Introducing My Favourite Reviews!

Here's the first news of a very important new feature for My Favourite Holiday Cottages.

Guests - or those who've just fallen for your cottage by looking at it - can now post a review saying exactly what it is about your cottage and/or their stay in it that they really like about it.

Reviews will appear on your listing page.

We've been doing a lot of research into reviews, and it's pretty clear that they help to attract more bookings. Equally, they can be open to abuse, as we're sure you know. So, we've created a review format that allows people to focus on the positive aspects of your holiday cottage.

A reviewer writes about their 'Favourite' things about it. Moreover, they can also add an eye-catching photo, adding greater authenticity.

When a review is submitted, we'll moderate it first. If it's abusive or runs contrary to the principles of My Favourite Reviews, we won't permit it to be published. Assuming we publish it, we'll send you an e-mail to inform you of its existence. Check it, and if you don't think it is appropriate, then Login to your Member's Area. Select the 'Manage Reviews' button, which will allow you to remove it.

We are following the principle of the Julie Andrews song 'These Are A Few of My Favourite Things' and focusing on the positives - all the positives and nothing but the positives.

We'll be developing this function during the autumn, so if you think of ways to improve its appeal further, then do let us know.

In the meantime, feel free to invite past guests etc., to post a review of your property and include the link to your page. By the way, if you submit a review from your own address, we'll see that, and it won't get published!

 

Why Sweeping a Chimney Might Save A Life

Wood burners, open fires and Aga ovens all conjure warm and cosy feelings about a holiday cottage out of season. They are part of a cottage’s quintessential character. They can also be death traps...

 

Bookings: How to Lose 15% Without Even Trying!

Read this latest blog from the holiday property booking software firm SuperControl. It considers the best time to send an e-mail based on an analysis of when people book. Its main recommendation incidentally is that the best time to engage your audience is between 7-9 pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. It’s well worth a read.

Do Negative Reviews Spell Disaster?

What happens if someone posts negative reviews of your property on a holiday directory site? Will it frighten away guests, or is it possible to survive the condemnation? Here’s how to encourage and promote positive reviews and drown out the negative.

Template For A Guest Feedback Form

We all want constructive Guest Feedback, but there’s nothing worse than having your lovely Visitor Testimonials book despoiled by ‘constructive criticism’. Here's one way to mitigate this...

How To Welcome Your Guests: Tips on Creating 1st Impressions

Knowing how to welcome your guests will deliver many benefits, from reduced complaints to increased repeat bookings.

It’s important: First impressions count. Savvy owners like to create a genuine sense of welcome for guests. Being made to feel not just an expected guest but also a very special guest is a great way to ensure your visitors start their holiday in your property on the right footing – the moment they arrive. After that, if anything doesn’t quite go according to plan, they’ll be far more likely to forgive you for it because you’ll have already convinced them you have their interests at heart...

And Finally...

Well, I hope that's given you enough helpful insight and advice to keep you happy over the next few weeks. It's all part of our goal to enable My Favourite Holiday Cottages subscribers to secure more bookings.

Don't forget, if you have any suggestions on My Favourite Reviews or other ideas on improving the site - do let us know. If we use it, your reward will be a Featured Favourite upgrade to generate extra interest in your listing.

Finally, may we offer our thanks to all of you who have been adding comments to blog posts and tweeting or retweeting us on Twitter? You're helping to generate more and more visitors to the site. Keep it up! And if you're not yet following us on @mfhcottages, then it's probably about time you did!

Have a good month, and may all your calendars be full.

First of all, before you read the reviews, make sure the cottage you’re considering is a cottage you’re quite happy to stay in before reading the reviews. Does it fit your criteria? Imagine yourself and your family or friends relaxing in the photos etc.

Still like the look of the property? OK, let’s check the reviews. These come in two types: reviews or testimonials on a property’s website or advert and reviews posted on independent sites.

“Wow! What a stunning property! We had a fantastic time here, and there is much to explore locally. We’ll definitely have to come back. Loved the fresh flowers and eggs from the chickens.” Thank you!    Jenny, Sue, John and Ernie the Westie. Hillcrest Cottage, Suffolk

 

Reviews featured on a property’s website.

You can pretty much guarantee that these will be positive. Occasionally some owners post comments that flag up the unsuitability of the property for particular types of customers, e.g. a comment on an unfenced pond might be there deliberately to deter bookers with young children in tow.

Assuming that the reviews uniformly praise the property, here are four things to check.

