Latest / Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast / 192 – Top 5 Sentiment Tags of 2025
Transcript
- Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what's trending in hotel marketing. I'm your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot. Happy New Year as your host. As always, Ryan Embree here with another one of our favorite annual traditions. A great way to start off and kick off the year here with Jackie Avery, Director of Product for our Respond and Resolve™ review response solution for hotels. Jackie, welcome back to the Suite Spot. Jackie Avery: Thanks. It's so great to be here. I look forward to doing this every year, so I'm happy we're back at it. Ryan Embree: Yes, again, it's an annual tradition. It's a benchmark for the beginning of the year. It's actually one of our most viewed and listened to episodes of the year, and I think it's because hoteliers really want to get a sense of what's going on over the course of the calendar year when it comes to reviews. To set this up off the top, we are looking at reputation, sentiment, data, the data within online guest reviews, that Travel Media Group actually pulls, and a lot of these reviews you and your team are responding to. Jackie Avery: Yeah. It's exciting. So if it's your first time here, welcome. And if you have been watching us the past few years, welcome back. We're excited to kind of talk through, some of the data that we kind of went through. So to put it under perspective, we're looking at information analyzed from over 45 million sentiment mentions. Ryan Embree: That's an incredible number. The popularity and importance of guest feedback and reputation right. Now, I know we talk a lot on this podcast about AI technology. We're always trying to see what's next, but there's no replacement for word of mouth. Right? And whether that's physically telling someone about your experience or sharing that, what we're talking about today, sharing that online with guest feedback and reviews, you can take away so much from that. And hoteliers, travelers obviously are looking at sentiment data, trying to figure out whether they should choose the one hotel versus another hotel. Hoteliers are looking at this data, digesting it, and trying to figure out how to improve on the guest experience. But what we're doing today is trying to find the top five sentiments. Talk about some themes. What does this mean when these types of sentiments are found in your guest feedback? Are there things you can make operationally changes? Is it training at the hotel? Is it capital investment? Sometime some of it, like location, which we're gonna talk about unavoidable, right? You can't just pick up your hotel and move it. So really interested to see the list. We always start from the bottom of the list and work our way up. So kick us off with number five. Jackie Avery: Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, it's so powerful to spend that moment reflecting. Yeah. Sometimes it's just taking the information and putting it into this bite sized way for you to process it. So hopefully everyone finds it pretty easy to kinda, you know, come along this journey with us. So, number five, it had over 3 million sentiment mentions, right? So that's a lot of people talking about it. And we're talking about facility amenities. Now, some people are listening and they're going, well, I don't have a pool, so of course I, that didn't get a mention for me, or, I do have a pool. Of course they mentioned that, but stay with me on that. That's actually its own category. So here we are talking about the lobby, the hallways, seating areas, elevators, luggage carts, right? So now think about, put that into perspective. More people can really relate. So I don't know about you, but sometimes when I'm come, coming to a hotel, right, I've had a long travel day. I'm a little tired. I am, you know, feeling antsy. I just wanna get there. But when I get outta my car or I get to walk in, I'm feeling that excitement. I'm ready for my trip to start no matter what I'm doing. I'm like, here we go. So then you're taking that all in. Of course, travelers are mention mentioning this, right? You have those first impressions of a hotel, it gives you pause. So sometimes things that you feel as a hotelier or as someone who works at, at a property, maybe you just brush past 'em. It doesn't mean a lot to you. It's no big deal. Sure. You're maybe not sure why somebody positively mentioned it or negatively mentioned it, but I wanna put you into the shoes of a traveler who's just arrived. They're finally at their destination and they're ready to start their stay. Look at your hotel through a fresh lens. Was the hallway welcoming? Was it kind of dark? Did the elevator come right away? Were there any luggage carts available? Right? Did it excite you to see somewhere that maybe you might meet your friends down in the lobby and you guys might hang out there before you headed out later. So all of those things I challenge you to now kind of view your facility amenities from that first time arrival guest perspective. Ryan Embree: Yeah, that's a great point Jackie. And, you know, I started my career in hospitality as a Bellman, so, it was very easy to kind of take all of that for granted seeing that lobby. But you're right, these travelers are more than likely seeing it for the first time. You know, one thing I'll also say is the way that we use the facility amenities has really evolved the way that we're building new hotels right now. Especially the work from home or work from anywhere type of traveler, that could be their office space for the entirety of their trip. So they're looking at your lobby, they're looking at your public space and amenities a little bit different than historically they might have done. And again, the brands, development companies, they are building for this type of traveler. So not surprising to see that category tag fall into the top five. Let's move on to number four. Jackie Avery: Yeah, absolutely. So, kind of shifting down this year, number four is gonna be location. So, as you mentioned, I think a lot of people feel trapped when they hear this sentiment being mentioned. Like, well, I can't move my hotel, but actually you have a lot of power here. You can control what you're saying about your property. And guests are mentioning your location in reviews positively, negatively, but it's being brought up, right? Uh, so when I think about that, I think about when I'm traveling with my kids, I've got two young kiddos. Location is so important for me, not necessarily is it just right near the main attraction I wanna attend, or, you know, is it close to the place I'm going? But I'm looking at, are people mentioning it's near a grocery store? Is it near a pharmacy? Is it near everything that I need or that I may need when I'm traveling with young kids? If it's not, that's fine, as long as I knew that. Because then I'm gonna pack, right? I'm gonna prepare for everything I might need. There's a big mental load with that. So you can ease traveler stress and turn even just maybe what isn't this amazing location into a positive tag if people felt like they knew what to expect with it. