In hospitality, online reviews are so important for the future success of your serviced accommodation business.
It is important that guests are happy so that not only do they leave you a 5 star review for the world to see, but they also tell their friends about you!
Creating and continually refining processes on a day-to-day basis means you can constantly improve your business and the customer's experience.
It is the most satisfying thing to receive a 5 star review with wonderful comments, but the best guests are the ones that feedback on the elements which need improving.
At Hygge Homes we take this extremely seriously and try to resolve the issue either during their stay or before the next check in, depending on the problem.
We have put together 5 top tips for getting 5 star reviews from your guests:
Cleanliness
Even before COVID-19, cleanliness is a really important factor. You do not want to turn up to a property where there is still evidence of previous guests lingering. For this an excellent cleaning team is required. Our cleaning team like to go in and get all the windows open, airing the whole house while they clean.
They follow a checklist to make sure they don't miss anything. This isn't just your average domestic clean - there is so much to think about to ensure the property is ready for a new guest.
For example, cleaning the oven, the fridge, checking under beds and in drawers and checking the garden for rubbish.
Aside from cleanliness they also need to be able to do other jobs such as changing lightbulbs, checking batteries in the remote, replacing broken glasses and that sort of thing (a little note here too that undertaking an inventory every few months is a great idea - imagine turning up to a house where there is no bottle opener!)
Maintenance
Keeping on top of maintenance is an extremely important for happy guests. Often with holiday lets, there is a high turnaround and therefore heavy footfall on the properties. People may not look after them as they would their own homes.
Also guests may not know the quirks of your property and so can end up breaking things. We often find that toilet seats end up wobbly or curtain tie back fixtures come loose.
It is really important then that you have a flexible handyman that can nip in to fix these problems between check out and the next check in.
Having a key safe is really helpful here as it means they can let themselves in. Just make sure they know to leave the property as they found it for the next guests, cleaning up after themselves.
Communication
With serviced accommodation, communication is definitely key. If you think managing serviced accommodation is a 9-5 job you are unfortunately wrong.
You need to be on hand to respond to guests during the evenings and weekends. The usual problems tend to be that they can't work the heating or can't find the wifi password.
With the best will in the world, even if you detail how to work things in the house in a welcome book for them, they may not have read them! Always be quick to respond, polite and helpful. They will most likely be very impressed with the response.
Follow Ups
Depending on the system or channel manager you are using, you can often schedule for messages to be sent automatically to guests.
Not only can you use this to send guest useful information including key safe codes, but you can also send messages after check in to make sure that everything was as expected.
This allows them the opportunity to raise any issues with you to resolve before they can leave a bad review.
There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a negative review when they never told you about the issue beforehand. You can also schedule a message to be sent after check out to ask them to leave a review, IF they enjoyed their stay of course!
Kindness & extra touches
Of course one thing that always guarantees a good review is something that makes your guests smile. Have they told you it is a special occasion?
If so consider a bottle of prosecco or a balloon. If they experience a problem at the property which you think could result in a bad review, send your handyman with a bottle of something nice to say sorry for the inconvenience.
If the issue is more serious, perhaps transfer them some money for 'a drink on us'. More generally, the extra touches could be something as simple as the general presentation of the houses.
Make sure your cleaners have the time and care to fluff up cushions and straighten out throws. Finally, try to make sure the house is a home and not a shell. Decorative items, cookery books, throws etc will do the trick!
Serviced Accommodation Management
Here at Hygge Homes we provide Bespoke Serviced Accommodation Management Solutions in Chester and the surrounding area.
Learn how you can:
Increase your monthly income
Free up your time by allowing us to fully manage your properties
Receive a bespoke service tailored to suit your needs
Create another revenue stream providing beautiful accommodation for customers
Click here to find out more.
Jen & Blake