13 Feb 2017

Web hotel reviews overwhelmingly from those sharing the love

Nearly four out of five of all hotel reviews are from guests that have had a satisfactory or better experience, data from 70 million reviews has shown.

The Global Hotel Reputation Benchmark Report from Revinate, analysing items of feedback over the last two years from review sites around the world, found that four and five-star reviews made up 79.6% of the total volume.

Just 8.2% of all reviews came within the one or two-star range.

Revinate calculates that there is a general increase in the number of reviews to mid-range properties (two, three and four-rated hotels), with increases of 12%, 13.5% and 14.5% respectively in 2016 compared to the previous year.

The number of reviews on one and five-rated properties still increased the most at 19% and 19.5% each.

Management responses are also growing, as hoteliers note from various studies over the years that a proactive approach to handling both items of criticism and praise can positively impact overall revenue over time.

Response rates increase by 16.5% over the over the same period, compared to 3% during the previous analysis.

Still, the number of hotels that do take the time to give feedback to a guest’s comments is still relatively low, with just 28% of reviews attracting a response.

Around 27% of all responses are for one-star reviews and 32% are for the most glowing items of feedback.

Revinate co-founder and CEO, Marc Heyneker, says the data shows that hoteliers appear to prioritise responses to negative reviews and will “aim for a 40% response rate”.

NB: Full report here.

NB2: Hotel reviews pool image via Pixabay.