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I think that's a huge part of it, is setting expectations for location. If you claim on social media or your website, that you're close to the airport and you're 40 minutes away from the airport, that might not be close proximity to some travelers versus another. So you're right, the location is really based on the expectation of the traveler and what's convenient to them. You really want to put in perspective to that traveler. If you look at, everybody has Google Maps, right? And, and has used that app for if you have your hotel and nothing else around you in the traveler's eyes, you really have kind of failed them as far as showing them or giving them an expectation of what that location looks like. You want that thing to be filled with dots. You want them to know exactly where your restaurants are in comparison to your hotel. If there's an airport, attractions, as you mentioned, even things like grocery store, pharmacies, minute clinics. I mean, you know, you never know, especially with, with people with families or children or pets that they might be traveling with. These are very, very important places to your traveler that that could make the difference between a good experience and a bad location. Jackie Avery: And I think sometimes we come in with our own feelings about, well, we have a good location, or we don't, but think of all the people traveling. All the people staying at your hotel, you don't necessarily know exactly what they're looking for. You might think that your location is are just fine, but actually it's exactly what they want. Ryan Embree: And a great place, again, as respond and resolve™, a great place to really put that location in perspective is your review responses, right? Jackie Avery: Absolutely. Someone praises your location or they express dissatisfaction. That is exactly where you get to share the details. And people reading those review responses feel informed and they trust you. And now they are excited for their trip. They feel even more prepared, they don't feel stressed, and they're ready to get going. And, you know, those positive sentiment tags are gonna come your way. Ryan Embree: Yeah. So important. You know, whether it's travel media group responding your reviews, or even a team member the property. Have them really paint a clear picture for your traveler of where they're at location wise. 'cause obviously this being the number four tag, it's very, very important to travelers. Moving on to number three. Jackie Avery: Yeah. So number three shouldn't be a surprise with over 3.6 million mentions, it's gonna be cleanliness. So it's moved up this year, which, I think people kind of expect this to be brought up. And I think when you're putting this into perspective, I want you to think about the different ways you approach this yourself as a traveler. So I kind of mentioned before, if I'm traveling, you know, with my family, these might be some things I'm thinking about. Every once in a while I get to kind of have a little getaway or stay at a hotel with just me and my spouse. So my husband and I we're going away, maybe we're headed into our hotel room. You walk in and you're like, wow, it's so nice in here. It's so clean. And you have this added positive feeling of I didn't have anything to do with it. I'm really on vacation, even if I'm traveling for business or even if I am on vacation. It's just, just a short getaway. It is this positive feeling that compounds itself, right? So, not only that, but right now, everyone, you know, stress is high and everyone wants to acknowledge hardworking team members. So when you walk in and you see that room and you just feel the freshness and you're excited to stay there, they're so grateful for that hardworking housekeeping team and they want to praise that hard work. And so you're seeing that mention in reviews more often. The tag right now is predominantly positive. People are not coming in and just saying, it was this, it was that. It's actually just praising the hard work being done and how grateful they were to stay somewhere where that was something the property prioritized. Ryan Embree: It's so cool to see, I mean, we've done this episode, we were talking about it off camera now for five plus years. And obviously during that 2020, 2021, even 2022 year, this was a very, this was a difficult tag to kind of talk about because a lot of guests kind of saw cleanliness through the eyes of health and safety and almost saying for hotels, if it wasn't clean, then there was a lack of empathy or even caution towards that, that guest wellbeing. And now we've kind of shifted. I think the expectation is still, you know, I think everyone still expects a clean room, but it's kind of moved away from there. And that housekeeping that you're talking about that's even evolved within hospitality. Now you sometimes have to opt into hospitality and overnight service and things of that nature. Sometimes you have to stay a minimum amount of nights. This needs to be clearly communicated. A big theme of this episode right, is such clear communication to set the proper expectations. If something like that is a policy at your hotel, especially around cleanliness, or you'll see that tag, fall more on the negative spectrum, right? Jackie Avery: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's hard, I think for people sometimes, especially right, they're working so hard, they're, they're running these property teams, they're maybe overseeing multiple hotels and they feel misunderstood. Like, well, this is the reason we have that policy and price matters to people. So we've been able to make this accommodation to keep our price down. And don't the guests get that? And how do they not understand this? I think they feel upset, but also just because you have a certain policy, it doesn't mean the sentiment is going to be negative about it. But it will be if you hide it. Yeah. Right. If a guest feels like you misled them. No review response, you know, will help you recover, recover from, you know, lying. Right. You have to be clear, you have to be transparent, and then you can just withhold what you need to do. And the guests will understand because they expected it. And if they need assistance and you assist them, of course, now you're going to get that above and beyond praise. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I think a great parallel to that is when it, they first introduce kind of not cleaning, exchanging your towels every single night. And then it was explained that there actually was more of a green initiative and that you could opt into this. And, you know, once travelers kind of got that, and especially those savvy travelers that were doing it more and more often, they understood that this isn't the hotel trying to mislead me or pull back on the guest expectation. It actually could be something that benefits, is a green initiative and could happen to help the planet or help the earth. Right? And then your guest feels a little bit more vested in that, and there's that little sense of pride and good feeling surrounding it. So, and I think that's a really good parallel whe\n it comes to cleanliness. But, so important still in the guest experience as we saw at landing at number three on this, on this list. Jackie Avery: Yeah, absolutely. So I think now we're jumping over to number two, right? Which feels like the perfect segue. 'cause we jumped to over 5 million mentions. Ryan Embree: So almost double from number. Jackie Avery: Yeah. We're steep, so, we're talking about staff, which fits perfectly with everything we've said. Now your staff play a huge role and they're never not going to, it doesn't matter what kind of travel you are. If you're traveling solo ,family, just a couple and you're having a quick getaway, those team members make a difference. And right now, traveler expectations are going up. People want unique experiences. They want to feel like something special is happening for them. Your property wants them specifically to stay. And I will say team members are rising to that challenge. Properties are putting their best foot forward, they're getting positive mentions and they are doing small things that really resonate with guests that feel personal. Right? It's more than just your name on the tv. It might be that you put something in the comments that you're celebrating and they went above and beyond the expectation there. And from the get go that staff has immediately mentioned, your special moment and your stay is off to a great start. Ryan Embree: Well, you think about unique stays, you said every single guest nowadays wants a unique experience. What's unique about your property, your people, you're never going to be able to replicate the same exact staff across any hotel. And for you to get culture and service buy-in from your individual team members, they can make or break. This is the second most mentioned aspect of your reputation online. Meaning that this has the second most important lever to impacting your reputation online. So if you get buy-in from your team members right now, which is so interesting because by the way, we spend so much time talking about AI and technology and trying to predict the future of hospitality. And yet again, the second most important or talked about part of the hotel experience right now are the people. And that is the reason why this is gonna continue. Ryan Embree: We'll probably do this episode here for another couple years, or we'll probably do this episode for the foreseeable future and staff will always be included because it is such a memorable piece of the hotel experience. And it's cool to see, I mean, you think about those moments, I still think about to my days as a bellman or a front desk agent sitting behind the front desk and someone recognizing me because they had heard or seen my name on a review. It's a really cool moment and it kind of a welcoming place of, you're starting off on the right foot. It's that first impression of, oh, you're Ryan from, I read you about you on the reviews. It's such a fun place and I'm sure probably one of the most rewarding spaces when you work with a hotel to see their team members celebrated and rewarded on online review sites. Jackie Avery: Yeah, absolutely. And it doesn't surprise me at all that people were praising you online, you helped everyone have a great stay that's so fitting for you. I wanna point out in reviews, I guess, I think sometimes people kind of get in this loop where they feel like, okay, well sometimes my team members can't fix that, or this guest expectation is unreasonable, or I can't change that. There's nothing I can do here. So I'm always gonna have a neutral or a negative kind of sentiment, but that's not the case. Guests sometimes understand more than sometimes. Understand that you can't actually fix everything, but your team member can make them feel heard, can make them feel valued and respected. And that's what we see in review response. It's not always that they gave me money back or they moved my room or they did this, but it's like maybe someone, you know, there was a noisy train outside and they had a white machine. And they proactively offered it, right? Or they didn't, there wasn't one available, but they went and found one or they offered me some tips on how to get here more easily because I expressed frustration. It's sometimes it's just taking an extra minute and listening to that guest in the moment and trying to help them, even if you can't actually fix all of the problems that staff member plays such a valuable role in helping that guest feel a bit better about whatever may be happening if things aren't perfect. Ryan Embree: I completely agree. And, you know, hoteliers are always trying to figure