most importantly, take care of your own emotional well-being to ensure that you can provide the best service to guests. Take breaks, engage in stress-relieving activities, and seek support when needed.

The post Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Hotel Service Excellence appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Hotels often experience something similar to this when their prospect guests visit their website but do not make any bookings. This aspect of hospitality businesses is measured as the “look-to-book ratio”.

Let’s understand this in more detail.

In today’s digital world, users always scrutinize every service and product they are likely to purchase. That is what travelers do while booking their accommodations. They surf through the internet, various hotel websites, and OTA platforms to find a perfect stay at an affordable price.

I bet you don’t want your hotel to be just a part of their surfing process. Rather you’d like the guests to stop by your website and find it a perfect fit to book.

However, earning an instant booking from your website visitors is not easy. You have to set up proper strategies to hold your guests’ attention and to even out your hotel’s look-to-book ratio effectively.

But worry not. In this blog, I am going to discuss it all step-by-step.

What Is the Look-To-Book Ratio?

As the name suggests, the look-to-book ratio (also known as the L2B ratio) is a comparison between the number of people who visited your website vs the number of people who made a booking.

This ratio is one of the key performance indicators for your hotel and its website. It gives a reality check of your website’s quality and tells you if it is effective enough to make good sales.

What is an ideal look-to-book ratio?

After understanding the look-to-book ratio, as a hotelier, you might want to achieve the best value of it. So, let’s address the real question now – “what is the value of an ideal look-to-book ratio for hotels”?

You might think it is 1:1 but it can happen only in hypothetical situations. It is clearly an unrealistic case where every person that visits your website ends up booking a stay.

To be honest there is not any particular value that hotels should run after. Instead, through constant efforts, they must try to improve their ratio day by day.

So, let's say your look-to-book ratio is 30:1. Meaning, out of 30 people visiting your website, only 1 is booking. Now your next goal can be 25:1 or 20:1. You can even aim to achieve 10:1 in the long term (though it is not a cakewalk).

Yes, it seems easy to write and read these values, but achieving them is a whole different game altogether. However, it is not impossible. And this is why I am here to guide you through perfect strategies to help you reach your goals.

How to Improve Your Hotel’s Look-To-Book Ratio?

To improve your hotel’s look-to-book ratio, the sole strategy is to make your online presence more appealing.

When your guests reach your website they should feel connected. If the website visitors can relate to your website, its content, and your property then you are halfway through.

In this section, I am discussing all the strategies you must note and follow to improve your L2B Ratio.

1. Make your website visible

If you want people to book your hotel, the primary step is to reach them. For that, your website should stand out from the pile of the internet ecosystem.

To do so, you must work on the content of your website. Research on the current customer behavior, how they search on the internet and other platforms, and what they are actually looking for.

In technical terms, note down the SEO keywords (search engine optimization) and include them in your website content.

By using effective SEO for hotels you will get acknowledgment in the search engine to become visible to the world. With time, you will start driving more customer visits to your website.

2. Track your target audience

Let’s just face the truth, you can’t please every visitor. What you can do is attract a particular niche. According to your hotel and its facilities, you must figure out what is an ideal guest persona for your hotel.

Once you track down your audience, you can use effective techniques to pull them in. You should know how to impress them on their first visit to your website.

As we know, hitchhikers and solo travelers will look out for a fun and carefree experience. Whereas families will look out for a whole package and comfortable stays.

So, to hold the attention of your ideal guest, your website should give them the particular vibe they desire. If they do not get excited about their stay just by looking at your website, then they will barely book you.

3. Keep your audience engaged

People do not always visit the hotel’s website to make a booking. Sometimes they just make future plans and casually lookout for travel and vacation spots. (To get that adrenaline boost:D)

In these cases, it is important to make an ever-lasting impression on your audience. They should have a strong image of your hotel so that whenever they plan to book, they will remember you.

To establish such an impact, you must connect with your audience personally besides the basic advertisements. For this, it is important to have your presence on social media sites. 
Recently, hotels are also using WhatsApp business tools to connect well with their guests.

Due to WhatsApp’s popularity among all segments of society, it helps in better reach. With its catalog tool, hotels are able to share their offerings with a single click. It helps build a strong pre-booking connection with guests, eventually resulting in an increased number of bookings.

Explore more benefits of WhatsApp Business 

4. Build an authentic and appealing website

One thing that users lookout in your hotel website is accurate information. While creating it, ensure you are not keeping the details vague and hidden. Always give out the full and right information to your visitors.

This unveils transparency and adds authenticity to your hotel’s image.

However, it does not come solely through the content, the design and color scheme of your website are also inclusive. These can seem to be the less important factors but the visuals do impact a lot on the conscious as well as the subconscious minds of your guests.

So, for bringing a genuine aura to your website, along with its content, you must build it with eye-pleasing and exciting visuals. 

An effective website builder software can help you do so. You can check out eZee Panorama, which helped many properties build their dream websites and improve their L2B ratio.

5. Keep the booking process smooth

Once you build an appealing website, ensure that it also functions smoothly. If there are a lot of hurdles while booking and getting its confirmation, then your website will instantly lose its charm.

The first thing you must look out for is an effective booking engine. It should be highly receptive and instant in terms of functioning. So that, your guest gets a wide range of platforms to connect with your hotel easily. Moreover, it should notify you immediately to track your bookings and assist your potential guests.

You can check out eZee’s Booking Engine which handles all these affairs ideally.

Besides this, the process of booking should be kept short and simple. Do not make your booking box a registration form for some entrance exam. Your guests may feel it is too extensive and may leave without booking.

6. Put up amazing offers

One of the prominent ways to improve your hotel’s look-to-book ratio is by offering great deals.

Your guests surf the internet just to find the best deals. So, if your website has reasonable prices and great offers for them then they will definitely book you.

This is why putting up different offers in festivals and seasons become important. Giving special offers on repeat bookings, discounts on group bookings, and great deals on packages – are some excellent ways to persuade your audience for booking.

7. Provide instant assistance

“Never keep your guests waiting!” This goes for pre-booking as well. The moment you put your guests on hold, you lose them, especially in the pre-booking phase.

Nowadays, people are reckless in terms of doing activities or taking decisions. Gone are the days when they used to have patience.

So, if they have any queries, you better guide them instantly, or else they will move on to your competitors in no time. It is important to be available for your guests whenever they contact you otherwise you lose a booking. This will eventually reflect on your L2B ratio.

8. Shield well from negative reviews

Reviews have become an important source for website visitors to check your hotel’s authenticity. Hence, it is necessary to manage them wisely.

If your prospective guest checks your website and reads a bad review then they become skeptical. It reduces your chances of earning a booking.

Therefore, keeping your website clean and sober in terms of reviews is a must. But it can get a little challenging too.

For making it easy, your hotel can use a reputation management system to deal with the reviews on your website. eZee also provides you with Free Review Response Templates so that you can respond to positive or negative reviews in an ideal and safe way.

9. Handle cancellations like a pro

One thing that can’t be overlooked here is when your guests confirm a booking with you and then cancel it.

