What does "getting reviews within OTA rules" mean?
An OTA is an online travel agency, such as Booking.com, Agoda or Airbnb. It sells your rooms and asks guests to review their stay. Google and Tripadvisor also show reviews of your property.
"Within the rules" means you can ask for honest reviews. You cannot buy them, filter them, or write them. Here is what each platform says on its own pages.
The good news: Google says it does allow businesses to ask for reviews that show a genuine experience. So asking is fine. Picking who you ask, and paying for the answer, are not.
The do and don't table for owners
Show this table to your front desk team.
| Idea | Allowed? | Why |
|---|
| Ask every guest for an honest review | Yes | Every platform allows a fair ask |
| Remind guests that the OTA will email them | Yes | You only point to the OTA's own process |
| Put a QR code to your Google page at reception | Yes | Same ask for every guest |
| Free drink, discount or upgrade for a review | No | All four platforms ban incentives |
| Ask "were you happy?" and send only the yes guests to Google | No | This is review gating |
| Staff bonus per review or per name mention | No | Tripadvisor and Google ban this |
| Tell guests what words to write | No | Google and Tripadvisor ban suggested wording |
| Write a review for a guest, or on their phone | No | Reviews must come from the guest |
| Fix a problem during the stay, then still ask | Yes | Good service is the honest way to better scores |
| Reply politely to every review | Yes | Future guests read your replies |
One rule sits under all of this. Ask everyone the same way, and let the guest decide what to say.
When is the best time to ask for a review?
Timing matters more than wording. Each platform has its own review window.
So the best moments are:
- During the stay, after a good moment. For example, after a smooth check-in or a helpful tip. Do not ask for the review yet. Just ask if everything is fine, and fix what is not.
- At check-out. Say thank you. Mention that the booking site will email them, and that an honest review helps a small business.
- One to two days after check-out. Send one short message. This is close to when Booking.com sends its own email.
- About a week later, only once. A gentle reminder if they have not reviewed. Then stop.
Picture a 6-room guesthouse in Ubud. This is a made-up example. A couple from Australia checks out on Monday. On Tuesday they get Booking.com's email, and the owner's short thank-you message arrives the same day. Two small nudges, both honest, at the right time.
What should you say? Ready ask messages
Keep it short. Thank the guest, ask once, and link to the right place. Never mention a gift.
At check-out (spoken): "Thank you for staying with us. Booking.com will send you an email in a day or two asking about your stay. If you have a minute, an honest review really helps a small place like ours."
Message 1 to 2 days after check-out: "Hi [guest name], thank you for staying with us last week. We hope your trip home was easy. If you have a moment, we would love your honest feedback on Booking.com. It helps other travellers and helps us improve. Have a lovely week."
Message for direct bookings (Google review link): "Hi [guest name], thanks again for booking with us directly. If you would like to share your experience, here is our Google review page: [link]. Any feedback, good or bad, helps us."
One reminder, about a week later: "Hi [guest name], just a short reminder in case the review email got lost. No pressure at all. Thank you again for choosing us."
Notice the words "honest" and "good or bad". They keep the ask fair. They also match what the platforms ask for.
Many guests in Bali read WhatsApp faster than email. If a guest booked direct, a WhatsApp message is often the easiest way to send your thank-you. Our guide to WhatsApp guest messaging for hotels (opens in new tab) explains how to keep those chats tidy. For the tone of every message, see our hotel guest communication guide (opens in new tab).
Step by step: a review routine your team can run
Here is a simple routine. It takes a few minutes a day.
- Make the stay review-worthy. Clean rooms, clear check-in and quick replies matter most. Airbnb's own host tips name cleanliness and accurate listings as top reasons for lower stars. Our Airbnb cleaning guide (opens in new tab) helps your team clean the same way every time.
- Check in during the stay. Before arrival, send clear directions. Our pre-arrival message template (opens in new tab) gives you a starting point. On day one, send a short "Is everything OK?" message. Fix problems fast. A fixed problem often turns into a kind review.
- Ask at check-out, every guest. Use the same short line for everyone. Do not skip guests who complained.
- Send one message after check-out. Use the template above. Link to the OTA they booked on, or to Google for direct guests.
- Send one reminder, then stop. In our experience, more than two messages starts to feel like pressure.
- Reply to every new review. Thank good reviews. Answer bad ones calmly and say what you changed. Keep replies short and kind, and never argue in public. Our guide to hotel reputation management (opens in new tab) shows how to handle replies week by week.
- Look for patterns each month. If three guests mention slow Wi-Fi, fix the Wi-Fi. Then mention the fix in your next replies.
What about guests who had a bad stay?
You may feel tempted to skip them. Do not. Skipping unhappy guests on purpose is a form of review gating.
