Deciphering Guest Reviews

In our last post, we wrote that we are ranked #1 on TripAdvisor, but what does that all mean? Does it really mean we are the best property in our town? We know we have a great product with great service but we are not the right choice for everyone. Cape Charles is fortunate to have some wonderful accommodations and no matter where you want to travel, we would encourage travelers to take a thorough look at reviews to find the best place for them.

TripAdvisor (TA) has its own algorithm that no one really knows and that supposedly changes from time to time. It also has its own rules that can help or hinder you, depending on how you look at it. Take the Cape Charles lodging page for instance….TA defines a hotel/motel as having 24-hour front desk coverage. If you don’t have it, you are automatically put in the “B&B/Inn” category. There are a few properties listed as b&bs that are anything but. They truly are hotels or motels, so much so that it’s part of their names, but because they don’t have a 24-hour front desk, they are a b&b for TA purposes. And there are those in the hotel category that we know don’t have someone sitting at a desk 24/7 but say they have it to be put in that category. Travelers really should consider all lodging categories, because what they want might not be listed where they expect based on TA’s “rules”.

How reliable are reviews? We can tell you that our reviews are authentic reviews from real, paying guests. There are properties – we are not claiming in Cape Charles – that pay guests for a review, usually by offering a discount. There are some places that give suggestions of what to write. TA does not approve of this but there is really no way to weed those out. This is not something we do.

Guests rate a property on a scale of 1 to 5, but TA weights each review, and no one really knows how that works. Some say it has to do with how long a review has been posted, how many reviews a traveler has posted, the amount of reviews a property gets a month, and whether or not the innkeeper responds. TA does not disclose their algorithm or weighting system.

So, does 4.5/5 stars really mean a property is great? You should look at how many reviews a property has and when those reviews were posted. Depending on the size of a town, there could be a property that is highly rated, but they only have a handful of reviews or maybe haven’t had a new review in the past few years. Maybe they only have a handful but are ranked high because they are new but with positive reviews (which is our situation) or they haven’t had a review in awhile but are still high because there aren’t other accommodation choices in that town.

One thing TA used to do but took away on the full website was a recommendation rating (you can still find it on their mobile app). When you wrote a review, you would be asked whether or not you would recommend the property. There were towns were the #1 ranked place might only have a 88% recommendation rating but the place ranked #5 would have a 96% recommendation. Again, it’s that algorithm that no one outside TA understands.

And it’s the perfect example why travelers should look at details of reviews. Open up the reviews so you can read all the contents and see how properties were rated on individual criteria (cleanliness, service, value, sleep quality, location). You can see if the owner or manager responded and how. TA tells property owners that all reviews should be responded to and we try to do that (but it’s challenging to find countless ways to say “glad you enjoyed your stay”). We’ve had a number of guests tell us that they like to read our responses because it gives them a sense of our personalities and how we treat guests.

If a property has a negative review (and every property will get one), see when it was posted. Is it old and perhaps with former owners? Is it the rant of someone who would not have been satisfied no matter where they stayed? Or is it a legitimate gripe? Did the owner respond and how?

But don’t just depend on reviews. What one person loved, may not be a good fit for you. Look at websites and call properties (or email). Make sure you get your questions answered (and if you can’t, that tells you something right there). And after your trip, write reviews about your experience.

Guest Reviews

When we first started as innkeepers in 2004, guest reviews were not something we thought of. We had journals in each guest rooms where guests could write comments or thank yous and we would pick and choose which ones to post on our own website. Now there are countless travel review websites where guests can, and do, post reviews. The whole process of getting reviews has become a time consuming task. It’s almost like a game.

Fig Street Inn has only been open for 4 ½ months but we’re already rated #1 on TripAdvisor in our town. We never wanted to be #1. When we first started getting reviews we were #3, and were very happy to be there. We thought it would be nice if we kept flipping back and forth between #2 and #3, but all of a sudden, we are #1. We are extremely grateful for the wonderful reviews our guests have given, but now the challenge begins to keep ourselves at #1, or at least not to fall below #2.

So how do you get guest reviews, good guest reviews, and keep yourself at the top? It’s not easy. We are in the business of providing a relaxing and enjoyable experience. We are not in this for reviews, but unfortunately, we have to commit time and energy to get them. We do mention it to guests if it comes up in conversation – a few say they read our online reviews and say that they were the reason they booked with us. We follow up by email with guests about a week after their stays and send links to the two most popular sites for b&b reviews – TripAdvisor and BedAndBreakfast.com. And every once in awhile we post on our FaceBook page asking past guests to write a review. We average about 1 review for every 6 guests we ask.

But now we have to work “harder” to keep ourselves #1. That means more reviews. And there really is no way for us to get more reviews without hounding guests (which we will not do). We don’t pay for reviews. We don’t give discounts because someone says they will write a review. And we don’t have family and friends write reviews (we might ask a friend, but only if they actually stayed).