Cancellations are the silliest way to lose your bookings. They snatch away your hopes for a better L2B ratio. However, it can be handled well.

If your booking terms are feasible and flexible to suit your guest’s requirements then there are fewer chances of cancellations.

Still, if it happens, you can earn it back by keeping the rescheduling window open for your guests. Or by asking about their genuine issues and trying to amend them.

The post Master the Aspect of the Look-To-Book Ratio for Your Hotel appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Upon receiving the cake, I found that it was a strawberry cheesecake. So, as any of us would have done, I called the bakery and complained about the incorrect order.

The bakery’s owner noted my complaint and ensured to take corrective action about it. After half an hour, I was informed that they were sending two choco lava cakes to compensate for the earlier miss.

Now two things are worth noticing here – 

1. The wrong order ruined my customer experience
2. The apology gift increased my customer satisfaction

See, I was upset about the cake I got earlier, but receiving the new ones made me happy. This incident was a compelling factor in making me a loyal customer of the bakery.

I would even recommend it to my friends. 

The hospitality industry also works on these two verticals – Guest experience and guest satisfaction.

In this blog, we will dig deeper to understand guest satisfaction in hotels.

What is guest satisfaction in hotels?

Guest satisfaction in hotels is the measurement of how happy and satisfied your guests are with your products and services. It depends on three Q’s: Quality, Quantity and Quickness.

Let me explain this to you with the help of a scenario. You booked a stay at a hotel. Upon reaching there, you are allocated a suite room with a view of the magnificent Pacific Ocean. 

The room is well spacious, ventilated, and filled with ample amenities to make your stay a comfortable one. Even the room service and housekeeping are lightning-fast. 

With the above scenario, you can say that you had quite a satisfactory stay. Your experience was good and it was worth the investment. 

Let’s reverse the entire case. What if the room is small and missing essential amenities? How would you feel if the services are as slow as molasses? I am sure you would be disappointed.  

So, you can see that the quality, quantity, and quickness of a hotel’s services do leave an impact on guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry.

How is guest satisfaction measured in hotels?

Measuring guest satisfaction in hotels isn’t rocket science. All you need to look at is your hotel’s reviews and ratings.

You can assess guest satisfaction in two ways:

1. Use GSS (guest satisfaction survey) forms
2. Check online reviews

GSS forms assist in recording guest satisfaction scores at the individual property level. This data is available with the hotels only.

Earlier, it used to be a paper and pen method to record responses. Nowadays, a  link is shared with the guest to provide their feedback and rate their services on different parameters.

You can club all the feedback together and check for your average rating. 

Alternatively, you can check your hotel’s online reviews across all the OTAs. The best way to do this is to use online reputation management software. 

It saves you time and effort. Browsing every OTA individually and making a note of points is a hectic and time-consuming task. 

Instead, you can let the software do this work for you. It would provide you with a hotel’s daily performance report on each OTA.

It will showcase the guest satisfaction of each category separately. It could be room amenities, food quality, the hotel’s ambience and much more. 

Based upon ratings, guest satisfaction score has five levels – 

5 Star - Very Satisfied 
4 Star - Satisfied 
3 Star - Neutral 
2 Star - Dissatisfied 
1 Star - Poorly satisfied

So, you can easily check how satisfied your guests are and start working on improving it.

How to improve hotel guest satisfaction?

Certain factors affect customer satisfaction in the hotel industry; either positively or negatively. You can use 3Qs to ensure that the services offered to guests are top-notch.

Here are some easy ways to improve guest satisfaction in hotels.

a. Give a personal touch to their stay

“The single most important thing is to make customers happy. If you are making customers happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.”

Derek Sivers, Founder CD Baby

That’s true. A bit of attention towards guests can do wonders. 

When I say personal touch to their stay, it implies assisting them during the entire stay. All you need to do is greet guests warmly and ask how their stay is going on, or if they are facing any issues. 

This simple gesture will give you early feedback about the guests’ experience. You will be aware of any issues the guests may be facing and have enough time to rectify the problem. 

It will eventually result in a better guest experience, thereby improving guest satisfaction in your hotel.

b. Quickly resolve guest complaints

As I said in my previous blogs, ignoring guest complaints is fatal. It could be either one shared by guests during the stay or in the form of a negative review on any OTA.

But ensure you keep a record of these complaints and provide an on-time resolution to them. For in-house guest complaints, you can instantly take corrective actions.

However, for the complaints, which are in the form of negative reviews, it’s a bit tricky. I would recommend addressing this issue personally. 

Initially you can reply with an apology for the inconvenience caused to them to calm down the situation. Post that, you can connect with guests over the phone or by mail. 

If possible you can provide a complimentary service as a gesture of goodwill. Trust me! This step works like a miracle. 

c. Don’t ignore feedback and suggestions

Whilst you are replying to reviews, you should work on those feedbacks also. Every feedback is a learning lesson. Be it a positive or a negative review.

The positive reviews will give you factors that can give you an edge over your competitors. Meanwhile, the negative ones are potential areas that need prompt attention.

These reviews are actual mirrors of your hotel. Once you start working on the services with the lowest ratings, it will automatically increase your hotel’s guest satisfaction score.

d. Offer rewards to loyal guests

Let me tell you one of the best experiences I had with a loyalty program. A couple of years back, a new cloud kitchen chain started operating in our city. 

One fine day, I saw its promotional ad on Facebook and gave it a try. The food was so great and at such reasonable prices that I recommended it to my entire office.

Guess what happened after a month? I was ordering for almost half the office daily. Soon, I reached the required benchmark to be an elite member. 

I received enormous benefits from that membership. Buy one get one free offer, a gift of hazelnut brownie on every alternate order, free delivery and many other amazing deals. 

Similarly, hotels need to create attractive loyalty programs to attract maximum guests as well as retain existing ones. 

Once you enroll guests in the loyalty program, you can offer them multiple rewards on reaching a milestone. When guests achieve the required criteria, they can receive benefits as free room nights, weekend packages, tickets to an event happening in a hotel, and such likes.  

This will leave a good impression on the guests.

Quick-tip: If you don't want to create a loyalty program, you can opt to give a farewell gift to guests at their check-out. 

e. Stay in touch with guests post-checkout

Even after check-out, guests remain your potential prospects. It’s advisable to stay in touch with them after they leave your premises.

The initial post-stay activity is sharing GSS forms via mail or WhatsApp. Hotels using chatbots can program them to deliver this service.

As I said earlier, you can work on the feedback they share. Apart from this, you can keep your guests engaged by sharing on-going offers, their loyalty membership rewards, upcoming events, and much more.

f. Keep your staff happy

“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”

Anne M. Mulcahy, CEO XEROX Corporation

I do believe in this quote. When I used to work as an intern in Lemon Tree Hotel, I was treated like a family member.

Even for a second, they didn’t let me feel like a temporary employee. In fact, I remember an incident that made me feel lucky to be a part of the hotel staff.

I had my grandparents visiting my workplace. So, I showed them around and took them for lunch in our hotel’s in-house restaurant. 

