A guest who finds a broken shower on their first night will tell someone about it. If they tell you that evening, you still have the rest of the stay to fix it. This guide covers what to ask, how to get each problem to the right person quickly, and how to stay within Google, Tripadvisor and UK review rules.
Why the stay is the best time to hear bad news
Most hotel problems can be fixed while the guest is still in the building: a room that wasn't cleaned properly, heating that won't turn off, a noisy neighbour. After check-out, all you can do is explain, apologise or refund.
Asking during the stay also changes what you learn. A post-stay survey tells you what went wrong last week. An in-stay check tells you what is wrong in a room tonight, while your team can still act.
Be clear with your team: you ask so you can fix things, not to stop anyone writing a review. The guest decides whether to review you and what to say.
What to ask, and when
When to ask
- Not at the desk during check-in. The guest hasn't experienced anything yet. Trustpilot's guidelines for businesses make a similar point about review invitations: let people use the service before you ask what they thought.
- The first evening, once the guest has had a few hours in the room.
- The first morning, when the bed, the shower and the noise level are fresh in their mind.
- Midway through a longer stay, as a second check.
Where to ask
- A card in the room with a QR code, placed where guests already look, such as next to the Wi-Fi details.
- A short message on the channel you already use to contact guests.
- In person at the desk: "Is everything all right with your room?" Log the answer like any other feedback.
What to ask
Keep it to two or three questions:
- How is your stay so far? (a simple rating)
- Is there anything we can fix for you right now?
- Your room number, if you'd like us to follow up (optional).
Use plain, neutral wording. Say clearly that this form goes to the hotel team so they can act now, and that it is not a public review.
Routing issues to the right person fast
Feedback nobody sees in time is worse than none: the guest told you and nothing happened. Decide in advance who owns each type of issue.
| Issue | Goes to | First move |
|---|---|---|
| Cleanliness, missing towels or amenities | Housekeeping supervisor | Send someone up, then check with the guest |
| Something broken: shower, heating, lock, TV | Maintenance on shift | Fix it, or offer a room move if it can't wait |
| Noise | Duty manager | Deal with the source, and offer a move if needed |
| Bill, booking or payment | Front office | Check the folio and give the guest an answer |
| Breakfast, bar or room service | Food and beverage lead | Put it right at the next meal |
| Anything unclear, or overnight | Duty manager | Owns it until someone else takes it |
Then set a few ground rules:
- One named owner per issue. A shared inbox means everyone assumes someone else has it.
- A time to acknowledge and a time to resolve. Make both realistic for your staffing on each shift.
- Escalation. If nobody acknowledges an issue in time, it goes up a level: to the duty manager, or to the general manager if the duty manager already owns it.
- Close the loop. Tell the guest what you've done, and check it worked.
- Log everything. Record the issue, the room, when it was raised and when it was fixed.
A goodwill gesture, such as a room move, a drink or a charge taken off the bill, is ordinary service recovery. Never link it to a review; the next section explains why.
The rules: no pressure, no conditions, no gating
The rules below are correct as of September 2026. They can change, so check the sources before you change your process.
No pressure
- Google's Maps user contributed content policy says businesses must not make guests leave a rating or review while on site, push them to do so, or ask them to include specific content.
- Tripadvisor's review guidelines forbid coercing guests into reviewing. That includes threats and holding back any part of the service until a guest posts a review.
- The same guidelines say staff must not write reviews for guests, watch them while they write, or suggest wording.
No conditions
- The CMA's fake reviews guidance (CMA208) says traders should not interfere with negative reviews, including "by making an offer of dispute resolution contingent on a consumer not leaving a negative review" (paragraph 4.4).
- Tripadvisor's help for owners rules out incentives, discounts, upgrades or special treatment in exchange for a review, whether for the current stay or a future visit.
- Google's policy bans incentives, such as discounts or free services, for posting, changing or removing a review. Trustpilot says you should never pressure a reviewer to update a review, even after a problem is resolved.
- If a guest says they plan to write a review about a real problem, such as a broken pipe, Tripadvisor says that is not blackmail, as long as they aren't making a bad-faith demand. Treat it as a complaint and fix it.
No gating
- Tripadvisor bans review gating. If any survey leads guests to a Tripadvisor review, "the user interface and experience for submitting positive and negative reviews must be identical". Its own example of a breach is sending happy guests to a review page and unhappy guests to an internal support channel.
- Google's policy also bars businesses from discouraging negative reviews or asking only happy customers for them.
- UK law has banned fake reviews and misleading review practices since 6 April 2025 (Schedule 20, paragraph 13 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024). The CMA's guidance says cherry-picking positive reviews can happen "by encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews" (paragraph 4.5).
- A hotel that shows its review ratings on its own website counts as a publisher under the guidance (paragraphs 8.3 and 8.32). Publishers should explain the difference between a complaint and a review. They should not "try to persuade consumers to submit a complaint, rather than leave a review for publication", or "try to dissuade consumers from leaving a review of their experience even if their initial problem has been resolved through the complaints process" (paragraph 8.11).
In practice, if your in-stay form offers a public review link, every guest should get it at the same step, in the same place and with the same prominence, whatever score they give. Don't send high scorers straight to a review site while low scorers go through a private form first.
After check-out: one review request for every guest
Tripadvisor's help for owners says businesses may encourage guests to review after their stay, as long as nothing is offered in return. A simple post-stay routine:
- One request per stay, to every departing guest. Trustpilot asks for one invitation per experience, sent to everyone in the same way, whether their experience was good or bad.
- Include the guests who raised a problem, fixed or not. Trustpilot rules out timing invitations so that only customers with a good experience reach them. Leaving complainants off the list has the same effect.
- Neutral wording. "Thank you for staying with us. If you'd like to review your stay, you can do it here." Never "If you enjoyed your stay, please leave us five stars."
- Use the official link. Google's help suggests adding your review link or QR code to thank-you emails.
- No follow-up asking for an edit. If you fixed something and the guest's review doesn't mention it, reply publicly and say what you did. Whether they update the review is up to them.
What to measure each week
Measure what you fix, not how many reviews you avoid. Look at:
- Response rate: in-stay responses as a share of occupied rooms.
- Speed: time to acknowledge and to resolve, by issue type and shift.
- Closed before check-out: issues fixed, with the guest told, before they left.
- Repeat issues: the same room or the same fault coming up again. A shower that fails three times in a month needs replacing, not another visit.
- Themes over time: whether last month's change reduced the complaints it targeted.
- Post-stay reviews: volume and average rating as a lagging check. Read the text, not just the score.
Your first week
- Print one room card with a QR code and a two- or three-question form.
- Fill in the routing table for your own team, with names and phone numbers for each shift.
- Agree your acknowledgement time and who it escalates to.
- Check that your post-stay email goes to every departing guest with the same neutral wording.
- Brief the team: fix first, never link a gesture to a review, never suggest wording.
Where Monty fits
Monty asks guests for feedback through a branded page that opens from a QR code on a room card, with no app or login.
A low rating or an issue report becomes an SOS alert for the right person by email, WhatsApp, Telegram or in the app, and it escalates if nobody acknowledges it within two hours. Its AI reports include a weekly email and show sentiment and topics over time.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
The team behind Monty, proactive reputation management for restaurants, hotels, bars and cafés.
How we write our articles