So I guess we will also use our blog for another “plug” to write a review. If you’ve stayed with us, we hope you will go to TripAdvisor and/or BedAndBreakfast.com and share your experience with other travelers.We honestly appreciate the feedback and thank you to our past guests for making us #1!

Location, Location, Location

It’s the number one rule when buying a house but what does it mean when buying a b&b? It is much more than property value, taxes and how good are the schools. What is the draw? Why do people go to that area? Is it a pass-through town where most guests will be one-nighters or is there a reason people want to come and stay for 2 or more nights? Or is it close enough to another town that is the real draw? You can fall in love with a property but if there is no tangible reason for people to come, it will be very hard to make it a viable business. Your b&b will have to become the draw, and that can be very long and hard road.

After looking up and down the east coast, we found our first b&b in Jamestown, RI. Most people have never heard of it, but they have heard of Newport. Newport was a fantastic market with countless reasons to visit (mansions, museums, restaurants, music festivals, beaches, water sports, destination weddings). Jamestown is a 10-minute drive across the bay. We could not afford Newport, so Jamestown was a great solution. We could take advantage of all the reasons people go to Newport but would have to position ourselves so guests would choose us over Newport.

Newport has a long “high” season (May through October) when you can charge your highest rates and you make most of your money. There are “shoulder” seasons at each end when you lower your rates and have to do more marketing to attract guests. Slow season was January and February when many people would shut down for renovations or take vacation.

So how exactly do you position yourself so people choose you over a property right in the hub of activity? Newport is a great market – but its biggest drawback is price. Rooms go anywhere from $175 to $1,500. Yes, that’s $1,500 per night! Most properties are in the $200 to $300 range. We had to price ourselves below that at a rate where guests would feel that it was worth staying outside Newport. You need to consider gas, and whether or not there are tolls and parking fees. And you have to give a “value” to the time someone will need to spend getting back and forth from your b&b to the places they want to visit.

For Jamestown, our rates were $135 to $165/night in high season. We constantly monitored what other properties, including hotels and motels, were charging. We did our research so we knew who offered more amenities and charged higher rates or who offered less, but still charged more. You have to have confidence that you are priced accordingly and competitively and you have to stand by your price. That doesn’t mean you can’t discount (that’s a whole other topic we’ll get into another time), but some potential guests will question your prices. You will have to explain, and sometimes defend, why your prices are “fair” (again, a whole other topic).

What’s Your Story?

A lot of our guests ask “what’s your story” and want to know how we got into innkeeping. Our story isn’t that different from many other innkeepers. We had a dream to someday own a bed & breakfast. We honestly thought it would be after careers and family – something we would do after we retired, probably in our 60s.

Donna had worked in marketing and event planning but got laid off in 2001. She did a career change and went to pastry school, and then worked for a wedding cake designer and for a 5-star hotel as pastry cook. Meanwhile, Greg took a buy-out from his job as a computer programmer. A lot of people were getting laid off at this time and we had the choice of looking for jobs along with everyone else or figuring out what we wanted to be when we grew up.

Greg started doing online research into inns for sale and we spent weekends traveling up and down the east coast looking at properties. Our criteria was it had to be as close to the water as possible and we wanted at least 4 guest rooms. A bed and breakfast was going to be our career so we needed a market with a long season where the business would support both of us. We did not want to have jobs outside the home to supplement our income.

We looked from Maine to New Jersey and found Newport, Rhode Island. It had a long season – April through October – with an outstanding Convention & Visitors Bureau that did a lot of marketing and events to build off season business. We found a great property with 5 guest rooms that was just “perfect”. Our offer was accepted and then it all went downhill. What looked “perfect” from the outside wasn’t so perfect after inspection and we could not come to terms with the seller. No Newport b&b for us.

By that time we were so frustrated, disappointed and ready to give up. We had spent about 4 months looking and Newport was what we wanted but there was nothing else available in that market that would work for us or fit our budget. We took a few weeks off and then Greg decided one day to start the search again. He planned a trip to Rhode Island to visit 3 properties.

Our first stop was to a small island called Jamestown across the bay from Newport. The house was called “East Bay Bed & Breakfast” and had been a b&b for about 15 years. The owners had already moved out and stopped running the business. We walked in the house and in about 5 minutes knew that this was the one. We didn’t need to see the other 2 houses that day.

And Jamestown, Rhode Island is where it all began for us.

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to Fig Street Inn’s blog and our first post. We’ve never blogged before and hope this will be a place for us to share a little about innkeeping, living the “bed and breakfast dream”, and maybe just about travel and tourism in general. We’re certainly not the most experienced or most knowledgeable, but we are in our 7^th year as innkeepers and on our 2^nd property. Perhaps we know a thing or two – and we hope some will find it worth following. 

We don’t have a set plan as to how often we will post but know it will not be every day (we wish we had time every day to sit at a computer and share our thoughts). We would like this to be interactive – what do you want to know about innkeeping? What do you want to read about? What would you find interesting?

Sign up to follow us. Ask your questions. Let us know what you want to read here. And we pre-apologize for our mistakes as we enter this vast unknown of blogging.