Accommodation reviews by travelers and the… Sleepless nights

• December 27, 2023

Athens is now full of new hotels and short-term rental apartments.

Something that means new professionals and private property owners in the tourism market of the capital.

During talks with new market participants, new owners that just begin in the field of hospitality, we remembered our old days.

How was our reaction to our first negative review. What could have been done differently so that our hotel or vacation rental avoid getting the negative review.

When you have little experience in the field of hospitality and just begin your “journey”, it is really impossible to imagine what you will meet ahead.

The sleepless nights of the professional host-hotelier

There is no real difference if your accommodation is a hotel or a vacation rental apartment. The anxiety and stress that a negative review can cause is huge.

At least 8 out of 10 new hosts we’ve talked to have been through this situation that feels like the biggest failure of your life.

Made plans, dreams and a lot o f work to be distinct in hospitality and create something new, something different.

And just like that, the earth starts to rumble under your feet.

And we really, absolutely understand this.

After some (long) time you realize a lot that you could never imagine.

• The customer is not always right.
• A negative review among 10 exceptional ones is not something to worry about.
• Guests that use the phrase “we visit frequently” never set foot at the property again.

There are many other situations, but we focus on those three with the Cloudkeys Hospitality Team.

In the positive news of the day, the journey has begun!

Tourism is now at a different level. Many “old” colleagues have left and many new began the “journey”

Every new colleague in Hospitality goes through the same, from any function.

From the hotel bar through to the hotel management. There are indeed many new colleagues, especially new Tourism business owners. Business families that never had any involvement with hospitality, now manage a new unit.

Have courage is what we say to everyone and we close with an advice. After the first 100 reviews, the forest starts to appear. Until then you just look at a tree. At 500 you won’t even care about reviews. Only the distant memory… of the sleepless night.

If the bad review relates to something that can be fixed, then good for us to take action. Otherwise problem guests will be the same… Problem guests.

There is nothing else to do apart from accepting this reality. And move forward.