How to respond to TripAdvisor reviews (with examples, and how to report the fake ones)
TripAdvisor is the one platform where your reply has to pass a moderator before anyone sees it. Most rejected replies break a rule the owner didn't know existed.
This page covers three things: how to post a Management Response, twelve replies written to pass TripAdvisor's rules, and what to do about a review you think is fake or unfair.
For replies that work on any platform, see the 18 negative-review templates and the 16 positive-review templates.
How to post a Management Response
1. Claim your listing. It's free. Search for your property on TripAdvisor's owner site and verify that you run it. That opens the Management Center, which is where replies and reports both live.
2. Open your reviews in the Management Center and pick the review you want to answer.
3. Write the reply as plain text and submit it. No formatting survives, so don't bother with lists or bold.
4. Wait for moderation. TripAdvisor says a reply that follows its guidelines is typically published within 48 hours, and you get a notification when it is.
The rules TripAdvisor actually enforces
These come from TripAdvisor's published Management Response guidelines. Break one and the reply is rejected or later removed.
- One response per review. There are no threads. You don't get a second turn, so don't post in a hurry.
- Nothing promotional. No discounts, no free nights, no loyalty pitch, no "book direct." Replies offering a gift, service or money are removed.
- No links unless the link is directly relevant to the review, and TripAdvisor can reject any URL it doesn't like.
- No quoting. You can't paste the guest's emails, messages from third parties, or snippets of other reviews.
- No personal information. No names, addresses or phone numbers that identify someone, and no guessing who the reviewer is.
- No accusations of review fraud. Even if you are certain. Report it instead.
- No threats, and no arguing with TripAdvisor's policies in the reply. Anything that reads as pressure on the reviewer gets the response pulled.
- Plain text, one language. No bullet lists, no HTML, no long runs of capitals. Replies written in two languages are rejected, and so are machine translations that read as gibberish.
That last group is why a reply that works fine on Google can bounce here. "Email me at…", "10% off your next stay" and "this guest never stayed with us" are all normal on Google and all risky on TripAdvisor.
12 TripAdvisor response examples
Swap the bracketed parts. Each one avoids guest names, offers, links and accusations, so it should clear moderation as written.
A bad review with a specific complaint
Thank you for telling us, and I'm sorry. [The cold shower on your second morning / the noise from the street side] isn't the stay we want anyone to have. We've since [replaced the water heater on that floor / moved our quietest rooms to the request list]. If you come back to [town], call the front desk and ask for me. I'd like the chance to do better. [Your first name], Owner
Name the complaint, say what changed, sign it. Three to five sentences.
The one-bubble rant
I'm sorry your stay went this badly. I've read your review carefully and taken the points about [the two specific things] to the team. Some of what you describe doesn't match our records of that week, but I'd rather hear it from you directly than argue here. Please call the hotel and ask for me. [Your first name], Owner
Do not match the heat. The next guest reads your reply to decide which of you is the reasonable one.
A review you believe is fake
Thank you for the review. I've looked through our bookings for [month] and I can't match this stay to a reservation, so I can't look into the details the way I'd like to. If you stayed with us under another name, please call the hotel and ask for me. I'd like to understand what happened. [Your first name], Owner
TripAdvisor rejects replies that accuse a reviewer of fraud or guess at who they are. Say what you can't find, invite contact, then report the review (steps below).
The review is about a different hotel
Thank you for writing. I think this review may have been meant for another property. We're [Hotel Name] in [town], and we don't have [a pool / a shuttle / a fourth floor]. If I've got that wrong, please call us and I'll look into it straight away. [Your first name], Owner
Then report it. A review posted to the wrong listing is one of the clearest removal cases TripAdvisor has.
The review gets a fact wrong
Thank you for the feedback. One correction for other travelers reading this: [breakfast is included in every rate / we don't charge a resort fee / the pool was open that week]. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear at check-in. Everything else you raised, I've noted. [Your first name], Owner
Correct one fact, once, calmly. A factual dispute alone won't get a review removed, so the reply is your only tool here.
The guest who threatened a bad review, then posted it
Thank you for your review. We talked through your concerns during your stay and I'm sorry we couldn't reach an outcome you were happy with. For other travelers: [the room was the category booked / the rate was the one confirmed at booking]. Our door is open if you'd like to talk again. [Your first name], Owner
Keep the threat out of the public reply. Report it to TripAdvisor separately, with the email or text as proof.
An old review from before you fixed the problem
This reply is overdue, and I'm sorry for that. Since your stay we've [replaced every mattress / rebuilt the bathrooms on the second floor / changed how breakfast is run]. Your review was part of the reason. Thank you for saying it plainly. [Your first name], Owner
TripAdvisor shows the date of your response. A recent, specific reply under an old complaint tells the reader the complaint is out of date.
The three-bubble "it was fine"
Thank you for the honest review. "Fine" isn't what we're aiming for, so I've taken your point about [the one thing] to the team. I'm glad [the thing they liked] worked for you. [Your first name], Owner
A complaint about the booking site, not the hotel
I'm sorry about the mix-up with your reservation. The [rate / room type / cancellation terms] you were shown came from the site you booked through, and we couldn't see or change them from our side. I understand that's no comfort when you're standing at the desk. We've since [added a note to every third-party booking confirmation]. [Your first name], Owner
Explain without blaming the guest, and don't pitch booking direct. TripAdvisor removes promotional replies.