I had ordered a complete meal for them and expected an employee discount on the bill (Well, I was earning a stipend but not enough). But, when I went to make the payment, I was informed that lunch was on the house. 

It was a great feeling. And the next day, I was working happily with high enthusiasm. Eventually, it resulted in providing guests with extraordinary services.

So, you need to treat your employees in the right way. Listen to them, ask for their suggestions, reward them for their services and they will be cheered up all the time. 

This will impact on services your guests receive. Over the time it will improvise your guest experience, thereby increasing hotel guest satisfaction score.

g. Invest in technology

Technology is a vital tool in improving guest satisfaction. From AI-enabled chatbots to implementing voice-controlled gadgets, hotel tech has advanced at a breakneck pace. 

As predicted by many hoteliers, ROBOTS are the future of hospitality. But that day is still years away.

But talking about the present scenario, you need to invest in hotel technology to improve guest satisfaction. It could be a basic thing such as tablet-based room service. 

It will help guests to request room service over the tablet. It could be ordering food, room cleaning or any amenity they want to use. 

Many hotels have AI-based chatbots installed to assist guests with activities they can enjoy at the hotel. You can opt for other options as well, such as a self-service kiosk, contactless payments, virtual reality tours and others.

The post Guest Satisfaction in Hotels: 7 Ways to Improve It appeared first on eZee Absolute.

I am still unsure whether it was out of anger or if she agreed with my thoughts (I guess it was the earlier one). And you know the rest.

All I am saying is, that every statement has a certain emotional value to it. As humans, we tend to do a sentiment analysis of everything we read.

Even in the hospitality industry, every review portrays certain sentiments, and it defines hotels as good or bad. During reputation management, this sentiment analysis plays a pivotal role. 

I can sense multiple questions popping up in your head. So, let me take care of them. Here’s an informative blog on the sentiment analysis for hotel reviews.

What is sentiment analysis?

Sentiment analysis (opinion mining) is a process of classifying the polarity of a statement. Depending on the text or phrases pertaining to specific emotions, there are positive, negative or neutral statements. 

Every review that guests post on any platform is considered for sentiment analysis. It assists in deriving the positives and negatives of any hotel.

Unlike NPS (Net Promoter Score) which uses ratings to assess any review, the sentiment analysis focuses on their content. 

With the assistance of machine-learning and deep-learning, the system is updated for various terminologies and phrases to classify the statements. To process feedback, the four main factors taken into consideration are:

1. Precision 
2. Recall 
3. F1 Score 
4. Accuracy

The initial three aspects use a certain algorithm to evaluate the hotel review dataset for sentiment analysis. Meanwhile, accuracy helps in gauging whether the analysed data is correct or not.

What are the benefits of doing sentiment analysis for hotel reviews?

Well, every industry is now adopting sentiment analysis to assess its reputation in the online market. The hospitality industry is following the same path with hotel reviews sentiment analysis.

Let’s find out about the benefits your hotel can derive from them.

a. Gauging hotels reputation in the market

One of the primary benefits of using sentiment analysis is knowing your hotel’s reputation. Most of the reputation management software uses a combination of NLP, NPS, and machine-learning to evaluate a hotel’s reputation.

The reviews from all the booking platforms you are listed on are collaborated to form a dataset. This data is then further narrowed down into three different sections using sentiment analysis as positive, negative, and neutral. 

Once the data is sorted out, certain metrics are used to calculate the reputation score of the hotel. It is then compared to the scores of compset to determine your hotel’s value among your customers.

b. Understanding a hotel’s flaws

Every statement which falls into the negative category has a phrase associated with services that guests dislike. Let’s consider an example of a negative review:

The hotel staff was quite rude to me when I complained about the unclean room being.

If we analyse this review, we can clearly understand that the guest is not happy with two things –

• Staff’s behaviour
• Dirty room

So, the hotel can take corrective actions to ensure that other guests don’t face the same problem. Eventually, every review in which guests have maligned services of the property is a learning lesson.

c. Analysing competitors

You cannot get financial records of your compset for analysis. However, with the sentiment analysis of hotel reviews, you can assess their reputation in the market.

Many reputation management software has a feature of competitor analysis. Once you update your compset in the system, it fetches feedback from all the sources and gives you a hotel review analysis report. 

This report consists of the praised and criticised aspects of all your competitors. You can utilise this report during SWOT analysis to understand the opportunities. 

d. Reviewing all data in a single go

You need to have a large amount of hotel review dataset for sentiment analysis. As I said earlier, you can utilise feedback from multiple reviewing platforms. 

It saves your time as well as effort, to look out on every review individually. Moreover, bulk analysis of feedback highlights your most critical and appraising factors.

How does the sentiment analysis for hotel reviews work?

Well, there are many techniques for sentiment analysis of hotel reviews. Yet, NLP (Natural Language Processing) remains the most used in all the reputation management software. 

To describe briefly, NLP analyse the text or phrase used to define the quality of services mentioned by the guests in reviews. Based on the nature of the word, the feedback receives its classification. 

The NLP based systems have keywords programmed in them to process the reviews. 

Let’s consider the below example for better understanding:

“The hotel room was clean and well maintained.”

As we can read, this review highlights the good aspect of the room. Now terms such as clean room, fabulous location, nice ambiance, and similar define a positive review. Considering such terminologies, this falls into the positive category.

“The food served in the hotel was terrible.”

Looking at the statement above, we can gauge it as negative feedback. Why? Because it’s criticising the quality of the hotel’s food.  

Terms that show the poor aspects of hotels relate to negative feedback. It could be an unclean room, unpleasant ambiance, rude staff, and such likes.

With the use of machine learning, this database keeps on upgrading from time to time.

What are the challenges faced during the sentiment analysis for hotel reviews?

As they say – Every cloud has a silver lining.

Sentiment analysis definitely is one the best method to classify any review. However, it has its own set of limitations. 

Here are some of the common challenges faced by the hotels:

a. Multilingual reviews are problematic

Sentiment analysis has English as the primary language for reviews. In fact, the words programmed in the systems running on NLP are in English only. 

It creates a barrier while analysing reviews that are in any other language. Although, with Google translation now being available on platforms, they are easier to read. Yet, Google translate is not 100% accurate. 

If there is a slight change in meaning, it will cause multiple errors in the sentiment analysis.

b. Tone of reviews

NLP is a part of technology. It can’t understand the exact emotions behind the statement. Sometimes, the review has some sarcasm used to complain about the hotel. 

However, the sentiment analysis considered the adjectives and adverbs to classify the review. Here’s a review with sarcasm for your reference:

"The hotel room was so neat and clean that it made me wonder why I forgot my broom at home."

As a person, I would read and understand the sarcasm behind it. But the software would pick up two main words from the review  – hotel room and clean.

Based on these two words, it would process the review and mark it as positive. I know, it sounds a bit stupid. But, it’s a technology and needs a rework in these areas.

c. Incapable of analysing complex statements

We have yet another drawback in the sentiment analysis of reviews. See, the system understands simple statement such as:

1. We had a mesmerising experience.
2. The hotel staff was helpful.
3. The rooms were unclean.
4. The food at the restaurant was terrible. 

