How to handle a bad review
If it doesn’t align with the OTA (Online Travel Agency – Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO and others) rules, your first move is to try to remove it – good luck with that 🥴 You might succeed, but it’s rarely easy.
If that doesn’t work, reach out to the guest directly. Understand what went wrong and try to resolve it. Some guests will voluntarily remove their review once things are addressed.
If both approaches fail, the best move is to reply publicly: acknowledge what genuinely went wrong, politely correct any inaccuracies, and wish the reviewer well.
Remember: you’re not really replying to the person who wrote it – you’re replying to everyone who reads it.