How to Get Reviews for a Newly Opened STR as Fast as Possible

For newly opened Short-Term Rental (STR) properties, acquiring reviews on Online Travel Agents (OTAs) is a critical factor that dictates future profitability. Especially during the initial launch phase, how quickly and efficiently you can accumulate high-quality reviews directly impacts your property's visibility and booking rate on the platform.

In this article, we explain the efficient review acquisition strategy and specific operational methods for new properties that our company has established through actual management experience.

Narrowing Down Platforms and Phased Expansion

We do not recommend listing on multiple OTAs simultaneously from the initial stage. The most reliable approach is to first accumulate reviews and grow your account on a single platform before expanding to the next.

Our recommended steps are as follows:

1. Initial Phase (0-6 months): Specialize in Airbnb

2. Expansion Phase (After 6 months): Add Booking.com, Marriott, etc.

Airbnb is designed to facilitate communication with guests, making it easier to acquire reviews. It is highly effective to solidify your initial operations here, accumulating reviews while keeping the effort required for adjustments to a minimum.

Review Acquisition Strategy for the First 3 Months

To acquire reviews efficiently, we implement a specialized operation combining the following three measures during the first three months after opening.

1. Restricting the Booking Window

First, open the booking calendar only for the first three months. Rather than filling future bookings, prioritize increasing immediate occupancy to acquire reviews quickly.

2. Adjusting the Minimum Stay Requirement

Even for properties that typically target long-term bookings of around 5 nights, intentionally restrict the maximum stay to 3 or 4 days during the initial phase. For resort areas, set it to 1 night. This maximizes the number of guests staying through high turnover, thereby maximizing the base number of potential reviews.

3. Strategic Pricing

Initially, set the price intentionally about 30% lower than the market rate to create a situation where bookings fill up immediately. This allows the platform's algorithm to highly evaluate the property as a "popular listing."

Guest Selection and Maintaining Appropriate Unit Prices

This section includes somewhat sensitive content from a practical perspective, but Western guests tend to leave higher reviews compared to Asian guests. Therefore, we recommend the following measures during the initial operation phase.

Introducing a Request-to-Book System

Instead of Instant Book, use a request-to-book system to scrutinize the guest's profile and purpose, intentionally selecting guests with favorable conditions.

Checking Review History

Guests who have posted many reviews for other hosts in the past are highly likely to write a review for your property as well. Prioritize accepting such guests.

Maintaining an Appropriate Minimum Price

While setting prices low is a strategy, setting them too low increases the risk of attracting low-quality guests. Based on our experience, if the price drops below 40,000 JPY per night, it is safer to use the request-to-book system and strictly select guests.

After gaining initial momentum with these measures, gradually open bookings for the third month and beyond at appropriate prices. The correct step is to transition to selling at regular prices once reviews are sufficiently reflected, and gradually increase the ADR (Average Daily Rate).

Once about 50 reviews are built up on the platform, sufficient evaluation is accumulated, and the listing begins to function with strong customer attraction power. From there, transition to normal operations, and you can expect to acquire about 100 reviews in a year.

Once this level (around 100 reviews) is reached, even if a low-rating review is received due to an accident, the impact on the overall evaluation score will be minimal. Only when this state is reached can the listing's operation be judged to have entered a "stable period."

Review Acquisition Rates by Platform and Checkout Gift Strategy

When proceeding with platform expansion, it is important to understand that Booking.com is designed with a smaller incentive to write reviews compared to Airbnb. Based on our experience, the review acquisition rates are as follows:

As such, simply waiting for organic reviews is insufficient; proactive engagement from the host is essential. Among these, the most effective method is the use of "Checkout Gifts."

Why Checkout Gifts are Effective

1. Timing Optimization: Immediately after checkout coincides with the timing when the OTA sends a review request notification to the guest, directly leading to action.

2. Sustained Goodwill: While a check-in gift is appreciated at the moment, that goodwill tends to fade during the stay and is less likely to result in the final action of writing a review.

Specific Operations

Within the limits of the management company's operational structure, hand over the gift on the day of checkout using one of the following methods:

- Staff hands it over directly (Ideal)

- Hang it on the exit door

The most ideal scenario is for staff to hand it over directly, have a brief conversation, and help carry their luggage. This final hospitality serves as a powerful push for a high-rating review.

Of course, it is ideal to continue this not only during the initial review acquisition period but continuously. However, considering the cost balance with the operating company, we recommend implementing it within feasible limits.