However, when it comes to analysing a complex statement, NLP lets us down. Let’s consider an example for better understanding:

"Even though there was a bit of noise due to the road's construction, we had a pretty good experience."

When you and I would read this statement, we know it’s a positive review. However, the sentiment analysis considers two different factors:

1. Noise due to the road’s construction
2. Pretty good experience

With both positive and negative points in a statement, it would classify it as a neutral review. This definitely can cause lots of errors. However with time, this issue will be resolved.

The post Here’s All You Need to Know About Sentiment Analysis for Hotel Reviews appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Because he wanted to have early check-in and rooms were unavailable. The reason sounds a bit absurd. But in the end, the hotel had a bad review.

Two words that give hoteliers a nightmare: Negative reviews.

Almost every hotel struggles with reviews in 3 ways –

1. Collecting enough of them.
2. Managing negative ones.
3. Dealing with fake reviews

You can manage these feedback using an Online Reputation Management (ORM) software. But, avoiding bad ones and dealing with fake reviews is entirely a different thing.

In this blog, I’ll tell you all about negative hotel reviews and how to avoid them.

What guarantees negative hotel reviews?

Keeping guests happy is indeed a tough task. Hoteliers work day and night to accomplish this. But sometimes, guests are unhappy with the hotel’s services. 

Such guests are sure to give you bad feedback. Here are some top reasons for negative hotel reviews.

1. Incorrectly mapped location

Assume that you are on a trip and have booked a hotel in a remote area. You are following the directions on Google maps and arrive at the destination. But, there is no sign of any property.

It would surely bother you. You call up the hotel, ask for the correct location and reach there.Ultimately, you leave a bad impression of your property.

Hence, an erroneous location on Google or your website is a big NO. If guests are unable to reach your premises safely and conveniently, you are sure to have negative hotel reviews.

2. Unpleasant ambiance

There’s a saying – “The first impression is the last impression”. 

The first thing that guests notice is your hotel’s ambiance. An unclean lobby with an unpleasant smell is sure to drive your guests away. It results in a bad brand image and hampers your guests’ experience.

While entering or even leaving the hotel premises, guests have to cross the common areas of the hotel. If those are left unclean with debris and dust lying around, it would surely leave a bad impression on your guests.

3. Room complaints

An unkempt room is the last thing any guest would tolerate. It is not only limited to cleanliness but also includes various other factors. Some of them are:

Uncleaned rooms

Dirty linen, dust on the shelves, badly maintained washroom and such likes are traits of an unclean room. 

If guests find their room in this state, they are sure to lose their cool. They will probably take the pictures and upload them on TripAdvisor or any other OTA.

This brings you a bad review and eventually affects your booking ratio.

Faulty room equipment

Electrical gadgets tend to break down after a while or at least need regular maintenance. It may happen that some equipment might not work during a guest’s stay.

This could be due to faulty mechanisms, short circuits or any other reason. But using malfunctioning equipment is hazardous for guests as well as your hotel’s staff.

Unavailability of the booked room

Hotels don’t acknowledge overbooked guests. Mostly because overbookings happen due to technical or human error.

In such cases, the guests are provided with alternative options to stay. However, the damage is already done.

The guests are quite annoyed in such situations because they have to compromise on another option. 

And, this results in you getting negative hotel reviews.

4. Low-quality food

Most of the hotels have an in-house restaurant for guests to order their food from. Obviously, those guests would expect the food to be of good quality. 

But, what if it doesn’t meet their expectations?

No one likes to pay high-end prices for meals that cannot be consumed. 

For the hotels where the food is outsourced, it is important to keep a check on your vendors’ food quality. If it’s not up to the mark, you are sure to get negative feedback from the guests.

5. Delays in the room services

Bad food is one thing and delayed services are another. In-room dining falls into the latter category. Be it morning tea or dinner, room services are always there to assist guests.

What’s hated is the delay in the services. This could be either due to a shortage of hotel staff or a busy day at the restaurant.

Most people ignore this fact, but guests do leave bad comments for hotel services.

6. Unprofessional staff behavior

Hospitality is all about respecting guests. That’s the first thing hotel management students are made to practice, before they join any property as a professional.

How would you feel if someone treats you rudely? Bad, right? 

Similarly, rude and unprofessional behavior will let your guests down. Such a situation happening during their stay is a red alert for you. 

Must read: How to handle guest complaints?

7. Showcasing unavailable facilities

While updating your listing on any online booking platform, you select all the amenities and proceed ahead.

Mentioning facilities that are not available in your hotel will surely disappoint your guests. 

Suppose, you book a hotel showing ‘gym and spa available’. But, when you reach the premises, you find that such facilities don’t exist. It would be quite a frustrating situation. 

Updating such facilities will adversely impact your bookings as well as bring you negative hotel reviews.

8. Guests posting false reviews

Many guests post false reviews to earn some benefits from the hotel. You need to be aware of such reviews. 

The problem is you cannot delete such reviews from the website. But you do have an option of reporting the same.

You can also reply to this review, citing the angle of what happened in reality. This would help the readers to understand the situation.

How hotels can avoid negative reviews?

I’m sure after reading all those reasons mentioned above, you would be looking forward to finding a solution. So, it’s time to address the elephant in the room.

1. Follow SOPs

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are a must for every hotel. They standardize your hotel’s process to meet the set benchmark.

SOPs are a clear set of instructions to be followed by the hotel staff for completing any task. 

These SOPs apply to all the processes in the hotel. It could be cleaning a doorknob, greeting guests, preparing any recipe or something else.

Using the results in minimal guest complaints helps you avoid bad hotel reviews.

2. Do the SWOT analysis

Every hotel should do its SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) analysis. You can use your reviews for this task.

The positive ones will showcase your strengths and negative ones, your weaknesses. 

Learning about your competitors will make you aware of your threats. Apart from that, monitor and analyze what they are being praised for.  

For opportunities, focus on targeting new market areas. And highlight your property with more media and blog coverage.

3. Don’t over promise and under deliver

Imagine, you visit a hotel promising many luxuries and comforts in their ad. But on reaching there you find all of that was just a hoax.

Well that would hurt a bit, right? 

Just show your guests only those services which are available at your hotel. There’s no point in sugar coating and presenting them.

This results in creating your hotel’s negative reputation.

4. Ask for feedback during the stay

You must have heard – “Precaution is better than cure.”

Same goes with reviews too. It’s not necessary to ask guests for feedback at the end of the stay. Simply ask, “Are you enjoying your stay sir/madam?” whenever you see them.

They will let you know if they are facing any issues during their stay. This will help you in avoiding negative reviews to an extent. 

If you rely on the feedback after check out, you might miss the problem they have faced during their stay. Eventually, the outcome would be negative hotel reviews.

5. Record and rectify

Many hotels maintain a task sheet, to record any guest issues and resolve them on time. These task sheets have moved online owing to technology. 

But the main motive remains the same – “Record and rectify”

Let me tell you something from my experience. I used to work as a trainee in a well-known hotel. We used to note down anything a guest would say and share it with the concerned department.

