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Reviews are a critical indicator of a hotel's reputation, but how it responds to reviews is even more important in demonstrating to guests that it values their feedback and acknowledges it by providing an appropriate response.
Writing review responses can be challenging, but there are excellent resources available to provide guidance on how to respond to reviews on Expedia Group: Expedia.com and Hotels.com. In this article, we will review the appropriate etiquette to be followed when responding to reviews on these websites.
An overview of Expedia
Based in Bellevue, Washington and owned by the Expedia Group, Expedia.com first opened its doors on October 22nd, 1996. The company wants to move to Seattle sometime this year (2019). Originally part of Microsoft, offering solely travel-booking services, now Expedia Inc. provides a variety of services related to researching and planning trips; such as selecting an airplane seat or scheduling activities upon reaching one's destination.
Is Expedia a trusted site?
Yes. Expedia is a trusted and legitimate online booking website. If you are looking for any type of travel services, Expedia is the perfect choice. This popular online travel portal provides travelers with a wide variety of accommodations, activities, rental vehicles, cruises and holiday packages to fit every budget.
Who is affiliated with Expedia?
Apart from the main operating company Expedia, the Expedia Group has a range of subsidiaries such as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Trivago, Orbitz, Vrbo, Ebookers, and more.
Is Expedia and Hotels the same?
In 2001, Hotels.com became a part of the Expedia group. While Expedia and Hotels.com are two different websites, they mostly feature the same hotels and properties and has the same user interface. For property owners and business managers, listings across Expedia and Hotels.com are all managed via Expedia Group Partner Central.
How do I submit a review on Expedia?
Expedia automatically sends an “Expedia Write a Review” request to guests upon completion of stay. Guests would be automatically redirected to the Expedia website where they can review your property based on cleanliness, service, amenities, property conditions, and eco-friendliness. The same process applies to Hotels.com.
How do I reply to a review on Expedia?
We explain the process of responding to Expedia reviews with a step-by-step guide.
1. Log into your Expedia account
Log into the Expedia Group Partner Central after registering your business. Then, simply "Sign in" using your login credentials.
2. Navigate to your property
Once you have logged in, a page called "Manage a Property" will be displayed. Utilize the "Search" option (see image below) to filter by property name, city, or ID to quickly and easily narrow down your search.
3. Open your Expedia reviews
Once you have selected the desired property, click on it and you will be brought to a page called "Today's Opportunities". This page contains the amount of conversations, real-time feedback, and reviews from Expedia. To respond to reviews, simply click the "Reviews" tab.
4. Filter your reviews
Clicking on Reviews will open the "Guest Reviews: Filters" filter. By selecting "Expedia" and clicking "Apply Filter," you will focus on Expedia.com and confirm your selection (see image below).
5. Select a review
After this application, you will be directed to the 'Guest Rating' page, which contains a series of reviews that require your input. To respond to a review, click the 'Respond' button.
6. Craft review response
After completing the step above, you will see a white empty box or space entitled ‘Your response.’ This is where you need to type in your response (see the image below). Draft your response in a proper, professional manner. Then, enter a nickname under ‘Your nickname.’
Avoid picking a cheesy nickname, as this box should introduce guests to your role, e.g. XYZ Guest Experience Management or Customer Care Executive. Aside from this, well-crafted replies are mostly short, concise, and personalized.
Writing a reply to each review matters, as it can make or break your brand’s online reputation. To ensure your Expedia page has the best possible replies, it’s best to get a review reply generator that can help you generate replies within seconds. Not only will you save time and operational costs, but it can also ensure you consistently have personalized, optimized and well-crafted responses.
7. Submit response
Once you have finished composing your response, click the Submit button to finalize it.
8. Check status of review response
After clicking on that, your response will display ‘Processing’ below it. This usually takes a few seconds to finalize your response before it is published. Once approved, the comment will appear under the ‘Response from Management.’, as shown in the image below.
How do I respond to a review on Hotels com?
Hotels.com, a subsidiary of Expedia Group, is a travel fare aggregator website where you can post management responses to user reviews. The steps for responding to a review on Hotels.com are generally the same as Expedia review, with a few minor differences. Here is the complete procedure for crafting professional responses:
1. Filter your Hotels.com reviews
Follow steps 1-3 until you reach the "Guest Reviews: Filters" page. Under "Reviews," select the "Hotels.com" filter for Review Responses. Then, click "Apply Filter" to continue.
2. Respond to Hotels.com reviews
Reviews from Hotels.com will be displayed to you; follow the same steps as with Expedia and click the "Respond" button to make a professional response.
Respond to all your Expedia reviews in seconds
Writing replies to every online review could be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. With your AI Review Reply Assistant you can respond to your Expedia reviews and Expedia complaints in seconds. Simply copy your review into MARAs review reply generator and generate a personalized response with a click on a button.
With MARA, your brand would be able to
- Achieve 100% response rate effortlessly;
- Reduce response times and costs since you don’t have to write from a blank page;
- Skip using templates and respond with a personal touch to boost customer retention;
- Improve overall star rating on major review websites; and
- Increase online reputation and searchability.
I answer every guest review personally. With MARA, I've gotten much, much faster as I don't start from a blank page. It saves so much time and brainpower for the rest of my day. - 7Pines Resort Ibiza
Reply to Expedia and Hotel.com reviews with authenticity and without any errors. Register for a FREE MARA account today and boost your online reputation in the easiest and fastest way possible.
This content is part of our hero content on “How to Use Online Reviews to Your Advantage – The Ultimate Guide".
Frequently Asked Questions:
Expedia runs a general directory across all its channels. Once a guest confirms and pays for accommodation, the listing will be reserved across all Expedia platforms. The guest will receive an email confirmation and an online voucher whenever applicable.
Expedia charges 10-30% of the booking price as a commission, so a property owner only gets 70-90% of a guest’s payment. The commission is credited to the website upon the guest’s checkout.
Booking has consistently been the largest online booking platform. Year by year, it has given better booking numbers to hotel and property owners and maintained higher annual revenue than Expedia.
Yes. It’s safe for guests to buy tickets from Expedia alongside hotel accommodations and other tourist activities. This centralized travel booking feature aims to provide customers with the ability to plan and purchase their entire trip in one platform.
Yes. For hotel accommodations, guests can get a full refund 48 hours before their check-in date. For flights, customers are subject to a full refund for cancellation within 24 hours of booking time.
