How do you reply to guest reviews? Sample replies that build trust, even for bad ones

2026-10-16 · Hostopus · 5 min read

A guest wrote "the bathroom wasn't clean enough" and now it sits under your listing. The next guest will read that review, and your reply under it, before they book. If there's no reply, the guest's version is the only one there. Since January 2025, Booking.com weights your overall score by recency: the most recent review has the biggest impact. Every new review, and how you answer it, shapes your listing's shop window.

Know the rules first: how reviews get published

On Airbnb, guest and host have 14 days after checkout to review each other. Reviews are published once both have written or once the 14 days are up, whichever comes first. So you can't see what the guest wrote before you submit your own review.
On Airbnb you can edit your own review until it's published.
On Airbnb you can post a public response to a published review. It goes live immediately and appears under the review on your listing page.
On Booking.com, your response is checked by the Booking.com team before it's published. This can take up to 72 hours.
Booking.com only accepts responses in the language of the review or in English; responses in other languages aren't published. You can't respond to a score-only review that has no title or comments.

Doing it by hand: step by step

Read the review when you're calm. A reply written on first reaction usually turns defensive.
Use the guest's name and thank them for staying.
Acknowledge the problem. Booking.com recommends the same: people who had a negative experience often just want to be heard.
Say concretely what you did. "We've added a separate bathroom step to our cleaning checklist" builds more trust than "we'll look into it".
Keep it short and only write what's true. Don't argue with the guest and don't share personal details.
Reply to positive reviews too. Airbnb suggests thanking guests who leave suggestions and addressing their feedback; it shows you take reviews seriously.

Sample replies you can adapt

Fill these in for your own situation. Booking.com recommends original, personal responses, so don't paste the same text under every review.

Cleanliness complaint: "Thank you for your review, Anna. We're sorry the bathroom wasn't what you expected. We've updated the checklist we use after every checkout, and the bathroom is now checked as a separate step. We'd love to host you again."
Noise or location: "Thanks for the feedback. The house is close to the bazaar, so street noise can carry on summer evenings. We've added this to the listing description and left earplugs in the bedroom."
Review with incorrect information: "Thank you for staying with us. We messaged before check-in that the pool would be closed for two days of maintenance. We're still sorry for the inconvenience during that time." A calm, fact-based reply tells the next guest your side as well.
Positive review: "Mark, we're so glad you enjoyed breakfast on the terrace. Hope to see you again in summer."

Why it gets harder

With one home on one platform, this takes a few minutes a week. As homes and platforms add up, things change. Airbnb reviews live on Airbnb, Booking.com reviews in the extranet or the Pulse app. Every home has its own review page. Miss Airbnb's 14-day window and you can no longer review the guest. To understand a review in German or Russian, you copy it into a translation tool. And you have to keep track of which reviews you've answered and which are still waiting.

How it works in Hostopus

In Hostopus, reviews from Airbnb and Booking.com come in through the channel manager and land on a single Reviews page. You see all your homes in one list and can filter to a single home.

When a new review is revealed you get a New Review notification with the home, guest, score and the first lines of the review, in your language. Your full-access co-hosts get it too.
Whatever language the guest wrote in, the review is shown in your app language (Turkish, English, German or Azerbaijani), with a small "Translated" note underneath.
Reviews waiting for a reply stand out in the list and show "Awaiting reply". You write your answer in the app with the Reply button, and it's sent to the platform through the channel manager.
An Airbnb guest's private feedback to you is shown in its own section, marked "Only you can see this".
While the Airbnb review window is open, the Review guest button lets you rate the guest on cleanliness, communication and respecting house rules, write a review and say whether you'd recommend them. Once the 14 days are up, the button disappears.
Reviews you received outside the channels, on Google for example, can be added yourself with Add review, including score and date.
If you have a booking website built with Hostopus, you can show the reviews you pick on it. The site doesn't show the guest's name or which platform the review came from, and private feedback never appears.

Two limits to know. Hostopus doesn't translate your reply, and Booking.com only publishes responses in the review's language or English, so answer Booking reviews in one of those. Also, on Airbnb the "your guest reviewed you" signal doesn't come through the channel manager before reviews are published; you'll see the review in Hostopus once it's revealed on Airbnb.

In short

Give every review a short, calm, concrete reply. On a negative review, acknowledge the problem and say what you changed; future guests will read that reply too. If you'd like to read and answer reviews for all your homes in one place and in your own language, you can try Hostopus free for 60 days.