For instance, a guest has asked to clean his room. So, we used to jot it down and contact housekeeping personnel to get the task done. Once it is complete we would strike that off from the list and mention the TAT (Turnaround time).

This helped in minimizing guest complaints and improved the TAT score too.

6. Reply to negative hotel reviews

“Don’t let any review go unanswered” – Always stick to this motto.

Guests are very observant. Before booking a room, they check every aspect of the hotel. Unreplied reviews are one such component.

Dealing with positive reviews is easier. A simple ‘Thank You’ would do good enough. The real challenge lies with replying to a negative review.

It’s advised to analyze the case before responding to such reviews. Once you come to a suitable conclusion, reply politely. 

If you use words that would make it sound like it’s the guest’s fault, that would be your worst mistake. Although if the review is false, you can choose to flag and ignore it.

7. Learn from your hotel’s bad reviews

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. – Henry Ford”

Every bad review is like a lesson. Each one is unique and makes you better. You need to check for your hotel’s most criticized aspects and start working on them.

Once you work on these feedback, you’ll see improvement in the guest experience. It is not possible to work on every feedback.

For example, there’s a review from a guest complaining that the room was small. So, will you break the wall and create extra space for them. Of Course not!

But if there’s feedback which is in regards to your service quality, don’t hesitate to address that. 

The sooner you start acting on bad reviews, the better will be your future feedback.

Conclusion

Bad reviews give goosebumps to any businessman. When it comes to hotels, it affects their online reputation.

It’s hard to have a completely satisfied guest. We are humans and we tend to make mistakes. However, these errors lead to negative reviews for your hotel.

But what matters is that we learn from them. Once you start analyzing your reviews, it’ll let you know about the scope of improvement. 

Eventually, one day you’ll have very few negative reviews for your hotel.

The post Want to Avoid Negative Hotel Reviews? [DON’T DO THESE] appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Now, this review on the internet can make or break your hotel’s online reputation.

You might be wondering, “Really?” 

Generally, hoteliers assume that the guests look at positive reviews only. But, it’s just a misconception. 

Apart from positive reviews, people also check on how the hotel has addressed the guests’ issues. Your online reputation directly influences guests’ decision of booking a room in your hotel.

I would recommend you to invest 10 mins into this blog. It will give you a detailed insight into hotel reputation management.

What is the online reputation for hotels?

Your reputation is what others think of you; your character is what you truly are. Reputations can be manipulated; a character can only be developed and maintained.

Bohdi Sanders

Online reputation is the way in which your hotel is perceived among guests across the web. If people consider your hotel in a positive way, you have a good reputation or vice versa. 

The ratings and reviews across your web listings and your way of interacting with them are used for analysis. Based on this your hotel’s reputation scorecard is prepared. 

That being said, you need to understand the parameters on which it is calculated.

How is a hotel’s online reputation measured?

There are two ways of measuring your hotel’s online reputation – 

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)

NPS is quite an easy way of knowing any hotel’s reputation score. It takes into consideration the ratings of a review for analysis. 

If the rating is 4/5 or 9/10 and above, it is considered a promoter. 

Whereas, a rating of 3/5 or 6 to 8/10 is considered as a passive review. 

Detractors, in this case, are reviews with ratings of 2/5 or 6/10 and below.

Promoter denotes that particular feedback can improve your hotel’s online reputation with good ratings. While a detractor review tarnishes your image.

NLP is an artificial intelligence (AI) based way of calculating the reputation score. Here, instead of ratings guest sentiments are used to create the report. 

For instance, words with a negative impact such as pathetic, bad, worst, horrible and so on denote unfavourable feedback. Whereas, words with a positive sentiment such as amazing, great, good, decent and others are signs of a favourable review.

Many hotel reputation management systems use both ways for providing accurate reputation scores.

What are the effects of hotel reputation management on bookings?

You must be aware that the reviews are co-related with your booking flow. Similarly, your hotel’s reputation score is directly proportional to your online revenue generation.

It is responsible for your property’s ranking on various OTAs. If you have a good reputation score, it improves your position in search results and visibility on the online booking platforms. Whilst a poor score results in a lower ranking and zero exposure among the customers. 

It’s quite obvious that the guests are inclined towards booking property from the top 10 to 15 search results.

If your hotel is not on this list, it is due to the low review count and their poor management. This eventually leads to the creation of a negative brand image.

As per research results published by researchgate.com

The majority of respondents (79.4%) are concerned with providing a positive image about hotels, and they are very disappointed if the hotel has a negative image (70.6%), besides, they recommend their friends to visit/deal with their hotels. 

This shows that if you have a bad image online, it can lead to a loss of 70% of guest bookings. If you calculate it even for one day, this volume seems quite high. Now imagine this on an annual basis. It sounds scary, right?

So now you know, that hotel reputation management, if done poorly directly affects your business on a larger scale.

What is the importance of reviews in hotel reputation management?

If you are in a competitive industry, great online reviews are not just nice to have, they are a requirement! 

Tom Kenemore

Online reputation without reviews is like a hotel without a room. You can’t have a performance report based just on a couple of reviews. 

Collecting more reviews can give you a better insight of your property. The user-generated content (UGC) will help you to provide points for the scope of improvement. 

Moreover, this UGC is a trust creating factors for your potential customers. It gives them a check. First of all, it helps them understand any hotel’s relationship with its guests. Secondly, it acts as a window for them, to see what’s actually inside the hotel.

A research conducted by TripAdvisor had quite shocking results – 

Be it positive or negative, ensure that you collect the maximum number of reviews and ratings for your hotel.

The positive ones will boost your rank and create a good impression on your audience. Whereas, the negative feedbacks are also important, so that you can work on the criticized aspects of your hotel. 

How can you master in hotel reputation management?

Now that you have an idea about online reputation, it’s time to think about how you could improvise it. Here, I’ve listed some easy ways you can implement for better results. 

1. Reply to reviews

One of the prime tasks in hotel reputation management is replying to the reviews. It shows your concern for the guest experience. Especially the negative ones. 

The way you respond to your hotel reviews creates an impact on your brand image, across various hotel booking sites. 

As far as the reviews are positive, replying to them is quite an easy task. But, you need to be very careful while handling the negative ones. 

A straightforward or blunt reply can create a negative impact on your guests. Try getting in touch with guests directly, to solve the issue on a priority basis. And keep the response for this review on the neutral side.

You can refer to these templates for replying to guest feedbacks.

2. Work on improving negative points

Now that you’ve your property’s performance report, it’s time to start working on the negative feedback. Focus on improving the criticized issues of your hotel. 

Align issues as per high to low priority. Give attention to the ones which have ruined guests’ experience the most. Once you’ve resolved that error, move on to the next. 

Eventually,you’ll find a rise in positive reviews and a huge drop in negative ones. This would automatically improve your hotel’s online reputation.

3. Beware of the fake comments

It’s not necessary that all the negative reviews you receive are genuine. Sometimes, the guests may post a false review about your hotel. You need to keep a check on such reviews.

