The hotel review sites worth a hotelier's attention
Hotels do not need to chase every review site. They need to know which profiles guests actually see, who can review, and where a reply is worth the time.
Lachlan Fea 4 min read
In this article8 sections
Most hotels need to pay close attention to five places: Google, Tripadvisor, Booking.com, the Expedia Group network and Facebook. The order changes by market and distribution mix, but the job does not. Keep the profile accurate, understand who can leave a review, respond where guests will read it and do not ask for something the platform forbids.
You do not need another list of 30 travel websites. You need to know which five deserve a place in the weekly operating rhythm.
The short list
| Site | Where reviews come from | Can the hotel ask? | What the team controls |
|---|---|---|---|
| People with a Google account | Yes, for honest reviews | Business Profile details, review link and responses | |
| Tripadvisor | Tripadvisor contributors | Yes, within Tripadvisor's rules | Listing details, responses and eligible review-collection tools |
| Booking.com | Guests connected to a booking | The platform handles the post-stay invitation | Property content and responses where available |
| Expedia Group | Travellers after a completed stay | The platform solicits after checkout | Property content and approved management responses |
| Facebook users where Recommendations are enabled | Yes, without incentives or selection | Page details, Recommendations setting and replies |
Google and Tripadvisor are public discovery surfaces. Booking.com and Expedia reviews sit much closer to the booking decision because the guest is already comparing rooms and rates. Facebook matters most where the Page has a real local audience. Treating them as interchangeable creates messy reporting and worse requests.
Google is usually the first profile to fix because its rating appears beside the hotel's map result, photos, phone number and booking options. Guests do not need to have booked through Google to review, which makes the profile broad and easy to use.
Check the primary category, map pin, phone, website, check-in and check-out times, amenities and photos. Then create the hotel's Google review link and use it consistently after stays. Google allows review requests but prohibits incentives, fake engagement and selective practices that distort the rating. Its review guidance covers the request link and incentive rule.
If the hotel has several properties, work location by location. A group average can hide a broken breakfast service in one building and a front-desk team doing exceptional work in another.
Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor is still its own operating channel, not just another star score. It shows both a traveller rating and a popularity ranking relative to nearby properties. Those numbers can move differently, which is why teams often think something is wrong when the displayed rating stays flat but the rank changes.
Claim the listing, keep property details current and answer substantive reviews. Tripadvisor's ranking uses the quality, recency, quantity and consistency of reviews, not management-response volume. The full explanation is in how Tripadvisor ratings and rankings work.
Tripadvisor permits its own review-collection tools and links. Keep the invitation neutral. Do not offer a free drink, late checkout or competition entry for a review.
Booking.com
Booking.com reviews come through the booking relationship, so they carry a different kind of proof from an open review site. The platform invites eligible guests after their stay under its own guest review process.
The hotel should concentrate on the parts it controls: accurate property information, expectations before arrival, service recovery during the stay and a useful public response afterwards. Do not send a separate campaign pretending that anyone can leave a Booking.com review. Eligibility belongs to Booking.com.
Look at review sub-scores and recurring language, not only the headline number. “Clean room, impossible check-in” is an operations note hiding inside a good average.
Expedia, Hotels.com and Orbitz
Expedia, Hotels.com and Orbitz are Expedia Group brands. They should be monitored as a network rather than counted as three unrelated reputation programmes. Expedia Group's official brand list shows the relationship.
Expedia says its reviews come from verified travellers after a completed stay, and its property systems support management responses. Its reviews documentation says the company solicits feedback after checkout.
For the hotel team, the practical work is familiar: correct content, clean distribution data, prompt issue handling and a response that tells the next guest what changed. Do not assume one reply appears identically across every brand and market. Check the live property page.
Facebook Recommendations are useful when the hotel already has an active Page, runs events or serves a strong local market. They are less central for a property whose demand comes almost entirely through travel search and online travel agencies.
Keep the Page details and Message button honest. If nobody checks Messenger overnight, say when it is read or turn Page messaging off and show the booking or front-desk contact instead. The Facebook reviews guide explains Recommendations and their controls.
Do not spread the team across every directory
Add another review site to the weekly list only when at least one of these is true:
- it sends bookings you can identify
- it ranks for the hotel or destination in your market
- guests repeatedly mention it at the property
- the hotel has an accurate, claimable profile there
- a distribution agreement makes it operationally important
A smaller list with clear ownership beats a dashboard full of profiles nobody acts on.
A weekly review routine
Give one person responsibility for the queue, with cover for days off.
- Check new reviews by property and source.
- Escalate safety, discrimination, privacy and active-stay issues immediately.
- Reply to reviews where a response helps the next guest.
- Tag recurring themes such as check-in, noise, cleanliness and breakfast.
- Send the relevant theme to the person who can change it.
- Check that the property's contact and booking details are still correct.
For a group, a shared inbox makes the queue easier to own, but the reply should still sound like the hotel. The broader hospitality reputation approach is useful when the problem spans several venues or properties.
The aim is not to collect the same review everywhere. It is to understand where each review comes from and do the work that particular platform lets the hotel do.