How to respond to Google reviews as a hotel: steps, examples and timing

To respond to Google reviews as a hotel, open your verified Business Profile, choose Read reviews, then Reply next to the review: those are the steps in Google’s own guide. Sign in with the account that manages the hotel; you can also find the profile by searching Google for the hotel’s name and city, as the page on verifying your business explains.

Before you write, read the whole review. Between 1 and 8 October 2026 we read 105,887 Google reviews of 277 hotels, and 1,519 of those unhappy about price still gave 4 or 5 stars. I would start with the ones that describe a problem, whatever the rating: the button is the same, the reply changes with what the guest is telling you.

To Google’s steps I would add one before you send: reception can write the reply, but if a fault is involved they should ask maintenance whether it has been fixed.

Usually because the profile is not verified, or you signed in with the wrong account. Google only lets you reply from a verified profile, and both owners and managers can respond to reviews.

If a colleague is going to reply, the owner can invite them as a manager: each person signs in with their own account, and the owner’s password stays with the owner. If the profile is not verified, follow the methods Google offers for it; which ones you get is up to Google, as the verification guide says.

Check where the review comes from, too. A profile can show ratings taken from other sites, and for those Google sends you back to the original site: a Booking.com review shown on Google is still a Booking.com review.

Everyone, under the review, in the hotel’s name. Google does not show the name of the person who replied, and it notifies the reviewer. If you want to sign as general manager or front office manager, put your name and role in the text.

After your reply the guest can change their review, and then the date Google shows changes too. I would keep a separate note of the day the review arrived and the day you replied, so you know how long you really took.

Specific complaints, questions left hanging and mixed reviews. A one-star rating catches the eye; a criticism inside a compliment slips by.

In our analysis of reviews in October 2026 we counted the replies too. In the 209 hotels of the sample that reply regularly, meaning at least 10 replies among the reviews we read, this is how many get an answer:

So it is the complaints about the bill that get fewer answers than the rest. For today’s shift that means one thing: look for price complaints inside the high ratings as well.

It changes with what the guest tells you, before it changes with the stars. Among the Lumina Replies examples, written for real reviews of real hotels, there are all 3 kinds:

For the Lungarno, the reply says: “we are sorry that the Wi-Fi connection, the weak shower pressure, the shape of the bathtub, and the street noise in your room affected your comfort”. It names what the guest wrote; the next step belongs to whoever can fix those things.

For the Bristol I would keep the gardens and cut the rest. Google recommends replies that are short, relevant and conversational, not the same thank-you for everyone. For complaints and refunds, case by case, see the guide to negative hotel reviews.

I would have someone read new reviews every day and answer complaints by the next day. Google sets no deadline; guests do: that is what a third of American consumers expect in BrightLocal’s 2026 survey.

In the same survey 89% expect a reply and 50% are put off by a generic one. I would give the daily check to one named person, with a stand-in on their days off, and leave maintenance and management to confirm the facts.

Because Google checks it before posting. It usually takes up to 10 minutes, but sometimes up to 30 days; if the text does not pass, you are asked to edit it.

That wait is Google’s, not yours: writing tomorrow and appearing later is not the same as leaving a complaint for weeks. Before rewriting everything, I would check the status of the reply in the profile.

Yes, from the hotel’s profile. Google’s steps are: Read reviews, Edit under the reply, change it and choose Update. To remove it, Delete and confirm.

I would use the edit to add how things turned out, too: the refund made, the fault repaired. But keep it clear why you apologised, or later readers will find a reply that talks about something else.

You can report it if it breaks the rules; whether it comes down is Google’s decision. From the profile choose Read reviews, the report option next to the review, the reason, and send, as the guide to inappropriate reviews explains.

For Google, a breach is not the same as a rating you disagree with. From the same guide you can follow your request and, where available, appeal. In the meantime reply calmly, with no personal details and no accusations you cannot prove; if you need to work out who it was, ask for direct contact.

Google does not say replies move you up. It says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, that more reviews and positive ratings can help, and that helpful replies help a business stand out.

The score is the average of the published ratings, from 1 to 5 stars, and your reply adds nothing to it. After a new review it can take up to 2 weeks to update.

So reply for the guest, and for whoever books after them: they need to see how you handle a problem. And keep the facts a traveller looks for up to date. In our study of 3,288 answers from ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, when a traveller asks about the trip rather than the hotel, the great hotels all but disappear.

Yes, for a first version you then read through. Google itself connects Business Profile to Gemini, which drafts replies. But you need a personal Google Account, to be 18 or over, to own or manage only one verified profile and to have Gemini’s Keep Activity on; anyone managing several profiles is left out for now.

Lumina Replies reads the last 60 days of reviews on Google, Booking.com, Tripadvisor and Expedia and learns the tone from the replies your hotel has already posted. You add a note on what happened, edit, and copy the reply to the site.

The first reply is free. A reply costs 1 credit, and so does another version, a rewrite or a translation. After that you buy credits as you need them: 25 for €4.50, $5, £4 or CHF 4, 120 for €18 or $20, 350 for €45 or $50, according to the pricing. Promises, names and how the complaint was settled are still yours to check.

Open the verified profile with the account of the colleague in charge, read the new reviews and start with the specific problems, inside the high ratings too: 1,519 price complaints still came with 4 or 5 stars. Write a reply about that case, get refunds and repairs confirmed, and post with Reply.

As an internal rule I would keep to the next day, knowing Google may then take a while to post. 81% of the consumers BrightLocal asked want a reply within a week. But the question to ask at the end of the shift is simpler: did the guest get an answer to their problem, and is someone following it up?