Spring into Action to Address or Reverse a Poor Tripadvisor Review.

As hoteliers, we have all had that sinking feeling when we receive a poor TripAdvisor review. It’s not fun.

But keep your spirits up and take immediate, firm action. You might be surprised by the results.

First, promptly contact the reviewer through the TripAdvisor site. Leave your mobile number and email address, with this simple message: “I want to talk about your stay and learn what went wrong, and to make it right”. Second, try to find the reviewer’s folio from clues in the review. The next steps are very important: listen and learn.

Call the guest, but don’t make the call unless you are ready to listen about what went wrong. This can be hard to take. Be prepared for an embellished version, because that’s human nature, but sift through their comments to understand what happened.

Don’t dispute anything. Don’t argue. Apologize, and explain that you want a chance to provide a better guest experience. If appropriate, offer to adjust the rate for the poor stay. And make sure the next stay is flawless.

A lot of work? Sure. Is the guest always right? No. But you have a long term goal here, and that is the chance to have the review removed.

Don’t ever ask someone to remove a review, but if a guest understands how devastating a poor review can be and if you establish a good track record of following through in addressing complaints, you may be surprised how often the guest will delete a poor review. Win the day with kindness and excellent service – the definition of hospitality.

Make sure their next stay is a good one by asking your front desk team to notify you if the guest is on the check-in list. This may be one room you will want to inspect yourself – and test the Internet speed while you’re in there.