This article talks about how to deal with bad reviews. The author gives some advice to help out the hoteliers how to transform the negative view into a positive one.

1.     Speak up: Always take the time to answer to the guest’s review

2.     Show leadership: Despite our hard efforts, we should never give up on the unfair criticism. “Treat every review as learning experience”. To find the ways to improve it with the staff. It is always better to hear the guest’s comments no matter it is negative or positive than nothing.

3.     Take the high road: We should respond in a diplomatic way even for the petty reviews.

4.     Make reputation management priority: The guests should have a place to share their reviews on the hotel and it is important for the hotel to subscribe to the social media monitoring.

5.     Create a cycle of positivity: If we want to create a positive cycle based on the guest’s reviews, it is very important to never ignore them. Using them will lead the hotel to capitalize, and turn negative reviews into positive ones.

6.     Prevent escalation: Before the issue will expand, employees should manage the guest’s complaint straightaway with politeness instead of letting it down.

7.     Take the good with the bad!

It is no doubt that the bad reviews are not always pleasant for the hoteliers and it is even frustrating. 

But it is certain, the guest’s feedback on the hotel either positive or negative is always useful to improve hotel’s service and of course satisfy the customers in a better way.

Today, the hotels are used to hire a mystery guest (a professional critic in hospitality area) in order to evaluate every aspects, the hotel offers, through the eyes of a typical guest.  From my previous experience in a Parisian hotel, I can say that sometimes the managers were focusing more on the mystery guest’s feedbacks than a simple guest’s opinion. They are maybe right, but I think still we should always take into account every review no matter if it comes from a mystery or typical guest.

Thanks to the guest’s feedbacks, we can do our job better! 

Link to the article