Reviews

Why guest reviews are important

Reviews are essential to having a healthy vacation rental business. In fact, research shows that as many as 92% of travelers want to see reviews before booking*. And reviews can also work both ways. Just as travelers can leave reviews for vacation rental owners and property managers, you can also leave reviews for travelers. 

Reviews can be helpful for your business — whether it’s getting recognized for providing a great property or guest experience, or getting feedback about how to improve. Our platform supports two types of reviews: guest reviews and reviews of guests.

Guest reviews

Guest reviews can provide good information about what travelers value. Research shows 80% of traveler reviews are positive, while only 4% were negative.* This means when you encourage guests to leave a review, it’s likely to be positive, which can help boost visibility and bookings. To get more reviews, try these tips:
 

1. Prepare your guests. When you follow up after their stay, tell them how they can leave a review. Get them to talk about their stay so they'll have ideas to write about. Then let them know they'll receive a post-stay email with a request for a review. 
2. Friendly-reminders. People are busy and need reminders. To help you out, we'll send two requests for reviews on your behalf. 
3. Make it easy. In your post-stay email, remind guests that they should have received a link post-checkout that they can click to leave a review.
4. Stay connected through apps. You can use the owner mobile app to alert travelers to leave a quick review. Travelers can submit their review right through their mobile device using the traveler mobile app. 

Property managers that use Escapia software may benefit from using hospitality functionality provided with Escapia to help them communicate with multiple guests at once.

Reviews of your guests

Travelers can also receive reviews from partners. When travelers who have stayed at different properties on our platform get reviews, you can learn more about potential guests and feel more confident about bookings.

Another benefit of reviewing guests is that it often prompts them to leave a review for you. Guests who are given a review are more likely to leave a review. While you don’t always have to be the first to leave a review, it can be a good way to get the process started. 

Questions to think about when reviewing your guests:

• Did they follow your house rules?
• Did they leave your property in good condition?

Be sure to always review all guests with the same set of standards to be fair and conform to our platform’s non-discrimination policy.

Negative reviews

Guests are not allowed to write negative reviews in response to negative feedback they receive from you. To prevent this, there is a 14-day window where neither party can see the review until both are posted. They also cannot be edited after they’re submitted.

Visit reviews dashboard

From your dashboard, visit “Property” then “Reviews”.

Our two-way review process is designed to create trust and transparency across our platform. After each stay, both you and your guests will be encouraged to leave a review.

While we’ll always reach out to guests to ask for reviews after checkout, you’ll increase your chances of feedback by reviewing your guests and sending messages asking for reviews in return. 

You can review your guests, request reviews, and respond to submitted reviews through your reviews dashboard.

How to ask for reviews of your vacation rental

Many of our partners have found success with this template and timeline. You may try it and change it to meet your specific needs.

1. Morning of checkout — Include a request for a review with your checkout instructions. Guests typically read these pretty closely, so it’s a great place to ask.

   Here’s a sample message you can repurpose and personalize for your business:

    

   Hi, [GUEST NAME]!

    

   I hope you had a great stay in [CITY]. For checkout, please be sure to [INSTRUCTIONS]. 

    

   I also wanted to personally thank you for staying in our vacation rental. When you have a few minutes, we would greatly appreciate a review of our property. 

    

   Reviews are critical for any small business and give us an opportunity to show other travelers they can trust us to deliver a fantastic stay. 

    

    You should receive an email asking you to complete a review — please follow the instructions to give your invaluable feedback. 

    

   Thank you! 

   [YOUR NAME]

2. Three days after checkout — We'll remind you to review your guests. If you review them first, it’s 20% more likely that you'll receive a review in return, so make it a priority.
3. Six days after checkout — People are busy, especially people who have just returned from a trip. If your guest still hasn’t reviewed your property after six days and your guest was particularly excellent you may want to reach out with a personal message.

    

   Here’s another sample message you can customize:

    

   Hi, [GUEST NAME]!

    

   I wanted to tell you that my cleaner said you left the place in great condition — so I just gave you a 5-star review! [NOTE: If this isn’t the case, just delete this line.]

    

   Thanks again for being an excellent guest. When you have a few minutes, I would greatly appreciate it if you could review your stay. Your thoughts and comments will help future travelers know what to expect if they choose to book the property. 

    

   You should have received an email to complete a review. Please follow the instructions to give your invaluable feedback.

    

   Thanks!

    

   [YOUR NAME] 

How to leave reviews

1. Three days after checkout, we’ll send you an email asking you to review your guest’s stay.
2. When you submit your review, we’ll let your guest know via email and invite them to leave their own review within 14 days.
   • To ensure a fair feedback loop, reviews can’t be edited after they’ve been submitted. We also keep ratings private until both reviews are in, or until the 14-day window to submit a response has passed, whichever comes first.
3. After 14 days, or when the guest reviews you, reviews can be seen on the website:
   • Guest reviews are posted to your listing, and your average star rating is updated.
   • Your guest review is combined with reviews by other partners, so the next time that a guest asks to book a property, their average star rating is shown in the booking request. 

Note that guests can start the process by reviewing you first. If this happens, the 14- day window begins when they submit their review.

Responding to reviews

Now that you’ve received your review, we recommend responding whether the review is positive or negative. If the review is positive, you can thank them for their stay and leave a good impression for future guests. A negative review is equally important to respond to — it gives you the opportunity to make things right. Think of your responses as additional advertising for your property.

Property managers

If you use software to manage your properties, you’ll need to log in to your dashboard to fully take advantage of our reviews experience. 

We’ve made it easy for you to manage your reviews across multiple properties, in a single view. 

Advanced search filters save you time by letting you filter and sort reviews based on which need attention, the time period of the stay, and more so you can quickly find what you’re looking for. A response indicator will show you which reviews need responses for easier management.

You can also now review travelers in your dashboard in addition to our email process outlined above. 

Review your guests

From your dashboard, visit “Property” then “Reviews”.