It can be out of any personal grudge or maybe a trick to enjoy some free benefits from the hotel. Try to address such comments.

Let your guests know the truth about that particular situation. If possible reply with relevant proof. Also, you can flag them out as inappropriate reviews. So any potential customers reading it will be aware of this fact.

4. Impart good experience

Being from the hospitality industry, I can understand that keeping guests happy is not an easy task. Hoteliers work hard, day in and out. 

However, you can ensure that their experience is not hampered by any internal factors. None of the guests will like such a thing to happen. 

Often, things may go haywire due to unexpected events. Try to make up for them. Guests like it, when hotels take one extra step to ensure that their stay is flawless.

This will give you an edge over your competitors, and you’ll be in good books amongst your guests.

It’ll directly impact the feedback shared by guests. A good experience by them will bring you more positive reviews and good ratings. And it will eventually boost your reputation score.

The post Hotel Reputation Management: 4 Easy Hacks to Master It appeared first on eZee Absolute.

In one of our previous blogs, we talked about how to avoid negative reviews. But today, in this article, we will provide you with some amazing tips on how to handle the good, the bad, and the ugly of hotel reviews.

Whether you’re dealing with a rave review or a scathing critique, we’ve got you covered. So grab a cup of coffee (or a stiff drink) and let’s get to work on managing your online reputation!

And we’ll get there step by step. But let’s start with basics first.

Online Hotel Reviews: How important are they?

Imagine running a hotel with no reviews. Guests come and go, no feedbacks recorded anywhere! And you have no idea how your guests found their stay. Was it good? Bad? Would they come back again? Would they recommend your property to their friends and family? All that remains unanswered.

Doesn’t this sound like a half baked fortune cookie?

Needless to say, your guest reviews have a significant impact on how travellers book for their stay. Figures have it all:

A whopping 93% of people check hotel reviews before booking a room.

AND

33% of guests do not prefer to book a hotel with no reviews.

If that’s not enough, there are a few other reasons why online hotel reviews are important for your property:

• To improve your hotel’s online ranking and visibility: In this era of content driven business, reviews add a lot of value to your hotel. Reviews also show at the top of Google searches. This helps improve your hotel’s rankings, brings awareness and visibility to your hotel. More visibility means more bookings and hence more revenue!
• Know where you stand: Guest reviews help you consistently improve your hotel’s performance in terms of service, operations and management. They help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and work on them.
• Improve booking opportunities: To say the least, reviews can make or mar a booking. Studies have shown that almost 70% of people’s purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews.

Moreover, a recent Barclays study reveals that there is an extra £3.2 billion to be earned over the next decade if the hotel sector becomes more attentive to online reviews.

With these reasons and figures, it’s time to ask guests for reviews after their stay. These reviews will add value in terms of unique, interesting and helpful content around your brand.

Our blog on Hotel Reviews and Reputation Management will give you a detailed insight on how to maintain your property’s online reputation.

Types of hotel reviews

We are sure you and your staff make all possible efforts to maintain a good reputation, but there are good days and bad days.

There are times when guests do not like the service, food, rooms or there might be other complaints in spite of your best attempts.

On the other hand, guests might appreciate your endeavors and give reviews out of will and joy. Let’s see the type of reviews you may get:

1. Positive hotel reviews

Happy or positive hotel reviews are not a rare thing to happen. If your guests are happy, had a good time at your property, have had excellent service that has made their stay memorable; they’ll go ahead and give you those sparkling 5-stars.

Here’s a positive hotel review sample:

2. Neutral hotel reviews

Neutral reviews arise when guests are satisfied with one of your facility, but are not happy with another. These guests do not wish to complain strongly, but at the same time, want to bring their experience to everyone’s notice.

Here’s an example of a neutral hotel review:

3. Negative hotel reviews

Your guests will use reviews to share about the bad experience they had at your property.

Do keep in mind that guests leaving negative hotel reviews are more active than those sharing positive reviews.

Afterall, you were not able to meet their expectations.

Most of the times, negative hotel reviews are genuine. But at other times, people might not be truthful about them. What do you do in such cases?

Here’s a genuine negative hotel review example:

Negative hotel reviews are very sensitive, and responding to a negative review might pose as a whole new challenge.

You should not let a fake, non genuine negative review affect your reputation.

Why do hotels get negative reviews?

There are a number of guests that visit your property. All of them have different requirements and expectations from your property. Of course there are shortcomings, but not all guests overlook those small things.

That is to say, you might be able to satisfy some, and few might not be happy with what you had to offer to them.

This is the main reason, along with few others mentioned here; why, in spite of all your efforts, there are negative reviews:

• Delay in check-in/check-out or other services
• Improper (unclean) rooms and housekeeping
• Staff’s mistakes (complaints about staff behaviour)
• Maintenance issues/complaints
• Additional charges or billing errors
• Bad customer experience in general

There might be more reasons for a negative review. You need to figure that out for a bad hotel review and respond to them accordingly.

Tip: You might want to get some tips on how to handle hotel guest complaints. 

Why should hotels respond to reviews?

As a matter of fact, reviews when published are open and public for the world to see and act on. A study says that:

A difference of 1 star in the ratings can result in 9% difference in revenue. 

Convert with content

Therefore, your hotel review responses will not only show your credibility, but also indicate your acceptance towards the feedback you get.

Here are a few more reasons on why you should respond to hotel reviews:

• To show that you have a great customer service: Replying to a review shows that you are listening and you care about your guests. The social world we are living in demands to be heard and to be responded to. Guests are more likely to visit and book your property if they see your responses on reviews. 
• To build a relationship and maintain reputation: Because you responded, you are now registered in the mind of a future guest. Besides, you also have the opportunity to build a relationship and increase the chances of that guest coming back to your hotel or recommending you to his friends and family. 
• To change the perception of reviewers: When you respond to a negative review which is fake and stand for yourself, you change the mindset of people reading the review. In this way, they get more inclined towards booking your property. 
• To gain insights: When responding to a negative review, you have an opportunity to gain insight from the interaction with the guest. If the problem mentioned by the guest is true, you have a chance to dig deeper, take the conversation offline and fix the problem so that future guests do not have to face the same thing.

A review once posted publicly cannot be undone. Yes, it can be edited on some platforms, but deletion might not be possible.

Here the perfect way to let the guests know what went wrong or what can be improved in the future is to respond to their reviews in the best possible way.

How to draft hotel review responses?

The importance of writing a response is pretty much evident by now. Each portal has guidelines, decorum and good behaviour norms that should be adhered to while writing a response. 

Positive hotel review responses might be easier and straightforward to draft. But as I mentioned previously, responding to negative hotel reviews is a tougher nut to crack.

And firstly, most of the hotels ask this one question very frequently:
How to respond to negative hotel reviews? OR How can I reply to negative TripAdvisor reviews?

And why not. Negative hotel reviews not only show your property in a bad light, but also influence your future guests to not book with you. For this reason, negative hotel review responses should be mandatory in your list.

So let’s focus on that first.

How to respond to negative hotel reviews?

While responding to a negative hotel review, or in fact any kind of your hotel reviews online, you need to follow certain guidelines.

