How to Improve Your Holiday Let Guest Reviews

Reviews are a very critical part of running a successful holiday let. Positive reviews can help get you bookings! A property with a lot of positive reviews will always perform better. Many holidaymakers filter their searches based on star ratings, so they see the highest-rated properties first. Whilst negative reviews can impact bookings, for our owners, they make up a relatively small percentage.

Negative reviews serve a helpful purpose in pointing out all the small things you might have overlooked. Most of our owners use negative feedback to improve the customer experience at their property. These can be big projects like redecorating or the odd spot of maintenance. Or smaller things like making sure Wi-Fi reaches every bedroom.

Think of negative reviews as your property improvement checklist. Use them as a basis for growth. It can take time, but a lot of minor improvements can make a big difference to your future guests. This can pay dividends in the long term as your property’s letting performance starts to improve.

Listed are some of the most common issues that lead to negative reviews.

Poor Cleanliness

Cleaning a holiday cottage is not like cleaning your own home. Guests expect a higher level of cleanliness. No one likes to find traces of someone else’s supper in the fridge, hairs around the bath plug or balls of fluff under the bed. And yes, guests will look EVERYWHERE!

If in doubt, provide your housekeeper with a check-list to ensure that nothing is missed.

House Cold on Arrival

As always, the first impressions of a cottage are the most important. If you arrive on a chilly evening to find your holiday cottage in darkness and cold, it isn’t a great start to your holiday! If you have a Hive heating system, you can remotely turn on the heating a few hours before your guests arrival to make sure it is nice and cosy for them.  You can also ask your housekeeper to turn the heating on an hour or so before they arrive.

No Hot Water

Have your boiler regularly maintained, and check that hot water is in ample supply before each arrival. Guests may have driven a long way to your cottage, Having a nice hot bath after a long journey is much needed!

Damp/Musty

If you haven’t had guests for a few weeks, and depending on the age of your property, it might be worth giving the property an airing before your guests arrive.  Again, those all important first impressions. If there is an on-going damp problem, please try and address the cause.

Full Rubbish Bins

On several levels this is unacceptable. Not only due to the health issues, attracting vermin and being unsightly, but because this shows lack of care for your property. If you can’t attend to the rubbish, what else isn’t being maintained?

No Wi-Fi

The provision of Wi-Fi is a key decision maker for many guests on booking a holiday cottage. If for any reason yours becomes unavailable, please let us know so we can inform the guests. If they are banking on getting some work done whilst on holiday, then this is a crucial element of their booking.

A strong Wi-Fi connection can increase revenue by up to 26%.

An Untidy Garden

Again, an important first impression. Guests won’t be expecting your borders to resemble those of Plas Newydd or Bodnant, but they will expect them to be well maintained. If you don’t live locally, looking after the garden can be difficult. We can suggest local gardening services if you need assistance.

Lack of Instructions

Whatever the appliance, be sure to have a copy of the instructions in your guests’ information folder. Whether it be for the heating, the television or the gas BBQ – you may think it is self-explanatory, someone else might not.

Lack of Cleaning Materials, Spare Light Bulbs Etc.

Although guests are buying a ‘self-catering’ holiday, they do expect some basic items to be included. A small supply of cleaning products also encourages guests to clean up any minor spills themselves.

Here is what we suggest, in addition to your welcome tray:

• Dishcloth
• Tea Towel
• Dishwasher tablet or two
• Scourer
• Washing up liquid
• Bin bag
• Kitchen spray/cream cleaner
• Toilet roll
• Spare light bulbs
• Spare batteries for remote controls
• Toilet cleaner
• Firelighters
• Matches
• Paper & kindling
• A few teabags and/or coffee
• Pint of milk in the fridge

How Guest Reviews Affect Property Bookings

Having lots of positive guest reviews will improve your visibility on booking websites. Positive reviews encourage holidaymakers to book because they trust the experiences of previous guests. Also, a property with a lot of positive reviews looks much more appealing than one without.

Having a property that looks appealing, family-friendly, and inviting can make your property more desirable. People expect to enjoy your home, and not meeting guest expectations is guaranteed to cause disappointment.

5 Tips to Improve Your Guest Reviews

Reflect on What’s in the Pictures

If you’ve included specific property features in your listing photos, it’s essential to make sure they’re available to guests upon arrival. If your photos show your hot tub or sauna, make sure they’re available (or bookable) to guests when they arrive. Your property will be the base for your guest’s entire holiday. The more enjoyment they can have there the better their reviews will be! – it’s also a bonus to have these available for use on a rainy day!

“The house had everything and more. We made full use of the hot tub, sauna, kayak and paddle boards. The games room was a bonus; we enjoyed a family table tennis tournament! The bedrooms are all very comfy and the whole house is beautifully furnished. We will definitely come again”.

Louise, September 2022

Equipping your property to a high standard is a surefire way to improve your reviews. We understand not every property has the means to accommodate extras like a pool, but if you have the space, we always recommend considering luxury features like hot tubs. Some small improvements can also go a long way. For example, making sure you include some home comforts such as a smart TV with access to Netflix or Disney + can help quickly improve your reviews.

Home Comforts Come First – the Bare Necessities of Life!

They say you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, but sometimes they’re the key differentiator between a happy guest and a not-so-happy one. It’s easy to overlook the basics but they make a real difference to the overall guest experience. No hot water, heating, and access to Wi-Fi are among the most common maintenance issues found in negative feedback left by guests.

These are considered absolute essentials for every guest and can lead to guests leaving properties early. Hot water and heating are an obvious necessity, but access to fast and reliable Wi-Fi has become the new necessity in holiday lets. People now rely on Wi-Fi for entertainment and work purposes.

“We are very happy with our staying in Penlan. The location is really good, the house is tidy and clean with a bit of history. The only problem we have is the internet, it will be perfect with WiFi!”

– Rose, June 2022

Keep Everything Squeaky Clean

Cleanliness comes up a lot in reviews. Making sure your property is as clean as possible is a surefire way to keep guests happy. There’s nothing more frustrating than arriving for your holiday and being met with a dirty property. Having an unclean property is a guaranteed way to get bad reviews.

Therefore, making sure your property is regularly cleaned to a high standard is super important! In many negative reviews guests will point out specific rooms where they’ve had negative experiences. Some of the most common include the bathroom and kitchen. Cleaning these rooms is more difficult and requires the most attention. Cleanliness is the minimum expectation from all guests – especially after the boom in UK holidays seen after Covid-19.

Expand Your Market – Cater to More Holidaymakers

Furthermore, opening your property up to a wider portion of the holiday market is another effective way to improve your guest review scores. The first immediate addition you can make to a property is to make it more family-friendly. This not only increases the appeal of the property but helps parents enjoy a stress-free break. Simple additions like children’s books and some games can make for thoughtful extra touches. You could also include things like cots and highchairs which will help parents reduce the amount they need to bring from home.