A five-bubble review
Thank you. I'm glad [the porch at sunset / the breakfast / the quiet] landed. It's the part of this place we fuss over most. Hope we see you back in [town]. [Your first name], Owner
Two or three sentences. No offers, no "book direct," no link.
A good review that praises a staff member
I read this to the team at this morning's meeting and it made someone's week. [One detail: "Six years on our front desk and still the first to learn every guest's coffee order."] Thank you for taking the time to say it. [Your first name], Owner
TripAdvisor's privacy rule covers names. If the guest used a first name, you can echo it. Never add a surname or anything else that identifies the person.
A review written in another language
Gracias por su opinión. Lamento que [el ruido de la calle] le haya impedido descansar. Ya hemos [cambiado las ventanas de esas habitaciones]. Espero que nos dé otra oportunidad. [Your first name], propietario
One language per reply. TripAdvisor rejects responses written in two languages, and machine translations it finds unreadable. Short sentences survive translation best.
Can you get a TripAdvisor review removed?
You can't delete a review yourself. TripAdvisor removes one only when it breaks a posting guideline. These are the cases that apply to hotels most often:
- The reviewer never stayed. Reviews must describe a first-hand experience as a guest. A review based only on a phone call doesn't qualify.
- It's on the wrong listing. The review describes another hotel, or a business that is not yours.
- It was written more than a year after the stay. TripAdvisor requires reviews to be submitted within one year of the experience.
- It repeats second-hand information. Quotes from news stories, other guests, inspectors or anything the reviewer heard after the stay. One mention is enough.
- The writer has a tie to you or to a competitor. Current and former employees, their friends and relatives, your suppliers, and anyone who owns or works at another lodging business in your town or within 10 miles.
- It's a duplicate. One review per stay. The same guest posting the same stay twice, or from two accounts, breaks the rule.
- It is a rant about politics, religion or other reviews instead of an account of the stay.
What won't work: "it's unfair," "that's not what happened," or "they were a difficult guest." TripAdvisor doesn't referee disagreements about a real stay. For those, the reply is the whole game.
How to report a review
1. Reply first. Reports take time and many are declined. A calm response is live within a couple of days either way.
2. In the Management Center, find the review and use the report option. You'll be asked what kind of problem it is.
3. Name the guideline it breaks. "This review describes a rooftop pool; we are a two-story inn with no pool" gets read. "This is a lie" doesn't.
4. Attach proof if you have it: booking records for the dates, the staff roster showing the writer worked for you, the message where the guest said they'd be reviewing a different hotel.
5. Then leave it. If TripAdvisor declines, your reply is still there doing its job.
If a guest threatens a bad review to get a refund
Report the threat to TripAdvisor through the Management Center the same day, before any review is posted. That's when the report carries weight. Keep the email, text or a written note of what was said and when. Don't negotiate against the threat, and don't mention it in a public reply later.
What never to do about a bad TripAdvisor review
Each of these is named in TripAdvisor's guidelines. The penalties are a ranking drop, removal from awards, or a red warning badge on your listing.
- Offer a refund, discount or free night to take a review down. TripAdvisor treats any incentive for removal as a violation and penalizes the listing.
- Pressure or threaten the reviewer. Legal threats included. The penalty can be a ranking drop or a red warning badge on your page.
- Ask only your happy guests for reviews. Sending pleased guests to TripAdvisor and unhappy ones to a private form is called review gating, and it is banned.
- Reward guests or staff for reviews. No free drinks, no contest entries, no staff bonus for being mentioned.
- Write or post a review for a guest. Not even with their permission and their own words.
The reviews you haven't answered yet
Most independent hotels have a backlog of unanswered TripAdvisor reviews, and the same again on Google and Booking. The reviews keep telling the same two or three stories, and nobody has had time to read them all in one sitting.
HostIntel reads every review you've got on TripAdvisor, Google, and Booking and hands you a brief: the patterns behind the complaints, how you compare to the hotel down the street, and every unanswered low-rating review with a drafted reply ready to send.
$179 once. Delivered in about 25 minutes. If you don't find something worth acting on within 7 days, we refund it and you keep the report.
Frequently asked
- Can a hotel owner delete a TripAdvisor review?
- No. Only TripAdvisor can remove a review, and only when it breaks a posting guideline: for example it describes a different hotel, the writer never stayed, or it was written by an employee or a local competitor. The reviewer can also delete their own review. A review being unfair or one-sided is not grounds for removal.
- How long does a TripAdvisor management response take to appear?
- TripAdvisor says a response that follows its guidelines is typically published within 48 hours. Every response is checked before it goes live.
- Can I reply to the same TripAdvisor review twice?
- No. TripAdvisor allows one management response per review and there are no threads, so write it once and write it calmly.
- Can I offer a discount or refund in a TripAdvisor response?
- No. Promotional content is not allowed in management responses, and replies that offer gifts, services or money are removed. Offering anything in exchange for removing a review is a separate violation that can penalize your listing.
- How do I report a fake TripAdvisor review?
- Sign in to the free TripAdvisor Management Center for your listing, find the review, and use the report option. State which posting guideline it breaks and attach what you have. Post a calm management response in the meantime, without calling the review fake, because TripAdvisor rejects responses that accuse reviewers of fraud.
- What language should I reply in on TripAdvisor?
- One language only. Reply in the reviewer's language if you can do it well, otherwise in plain English. TripAdvisor rejects responses written in two languages and machine translations it finds unreadable.