 

1. Are they attributable?

OK, don’t expect contact details, but a name and town, such as ‘The Thomas family, Chesterfield’, means that, unless the owner is happy to break the Trades Description Act (which is rare!), then the review is likely to be genuine and appears with that person’s knowledge. So if there are many of these, that’s a good sign.

 

2. Are reviews dated?

The older a review, the less likely it is to be relevant. You don’t know if the property changed hands and the new owners are failing to maintain the standards of the previous owners because they are using very old testimonials. We had an overseas villa that we sold in 2008, but even now, twelve years on, reviews on the website have not been updated. - and the availability calendar is very bare. Treat undated reviews with a degree of suspicion – they could be ancient; accurate at the time but possibly misleading if applied to the property as it is today.

 

3. If dated, how recent are the reviews?

Smart owners who look after their cottages and guests have a wealth of good reviews each year, which they regularly upload. They don’t need age-old reviews. Such owners know that you want to know just how good your cottage is right now. If reviews are excellent but more than a couple of years old, treat them with a measure of caution. It means that nobody has had anything good to say about the site lately or that owners can’t be bothered to update their site. If the latter is the case – what else can’t they be bothered to do about the property or managing your booking?

 

4. Is there variation in style between the different reviews?

This a harder one to check, but if there is uniformity in the style of writing and use of language, it’s possible that the reviews all stem from the same hand. Of course, no one will ever admit to writing all his or her own reviews, but sadly it does happen. Uniformity of language, style, or structure suggests this might be the case. Diversity of style means reviews are genuine.

 

Reviews on independent travel websites

Independent reviews are great. Sadly, and generally through no fault of the site, they can be open to abuse. For example, past polls found that 61% of people no longer fully trusted reviews on Trip Advisor. 

Be aware that people may use these sites to post reviews that are not true. Sometimes the intention is to create a portfolio of glowing reviews written by those with a vested interest in the property concerned. Sometimes the review is a malicious tract written by a competitor hoping to undermine a nearby property. Occasionally they are written§ § someone attempting to blackmail an owner into giving them a refund to stop them from posting a damning but wholly fictitious review of their property. The problem is that it is hard to separate truth from fiction. But here are four more tips to help you to do just that.

 

1. Attribution?

As with the first section – a review carries greater weight if it is attributable - I distrust all anonymous reviews, good or bad!

 

2. From what position is the reviewer writing?

Have they stayed at the property? Look for evidence of this, especially if the nature of the review means they must have stayed there to experience whatever they are writing about. Check the site's terms to see if this is a compulsory requirement. Ideally, a review should display the date a person stayed at the property.

 

3. Aged complaints?

If the review is old, then depending on the nature of the complaint, there is a good chance that the owner will have long since addressed what they condemned. You can always call the owner to check!

 

4. What is the ratio between good and bad?

What if you encounter a damming review amidst a sea of praise? Before you strike the property from your shortlist, remember nobody is perfect. Occasionally, things go wrong, and even the best and most caring of owners can bear the brunt of someone’s frustration. So, if there are just one or two negative reviews amongst a sea of praise – consider what they are saying and whether sufficient time has passed to address the criticisms expressed. Do consider that almost every other guest ever since appears to have had quite the opposite experience. This approach helps to nullify postings from those trying to blackmail owners or attack their competitors.

 

5. Time of Year

An interesting phenomenon: By August, a popular holiday cottage may have been so full from Easter onwards that the owner will have been unable to do much more than cleaning and light maintenance. While this shouldn’t be an issue, it does mean that reviews in late summer tend to be harsher than those earlier in the year. For example, if that farmhouse pine table has coffee-cup rings on it, a lack of matching wine glasses or marks and scratches on walls and paintwork - guests paying peak rates may slip in the occasional critical remark. These things will likely be addressed in the autumn as soon as the owner has space between bookings to do the necessary work. Critical comments relating to the condition of a cottage in the spring should perhaps be taken a little more seriously!

 

6. Are there owner replies?

Always worth reading. If nothing else, it’ll give you an insight into the owner's personality. A constructive and unemotional response, sometimes even conceding a point, is likely to mean that the owner is indeed caring and committed. An emotional rant in response to a poor review suggests that the review itself may contain more than a grain of truth.

Use these guidelines, which will help you to determine the likely validity of the reviews. Do take notice of feedback, but don’t dismiss a property only because it has had one bad review spoiling an otherwise perfect track record. It usually means the owner is likely, to be honest, and will probably have addressed the complaint - especially if subsequent reviews don’t mention the problem. You can always call to ask.