Instead, use the stay itself. If a guest complains about a noisy air conditioner on night one, move them or fix it that day. Say sorry. Then ask for a review at check-out like everyone else. Many guests write fair reviews when the team clearly tried.
If a guest threatens a bad review to get a refund, do not give in. Airbnb's policy says guests may not threaten a negative review to get money or other benefits. Keep the messages in the platform and report it to the OTA.
A worked example: how small asks add up
This is a hypothetical example with made-up numbers. It shows the sum, not a real result.
Imagine a 6-room guesthouse in Ubud. In a 30-day month it sells 108 room-nights. That is 6 rooms x 30 nights x 60% occupancy. If guests stay 3 nights on average, that is 36 check-outs a month.
Now imagine the team only remembers to ask some guests, say 12 of the 36. If 1 in 4 of those guests writes a review, that is 3 reviews a month. If the team asks all 36 guests the same way, and the same 1 in 4 replies, that is 9 reviews a month. Nothing else changed. The team just asked everyone.
Your own reply rate will be different. Do not guess it. Count it. Write down how many guests checked out and how many reviews arrived each month. After three months you will know your real number.
Common mistakes owners make with reviews
- Asking only on quiet days. When the team is rushed, the ask is the first thing to go. Make it part of every check-out.
- Sending the wrong link. A guest who booked on Airbnb should review on Airbnb. Send direct guests to Google.
- Sending too many messages. Three or four reminders feel like spam. A good working rule is one message and one reminder.
- Replying only to bad reviews. Thank the good ones too. Future guests notice.
- Ignoring the pattern. One guest who mentions hot water is a story. Three guests is a problem to fix. See how to fix recurring review complaints (opens in new tab).
- Using a personal WhatsApp number. When that staff member leaves, the chats leave too. Our guide to hotel guest inbox channels (opens in new tab) explains how to keep guest messages in one shared place.
How many reviews do you need?
There is no magic number, and we will not invent one. What we can say from the platforms' own pages:
- Booking.com says the most recent reviews have the biggest effect on your overall score. So a steady flow matters more than a big push once a year.
- Booking.com reviews stay public for 36 months, according to its partner help page.
- On Airbnb, a review only goes public after both sides write one, or the window ends. So write your own guest review promptly.
The aim is simple. Ask every guest, every time, in a fair way. Over months that builds a steady stream.
How does Kiyo help with reviews?
Kiyo cannot write reviews or ask guests to leave them for you. It gives you one place to read and answer the reviews you get, and to keep up the guest messages that come before them.
- One reviews dashboard. On Pro and higher plans, reviews from Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia arrive in one dashboard. You read and reply there without opening each extranet. Google and Tripadvisor reviews are not in the dashboard, so answer those on their own sites.
- Guest messages in one inbox. The unified inbox, also on Pro and higher plans, covers Instagram, Facebook, Outlook, Booking.com, Expedia, Telegram, Airbnb and WhatsApp. The mid-stay "Is everything OK?" message and the thank-you after checkout can both go from there.
- Earlier threads kept. On Pro and higher plans, past messages and reviews can be imported, so a returning guest's history is in front of whoever replies.
- Departures in one calendar. Bookings from your connected OTAs (Kiyo connects with 75+ OTAs) sit in one calendar, so the team can see who checks out today and who is due a thank-you.
When you join, the Kiyo team sets up your channels with you. Once Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia are connected on a Pro or higher plan, their reviews start to show in the dashboard. Each property also gets its own WhatsApp group with the Kiyo team, with support in Bahasa Indonesia.
Kiyo costs from Rp40k per room per month (opens in new tab), and the reviews dashboard and unified inbox are on Pro and higher plans. See the reviews and reputation feature (opens in new tab) for more.
Frequently asked questions
No. Booking.com, Airbnb, Google and Tripadvisor all ban incentives for reviews. This includes discounts, free drinks, upgrades and contest entries.
Yes. Google says businesses may ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience. Ask everyone the same way and do not suggest what to write.
Review gating means asking guests if they were happy first, and then sending only the happy ones to the review site. Tripadvisor and Google forbid it.
Booking.com says it emails guests about 48 hours after check-out. Guests have three months to write the review.
Not for collecting reviews or being named in them. Tripadvisor and Google treat this as a policy breach. Reward good service instead, measured another way.
Yes. Skipping them on purpose is gating. Fix the problem during the stay, then ask like you ask everyone else.
Free setup. Pay from go-live, and if Kiyo isn't right for you in the first 14 days, we refund you in full.
Review request routine
- Ask every guest, the same way
- No gifts, discounts or upgrades for reviews
- No "were you happy?" filter before the review link
- No suggested words, no writing reviews for guests
- Check in on day one and fix problems fast
- Ask at check-out
- Send one message 1 to 2 days after check-out
- Send one reminder about a week later, then stop
- Reply to every review
- Review patterns once a month
Add Kiyo to your preferred sources on Google
