Skip to content
SwimUp

Google reviews for a hotel: asking, replying, looking after your listing

For a hotel, reviews are read even before the photos: cleanliness, noise, welcome, breakfast. A traveller mostly reads the recent criticism and how you reply. Here are the most common situations.

Situations that come up

  • The cleanliness of a room

    This is the complaint that weighs most. Say thank you, say you pass the remark to the housekeeping team, without naming the room number or the dates of the stay.

  • The noise

    Busy street, neighbours, building work. Acknowledge the nuisance without defending yourself with the location. If you would offer a quieter room in the future, say so simply.

  • The welcome at arrival or departure

    A late arrival badly handled leaves a bad memory. Apologise without detailing your front-desk schedule.

  • The positive review about the stay

    Say thank you with a detail: the welcome, the view, the breakfast. Don’t name the guest or the length of the stay.

Three reply templates to adapt

Fill in the fields (optional)

An empty field stays in square brackets in the text: fill it in before publishing. Read it over and change a few words, a reply that looks written for this person beats a copy-paste.

  • Cleanliness of the room

    The guest criticises the state of the room.

    Hello [first name], thank you for your feedback. We are sorry your room was not up to the expected standard, in particular [problem]. We are passing your remark to the team. If you wish, write to us at [contact]. The [business name] team.

  • Noise during the stay

    The guest complained about noise.

    Hello [first name], thank you for taking the time to write to us. We regret that your night was disturbed, [problem]. We are looking at what we can improve. You can also contact us at [contact]. [business name].

  • Thank-you

    Positive review.

    Thank you [first name] for your message! Knowing that [specific point] made your stay pleasant makes the whole [business name] team happy. We hope to welcome you again.

Other cases (fake, unfair, no comment reviews): the twelve general templates.

Where to put your review QR code

  • At the reception desk, at departure, when the guest settles the bill.
  • In the room, on a small card next to the key or the welcome note.
  • In the email sent after the stay, with the direct link to your listing.

The direct link, the QR code and an A4 poster with your name are made here: Google review link and QR code (free, no account). The same QR code for all your customers, with no sorting.

To check on your Google listing

  • Check-in and check-out times, and whether a late arrival is possible.
  • The real services: breakfast, parking, access to the room, accessibility.
  • Recent photos of the rooms, the shared areas and the outside, as they really are.

To go through the rest: the 17-point listing check-up. A complete listing doesn't guarantee a better ranking, it mostly keeps you from losing a customer over wrong info.

To avoid

  • Naming the room number or the dates of the stay in a public reply.
  • Offering a night or a breakfast in exchange for a review: Google forbids it.
  • Replying by comparing with other hotels in town.

Google's rules change: read its official help from time to time. More details: getting more Google reviews, honestly. These tips are practical, they don't replace legal advice.

A review to deal with now?

With a free SwimUp account, you paste the review and get a tailored reply draft (3 per day). Always read it over before publishing. No bank card. SwimUp also offers paid services around Google reviews, shown on the home page.

Create a free account

Other trades