Effective review pages for hotels (other than TripAdvisor!)

Reviews are becoming more and more important, and you can't ignore them anymore. A hotel with 150 good reviews will be booked more often than a hotel with just 30 good reviews. So, it’s about time to start collecting more reviews. Which review pages can you use to collect guest reviews? We'll tell you all about it in this blog.

Research before making a choice

Before you choose which review pages are best suited for your accommodation, it's a good idea to do small-scaled research first. For example, look at what your competition does; which platforms do they use and how do they do it? You can also ask guests which pages they use to check reviews. With this information, you can probably make a more successful decision.

Also interesting: 3 tips to upgrade your Guest Communication

Which review pages are interesting for your hotel?

TripAdvisor is one of the most popular review pages for the hotel industry. However, don't be blinded by this because many other options can increase your room sales. Have you thought about the following platforms?

• Zoover

Zoover is the platform for holiday reviews that focuses not only on hotels but also on holiday parks and campsites. Although Zoover is also available for international guests, this review page is best known in the Netherlands.

• Google reviews

Google also has a growing platform for reviews. The reviews become visible when a targeted search is done. This can be a search directly for your hotel name, but also by searching like the following: ''hotel Manchester''. The reviews are then displayed for some hotels in Manchester, including your hotel (if you’re located there).

• Booking sites

Booking.com probably has the largest review platform but make no mistake about other booking sites. Almost every booking site asks the guest to give a review after their stay. In general, these booking sites actively ask for a review themselves, but be sure to ask the account managers what you can do to encourage a review.

• Your website

You want as many people as possible to book through your website because those bookings are commission-free. The more attention you pay to your website, the more important it is to show reviews there as well. To show reviews on your website, you can use applications/plug-ins of the already known review platforms.

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• Social media

When you think of social media and reviews, you probably think of Facebook and the review options that are given on a company profile. That's right! But it doesn't stop there; Instagram, Twitter and YouTube are also excellent platforms for getting reviews. They're not just reviews in the traditional sense, but also in the way of messages and likes. Are there many positive reactions for a post that mentions your hotel? Then it's even more attractive for travellers to take a closer look at your hotel. If there are many negative reactions, this is often counterproductive.

• Influencers

In recent years we’ve seen a rise in travel bloggers and vloggers, some of whom have an incredible number of followers. This group of people would love to visit and test your location in exchange for attention on social media and blogs. It can be beneficial to have an influencer review your location, but we would like to remind you to take a critical look at which influencer(s) you are approaching. Ask yourself the following questions: what is that person's target group, and is he or she also a credible person?

As you can see, there are many ways to put your hotel in the spotlight and collect ratings. Our advice is to start small and keep expanding. Every review page should also be managed; the more platforms you use, the more work you have. The trick is to find a balance between the number of platforms and the time you spend on them. Would you like for us to advise you on this? No problem! Feel free to give us a call or send us an email.

Related articles:

• Why guest reviews are important for your hotel
• Manage your hotel reviews with these tips!
• 5 tips to impress your hotel guests

About SmartHOTEL

For more than 16 years, SmartHOTEL has been helping hoteliers navigate the exciting world of online distribution. From our office based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, our team serves independent hotels, hostels and chains worldwide by providing channel management and tailored online distribution solutions. A lot has changed over the last years, but our goal remains the same: simply connect hotels to the world. For any questions regarding our services, please contact us at sales@smarthotel.nl or call +31 (0)182 75 11 18.