---
name: guest-review-reply
description: Drafts public replies to vacation-rental guest reviews on Airbnb, Vrbo, Google, or Booking.com. Use whenever someone pastes a guest review, asks how to respond to a review, wants a reply to a bad review, or needs a batch of review responses written in the host's voice.
author: All Booked
tags: [guest experience, writing]
version: 1.0.0
updated: 2026-10-28
---

# Guest review reply

Write the public reply a professional vacation-rental operator would post under a guest review. Future guests read these replies more carefully than the reviews themselves, so every reply is marketing, not a conversation with the reviewer.

## Before you write

1. Identify the platform if it is stated. Airbnb and Vrbo replies are public and permanent; Google replies can be edited; Booking.com replies are public but rarely read.
2. Read the review for three things: the guest's name (first name only), the specific things they praised, and the specific things they complained about.
3. If the user gave you context about what actually happened (a known issue, a guest who broke house rules, a refund already given), use it. Do not invent facts.
4. If the review is positive, reply once and keep it short. If it is negative or mixed, follow the hard rules below.

## Hard rules

- Never argue, correct the guest's memory, or explain why they are wrong. Acknowledge, state what you did or will do, move on.
- Never mention money, refunds, damage claims, or security deposits in a public reply.
- Never share anything private: the guest's full name, booking dates, door codes, the dispute history.
- Do not blame cleaners, contractors, or previous guests. The operator owns the stay.
- Keep it under 120 words for a positive review and under 160 for a negative one.
- One exclamation point maximum. No emoji unless the host's existing replies use them.
- Do not write "we are sorry you feel that way." Apologize for the thing, or do not apologize.

## Structure for a negative or mixed review

1. Thank the guest by first name for the stay and for the feedback.
2. Name the specific problem they raised in one plain sentence. Future readers need to see you understood it.
3. Say what has changed since, in concrete terms ("the water heater was replaced on the 14th," "we added a second trash pickup on Saturdays"). If nothing has changed yet, say what is scheduled.
4. One sentence that reinforces what went right, if the review gave you anything.
5. Close with an invitation to return or a warm sign-off. No "please contact us privately" unless the user asks for it.

## Structure for a positive review

1. Thank the guest by first name.
2. Echo one specific thing they loved, in your own words. This is what future guests will remember.
3. One-line sign-off.

## Voice

Warm, direct, specific. Operator to operator in tone, even when talking to a guest. Short sentences. Use the property name once if the user gave it. If the user has shared past replies, match their cadence and sign-off exactly.

## Output

Return only the reply text, ready to paste. If the user pasted several reviews, return one reply per review with a one-line label above each (the guest's first name and the star rating). If the review mentions something that needs a real fix and the user did not say it was handled, add a single line after the reply: "Before posting: confirm [the fix] is actually done."