I mean, you cannot just respond to all the reviews in the same way. Because each guest is going to talk about something different or the other. One may point out the perfect location of your property, and the other may highlight your staff’s inattentiveness.

Considering all those factors, we’ve drafted an ideal hotel review response formula, which can be primarily used to respond to your negative reviews.

Besides this, I’ve got some additional tips to draft effective hotel review responses:

Tip 1: When you offer a solution to the problem, take those conversations into a private space. Contact them directly if you can, or ask them to email you.  

Tip 2: Your entire response should be written in a respectful tone. It should NOT sound rude to the guests.

Tip 3: See if you can have your hotel’s guest relations manager or general manager respond to your reviews. This will leave a better impact on the guest and viewers.

Now let’s come back to positive and neutral hotel reviews.

How to respond to neutral and positive hotel reviews?

Unlike negative reviews, responding to positive hotel reviews is most of the times simple and straightforward.

So, you’d want to thank the guest for giving you a positive feedback, and even welcome him back at your hotel at the same time.

For neutral hotel reviews; well these kind of reviews are a mix of positive and negative. This is where you are confused whether to thank him for the good things he said or apologize for the experience he had.

How should an ideal hotel review response be?

An ideal hotel review reply should contain everything that you want to tell your guest.

Our free hotel review response templates will help you immensely in writing response on any of the portals such as TripAdvisor, Google, Booking.com, Facebook.

These hotel review reply templates are ready-to-use and include negative hotel review response examples as well as positive hotel review response templates.

Let’s see an example. Say you get a negative hotel review as below:

Disappointing experience
The Hotel Manager is extremely rude. The facilities inside the room are horrible. Even the appliances don't work properly. I will never come to this hotel any more and will advise everyone not to commit the mistake of choosing this hotel for staying - you will repent.

In our hotel review response templates, you’ll find an optimum approach to respond to a negative hotel guest review like above.

Using the negative hotel review response template in our document, the response to the above review can go like:

Hi Guest, 

Thank you very much for making time to give us feedback. We’re really sorry for the inconvenience you had. We have addressed this straight away to our staff and escalated it to the management for immediate action; to ensure that this incident is not repeated again. At present we’re taking steps to upgrade our room facilities, and also implementing utmost care in our appliance maintenance. We’d like to invite you again at our hotel and experience the improved stay. If you have any further concerns, please share it with us at: grievances@royalbeachresort.com. Your feedbacks and suggestions are always welcome.

Hoping to see you soon!

Regards,
Edward Joe
Royal Beach Resort

We’re sure, these free hotel review reply samples will answer all your questions viz.

1. How to respond to reviews on TripAdvisor?
2. Ways to effectively respond to hotel reviews on Google
3. How to respond to guest complaints in hotel?
4. How to respond to positive hotel reviews?

Our templates will work for any platform, may it be TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook including the OTAs you are listed on.

Above all, as there is an abundance of platforms to write reviews on, you might lose a track to reply to reviews everywhere. A lot of hotels these days use review management software to track their online reviews and respond to them quickly.

Some systems also have an option to save your templates, and use them to respond to reviews with minor edits.

See, how Critique (eZee’s review management system) tracks and manages your reviews and helps you enhance your online reputation.

FAQs

We have gathered and addressed a few frequently asked questions by our customers which they encounter while responding to reviews.

If you have any other questions in mind about hotel review replies or need some help in responding to your hotel reviews, feel free to ask in the comment section below. I’d be happy to answer. 

In conclusion

Reviews give a picture of your property to future guests and your responses to those reviews build a good reputation and trust in your property.

So, while your hotel review responses would be great, but it is equally important for you to ask humbly for reviews when customers check-out.

Give them the best possible service so that you have to deal with less of negative reviews. A good review is the best way to do a word of mouth publicity for your property.

Take tips from your negative hotel reviews to improve your services and experience they get.

Use our free template which contains positive, neutral and negative hotel review examples for you to use.

The post How to Respond to Positive and Negative Hotel Reviews? [FREE Templates] appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Now, I’m planning a trek. So I Google and shortlist a few best and affordable treks happening. Your resort matches my requirements and the pictures just make me awestruck. I check for reviews online before making the booking. But guess what? I didn’t find any.

This would impact my thought process. I’d lose trust and book a property with good reviews instead.

Argh! There goes a booking. And probably many others like me. Sounds disappointing, right?

But we’ve discovered an eye opening fact – online hotel reviews impact your bookings and eventually your revenue. Just a couple of reviews on your TripAdvisor page could have gotten you that booking from me. 

Hotel review management. Seems like an interesting topic to focus on, isn’t it?

I am going to cover all about it in this blog. So, just tuck into your blanket, grab a hot chocolate and read ahead to know more about reviews.

Starting from scratch..

What is a Hotel Review?

A hotel review is a rating system, where guests share their experiences of staying at the hotel on a booking website. 

They are nothing but feedback from guests on what they liked or disliked about your property. Many hoteliers analyse aggregated reviews from various platforms. 

In the hospitality industry, reviews are IMPORTANT.

We can say that the ratio of the number of bookings is proportional to the hotel’s online reviews count.

These reviews also help hotel owners in getting an insight into their business performance. By analyzing the reviews, hoteliers can get a clear picture on which services are being preferred by their guests and which are not.

Similarly, you can gauge the sentiments attached from the reviews as well. Let’s explore more about them.

What are the Types of Hotel Reviews?

Every review is based on guest sentiment. For instance, if any guest had an uncomfortable stay at your hotel, he will write a feedback criticising your hotel. Depending upon the sentiment of a review, they are categorized as below:

1. Positive Reviews

Guests experiencing a great stay at your property often post positive reviews. These could be about food quality, housekeeping services, location of the hotel, ambience, and so on. Every guest has different comfort zones based on which they book a hotel. If you meet their expectations, you will surely collect positive reviews on your hotel’s page.

Here’s a positive hotel review sample: 

Hospitality is the centre point of this review. It means the hotelier knows how to make a guest’s journey amazing. And, if you would have noticed, this particular property hotel focuses on dealing with guest complaints at a fast pace and assist in all ways to impart a better experience. These kinds of highlights in reviews become a catalyst for your bookings.

On the rating scale, 4 stars or more out of 5 counts on a positive side.

2. Negative Reviews

A vacation is not something everyone can plan and afford every day. They book rooms in a hotel with certain expectations. The moment their trip turns sour, you will have a negative review on your way.

Guests unsatisfied by your services and facilities will surely write negative feedback. They’ll be highlighting all the issues they’ve faced. Ignoring such negative hotel reviews is a grave mistake. It would affect your TripAdvisor ranking, leaving a poor impression on potential guests.

Here’s a negative hotel review example:

The above review speaks about various negative aspects of the property. Such negative comments impact guest’s decisions of booking your hotel.

I would suggest to use this feedback as a source of improvement. Hotel review management makes you aware of your property’s strength and weakness. This helps improve your guest satisfaction levels, resulting in more positive reviews and a rise in booking ratio.

A 2 star or less rated feedback counts as a negative review.

