The short answer
Check each low review against your reservation records and incident log. Reviews about the city, a nearby bar or an event run by someone else, copied text, a rival property’s pitch, a former employee, or threats to named staff break Google’s review policies and can be reported. A guest unhappy with a noisy room gets a calm reply. The free review check reads every low review and labels it.
How fake reviews arrive on a hotel listing
A hotel is a public place with many businesses around it. People review it after a wedding they attended in the ballroom, a meal at a restaurant that rents space in the building, or a night out on the same block. Rival properties compete hard in the same few miles, and front desk staff deal with angry people every shift.
- Reviews about city traffic, a festival or a nearby bar, with no stay described.
- Reviews about a wedding or conference run by an outside planner.
- Complaints about a third-party booking site’s refund rules.
- A run of one star reviews from accounts that match no reservation.
- Insults or threats aimed at a named desk clerk or manager.
Which policies apply
Google asks for reviews based on an experience at that location. A review about the city, a street festival or another business on the block is off topic. A review that is only about an outside planner’s event is off topic too.
Copied text from several accounts is spam. A former employee or a rival property is conflict of interest. A pitch for another hotel with a link or number is advertising. Insults and threats against named staff are abusive language, and a review that posts a staff member’s personal details breaks the personal information policy.
A guest who stayed, heard the ice machine all night and wrote one star has written a real review. Reply to it.
See which of your reviews break a rule.
The check reads every low review on your listing and labels it. Free, and nothing is filed until you pick.
Records a hotel keeps
- Reservation and folio records in your property management system.
- Front desk incident logs and manager on duty notes.
- Event contracts showing who ran each function in your space.
- Guest emails and messages before and after the stay.
- Staff schedules, to show who was on shift.
These records stay private. Use them to sort reviews into guests, event attendees and no record at all, and to support a staff member who has been named.
Steps for a hotel manager
- 1
Screenshot each low review
Reviewer name, date, stars, text and any photos.
- 2
Search reservations
Look up each name for the dates mentioned. Note guests, event attendees and no match.
- 3
Flag threats to staff
If a review threatens a named person, tell that person and your manager on duty first.
- 4
Run the free review check
It labels every low review against Google’s policies so you see which fit a filing.
- 5
File and reply
Tick the labelled reviews to file. Reply to real guests within a day or two.
How a hotel should reply
Future guests read hotel replies to judge how problems get handled at 2 a.m. Keep replies warm and short, and never confirm a person’s stay, room number or dates in public.
For a city or event review: "Thank you for writing. The event that evening was run by an outside planner, and we have shared your note with them." For a noisy room: "We are sorry your night was disturbed. Please contact the front office directly so we can make it right on your next stay." A review that threatens staff gets no reply at all. Report it.