The power of vacation rental reviews. Are you sure you manage the comments of your home well?
From Chekin we have always insisted to our clients that the way the guest sees you and rates you makes the difference between the best positioned accommodations and those that are not. Having non-contact tools that improve the guest’s stay has become in recent times one of the most outstanding points in the comments of the guests, since it not only streamlines administrative processes but also gives them the security that in times of covid-19 so much we look for. Thus, the host must pay vital importance to the reviews that their guests make, there they will be able to see and study what they do not like or what they have found to be a hit.
An article was recently published by the Phocus Wire chain in which the importance and power of online comments from guests is analyzed, having a great impact on the vacation rental community.
Thus, a new Transparent analysis illustrates a contrast in the alternative accommodation space related to the size of the host and both the quality and number of reviews of their properties. Looking at July data from Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking. com and Tripadvisor, hosts with fewer properties have higher scores and more reviews per property than those who manage many properties.
Specifically, on these four platforms, hosts with a listing have an average review score of 4.8 and 18.6 reviews per listing, while hosts with more than 1,000 properties have an average rating of 4.45 and only 5.3 reviews per property. But why this?.
Some of the explanations for this are quite logical. When it comes to review counts, hosts with thousands of properties are likely to be professional management companies using numerous distribution channels for each unit. Channels such as Airbnb or Booking, unrelated to the accommodation, that is why many people do not usually comment positively or negatively through these platforms, they seek better to do so directly on the website or accommodation portal.
As expressed by Christophe Salmón, founder of the Revyoos company, what can make the difference between a small owner or a large company like Booking, is that the small company does everything by itself and has a very present and fluent conversation with the guest. and it makes the process more personal, whereas with a great property manager things are more industrial with different people the guest is in contact with.
Despite the reasoning behind the data, there is no question that reviews, both in quantity and quality, are important in the rental industry.
According to new data from Phocuswright’s US Short-Term Rentals 2021 report to be released in November and based on a study with users and hosts of short-term rentals, 29% of consumers say they look at the scores of the reviews when comparing rentals of similar value and comfort. making it the second most popular factor after powerful Wi-Fi.
Transparent’s analysis indicates that reviews also affect revenue. An analysis of April Airbnb data for the United States, France, Spain, Great Britain and Italy, found a correlation between reviews and occupancy. Across all markets, listings rated 4.7 or higher had 5% higher average occupancy. And in terms of the number of reviews, in the United States, properties with one to five reviews averaged 57% occupancy, while those with 21 or more reviews averaged 71% occupancy.
Now, knowing the power and importance of reviews for vacation rentals, what should the host guarantee to get a better review?
According to the analysis presented by Transparent, the most important factor is Trust. The rental industry is trying to build trust by guaranteeing guests a degree of standardization and consistency in their properties, effectively occupying that middle ground between a hotel and a private rental.
So now you know the importance and value of the reviews left by your guests for your accommodation, we know that there will not always be clearly positive reviews, it could even be strange, not all guests have the same tastes or the same needs, but if your Positive comments are higher than negative ones, you will be able to generate confidence in the future guest.
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