3. Neutral Reviews

As the name suggests, neutral reviews are unbiased reviews. They highlight both the aspects of a property, the positive and the negative ones. A neutral review states that some of your services satisfy your guests, however, there is a scope of improvement in certain areas.

The picture shared below is a perfect example of a neutral review:

In this review, the guest had a great experience overall, loved the staff, the property, and the location. But he found the room smaller than expected and was disappointed with the breakfast.

Such types of review are of contradicting nature. However, such guests will surely come back, if the hotel addresses and fixes these issues.

On the rating scale, a 3-star rating denotes neutral side.

One thing that’s established here is – “Reviews are building blocks of your online reputation.” 

But another question arises at this point. Do reviews impact bookings and revenue as well?
Let’s look ahead and find the answer to this question.

Impact of Online Hotel Reviews on Bookings

Have you ever played Snakes and Ladders? 

Every time you throw a die, a number comes up and you’ve to move forward. If you land on a snake’s face, you go down. But if you land on a ladder, you climb up.

These reviews are ‘Snakes and Ladders’ of your online reputation. Every positive review is a ladder to move to the next level. Every negative one is a snake, it will bring you a level down. Once you fall from a higher level, you need to rework for reaching that level again. Each feedback you collect affects your ranking on every reviewing and booking platform. 

Earlier word-of-mouth marketing fulfilled the absence of internet marketing. If a person didn’t like any service, he would tell his circle of friends and they’d pass it on to others.

But now with the internet and social media in the picture, this task has become much easier. Reviews can go viral in a click. The feedback is viewed by millions across the world. 

A recent study by TripAdvisor revealed that –

These analytics are from just a single source of reviews. If we talk on a global level, there would be at least 10-15 known websites for travellers to book a hotel. All these websites have review and rating segments in them. Imagine the impact on your booking at such a broader scale. 

According to a study conducted by Harvard Business School,

A 1-star increase in ratings equals a 5-9% increase in revenue.

Imagine the consequences it could have on your hotel’s booking ratio. However, what we are talking about is a positive impact. If we were to reverse this statement on a decrease of a star, it could lead to a loss of 9% revenue or more.

So with all things being said, let’s get to business. We need to start with the very first step that is collecting reviews. The question is, how to do that? Well, let’s explore it below.

How to Collect Hotel Reviews?

All it takes is just 2 mins to collect a review. However, the life of hoteliers is fast-paced. During check-out, it becomes hectic for any front office personnel to collect feedback amidst all the chaos.

So, here we are giving you some tips and tricks which could help you to encourage guest reviews for your hotel. 

1. During check-out, remind the guest once to give a review for your hotel.
2. Once the guest leaves your premises ensure he receives an email, message, or WhatsApp with a link to a reviewing platform.
3. Be available on multiple platforms such as hotel websites, Facebook, Google and others.
4. Have a reviewing section interlinked with your websites, you can opt for TripAdvisor’s review widget.
5. And the most important factor was, is and will be to provide the BEST guest experience.

Now that you’ve collected enough reviews, it’s time to answer them. Let me show you the correct way to do it.

How to Respond to Hotel Reviews?

You have a new restaurant opened in your neighborhood. One day you plan to visit there for a fine dining experience. The evening is going great; you are about to dig into that plate of tantalizing food. Suddenly you find a hair in it. You’d go berserk after this.

You put a complaint to the manager of the restaurant. Now let me give you two situations here – 

1. He listens to you and ignores it, saying that the hair might be yours, and asks you to leave if you didn’t like the food.
2. He listens to you calmly, apologizes for it, and gives you a replacement for it; maybe a complimentary dinner for an awful experience you had.

Which one you’d prefer? 

The second one, of course! So you see how an inappropriate response can blow things out of proportion. It would affect both ways. As a hotelier, an appropriate response to reviews could help you win over guests. As per statistics shared by customerthermometer.com –

• Resolve a complaint in the customer’s favour and they will do business with you again 70% of the time,
• Up to 95% of customers will give you a second chance if you handle their complaint successfully and promptly.

Replying to review might seem an easier task, but it should be problem-solving. A generic saved response on every review looks unprofessional. It would not create the desired impact on guest reading reviews and replies too. 

We have a full-fledged blog on how to reply to reviews. On top of that, we have free-of-cost review response templates, ready to use anytime you need.

Why is Hotel Review Management Important?

Your reviews and reputation directly affect sales volume. So, it is essential to manage your hotel’s reviews time-to-time. This will help you gain a competitive advantage for your property, and will enhance your hotel’s revenue.

Gradually, more and more guests are sharing experiences on online platforms; about the hotels they’ve stayed in. So, as a hotel who cares about its brand reputation, you need to keep a track on the reviews you get and even respond to them regularly.

Besides, marketing is an essential viewpoint of hotel review management, because reviews act as both positive and negative multipliers.

So, hotel review management is as important as the day goes.

Challenges in Review Collection and Management

Whether it is review management or any other task, challenges are always there. What matters the most is how you’d deal with them. 

Getting reviews is easier said than done. It comes with a set of challenges. I am listing out some challenges here, along with some solutions to overcome them. 

Guests Not Providing Feedback

A lot of times it has been said that guests are not interested in sharing feedback. What I’d suggest you is to keep a shareable link available with your staff always.

The moment guests arrive at reception for check-out, you can share a link via text, email or WhatsApp. This would also help you to be in touch with your guests post checkout, so you can run a quick promotional activity if required.

Fear of Negative and Fake Reviews

Many hoteliers are afraid of receiving negative reviews on any platform. And it’s true for obvious reasons. Negative reviews bring your ranking down, but fake reviews are another thing. These fake reviews are full of dramatic and deceptive. The agenda behind such reviews is leveraging some benefits out of the hotels.

The best you can do is flag them as inappropriate. As far as negative reviews are concerned, it’s best to reply to them (And that too on-time).

The theory is when you attend a guest’s complaint and assure this won’t happen again, they would probably be interested in coming back to you. Also, the negative reviews will make you focus on various scope of improvement in your hotel.

Untrained Staff

As I mentioned previously, the life of a hotelier is fast-paced. It may happen many times that your staff won’t be able to collect everyone’s feedback.

This could be because of various reasons such as group check-out or check-in, ongoing event in the hotel or maybe something else. But what’s important is the corrective steps you should take. Arrange a training session every week for your staff members. Ask for their suggestions on how you could make this process more smooth and easier. Remember –

Rome was not built in a day.

These are some challenges faced by various hoteliers in collecting reviews. As I said before, the hospitality industry is the most dynamic. Every guest is different, so will be every feedback.

However each one will give a learning experience leading to improvised services. The best way to do so is keep collecting, replying and analysing reviews. 

In conclusion

Reviews form an integral part of hotels. They directly relate to the booking proportion. If you ignore your hotel review management, it does not only affect your business performance but also will affect your generated revenue. 

So take a step ahead, try to collect maximum reviews, learn from your mistakes, and become the best property in the market.

The post Here’s Why You Need to Start Focusing on Hotel Reviews appeared first on eZee Absolute.