Blog · 30 October 2026

How to get more Google reviews for your hotel (without breaking Google's rules)

When a guest searches for a hotel in your town, Google shows a map with a few hotels on it before any website. Your star rating, how many reviews you have and how recent they are sit right there. Chains get reviews from sheer volume. An independent hotel has to ask for them on purpose.

First, make it easy to leave one

1. Claim and verify your Google Business Profile, if you haven't already.
2. Check the hotel's name, address, phone number and category are right.
3. Use Google's option to create a review link or QR code from your Business Profile. It takes guests straight to the review box.
4. Test the link on your own phone.

12 ways to get more Google reviews

1. Ask at checkout. In person, in one sentence, when the guest says they enjoyed the stay.
2. Send a thank-you email within a day of checkout with the review link as the only button.
3. Put the QR code on the key-card wallet or room card, not only at reception.
4. Add the link to your booking confirmation footer.
5. Let staff mention it. Guests often want to thank someone by name.
6. Reply to the reviews you already have. Guests can see you read them.
7. Ask after you've fixed a problem well. A guest whose complaint was handled is often glad to say so.
8. Show the link on your Wi-Fi landing page or in-room TV.
9. Follow up once, not three times.
10. Ask returning guests in particular. They already like you.
11. Ask every guest the same way. More on why below.
12. Count new reviews each week so you know whether a change worked.

What Google's policies forbid

• Incentives. No discounts, free nights, upgrades, payment or gifts in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing one.
• Asking only happy guests. Google forbids selectively asking for positive reviews or discouraging negative ones.
• Reviews from people connected to the hotel. Staff, former staff, contractors, friends and family count as a conflict of interest.
• Buying or faking reviews. Reviews must reflect a real experience.

Check Google's Maps user-generated content policy for the full rules.

How to reply to the reviews you get

• Positive: thank the guest, mention one thing they liked, invite them back. Two or three sentences.
• Mixed: thank them, acknowledge the problem without excuses, say what you've changed.
• Negative: stay calm, apologise for the experience, give a way to reach you directly, and never argue in public.

Reply within a few days. A reply months later tells the next guest that nobody was watching.

Questions

How many Google reviews does a hotel need?

There's no set number. A steady flow of recent reviews counts for more than a large total from years ago.

Can I ask guests for a five-star review?

Ask for an honest review, and ask everyone. Asking only guests you expect to be happy goes against Google's policy.

Can I delete a bad Google review?

No. You can report it if it breaks Google's policies. See how to report a Google review of your hotel.