out how to kind of pull the lever to generate more feedback and reviews. I'd be so curious to hear the percentage of reviews that are left on sites, because of an individual. Because they say, you know what? I'm gonna leave a positive review because Jackie at the front desk went above and beyond for me. And I normally don't leave reviews, but I'm going to because she made my experience special. I'd just be so curious, again, to see people being the reason our staff or team members being the reason that a review and guest feedback, especially in positive, right? Sometimes it's negative, but most of the time a positive review was left because of the impact that his team or staff member made. Jackie Avery: Yeah. And definitely, and it's almost like gift giving, right? If you take the time to praise an employee, you also feel good about that. You are like, I'm so happy I took the time to say something about the service I received. So people like to do it. So, mention it's gonna be this situation where it keeps compounding upon itself. Just bringing more positivity and more, you know, kind of great reviews and great sentiments and eventually great stays to everyone who you know, who's on your property. Ryan Embree: So powerful. So powerful to see. So we've made it, we're up here at the top of the list. Number one, what was the number one top sentiment for 2025? Jackie Avery: Yeah. Number one. So 8.3 million mentions, kind of dominating the conversation is accommodations. So no shock there. 'cause you're traveling and it's your room, it's the home away from home. I think here, what I'd like to say first is kind of put aside some of the things you immediately probably thought like you thought the bed and did they have a refrigerator? Put that aside and maybe focus a bit more on stuff that may not come as naturally, but plays such a big part of if people are happy. So again, I told you I have two little kids, so think traveling a family of four, you're excited, you put your key, you go get in the room, you turn on the lights, how's the lighting? Is it what you wanted? How's the temperature? Are you comfortable? Are you worried that you're gonna be hot or cold? Or do you not have to feel that stress as you walk in? What's the layout? Are we gonna feel cramped in here or No, this is exactly what I expected. I can't wait. We're already picking our spot. I'm gonna put my suitcase here. Let's put your suitcase there. The kids are opening the drawers, they're looking through everything. Feel that moment because that's what your guests are doing. They're not walking in with a checklist going down your room details, but they're going off what they expected versus what they arrived. Yeah. To right that moment. You, it's so hard, I think, to do that when you're in and out of a hotel room for the thousandth time. I'm not saying that's easy, but it is possible. Right. Kinda like circle back to number five where I said walk in your hotel room as if it, your hotel lobby is, if it was the first time, do that every once in a while with your hotel room. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Walk in and in your mind have a different mindset. Am I a solo traveler? Am I traveling as a family? Am I having a couple's getaway? And now walk into the room? What do you notice? Because that's what they're noticing and right now they're talking about it a lot. Ryan Embree: Yeah. They're, it's the number one, a aspect of their stay. Again, not surprising. Um, great perspective though on that. And I think, you know, as hospitality people, we host so many people per year, right? You could have a hundred plus rooms and all of those with a average night stay of, you know, 1.5. You know, you're seeing so many people faces and they're experiencing different things. Putting your yourselves in the shoes of that traveler and, and looking at those important pieces. Is it, is it too noisy Right When you come in, how's the noise? Uh, am I concerned about my neighbors? Uh, you know, all of these things are, are normal kind of feeling and sentiments. And that's what, how, how this gets onto review sites, right? Is is the true feeling about the stay, about the accommodations, the room, you know, this is hospitality and then it's a combination of your staff and the entire experience. So really cool to see. Um, as we wrap up, I, I thought it'd be fun. Um, any any parts or elements of the, uh, hotel experience that you expected to be on this list or maybe were shocked that weren't on there? Jackie Avery: I wouldn't say shocked, but I would say I kind of wish it was, uh, I would say I love talking about kind of the food sentiment, not just 'cause I'm a foodie and I, I enjoy the great flavors, but, uh, because of what a powerful impact it has on people's stay. So it didn't make the top five, but it was an honorable mention with 2.8 million, you know, kind of different records. Yeah. It's, it's a big deal. And uh, I think when you hear food, you think breakfast. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. But it actually, it's so much more than that, right. It's, you know, is there a candy dish in the lobby that people can grab from or are there treats available for your pet? Or let's see, some people have, you know, fruit infused water at the front desk that's just this special touch or whatever gift basket in your room that you didn't expect with some snacks 'cause you had a late arrival. These are such memorable moments and people love to talk about them. Yes. Uh, so I wish it was in the top five. Uh, it's creeping up every year, so maybe next year. But, uh, I've definitely got my eye on it. Ryan Embree: I think hotels are having a complete renaissance in f and b and it's been one of the themes that we've actually talked about several guests on the sweet spot about how, uh, independent hotels, even branded hotels, are really leaning into the f and b side. Jackie, you know, you and your team have the pleasure of, you know, partnering with some amazing hotel partners, which also include some restaurants within there. What are some of the tips and tricks that you share with your team about responding and the nuances of responding to a restaurant review and maybe some of the things that, things that you can incorporate in the response versus maybe your hotel review? Jackie Avery: Yeah. So obviously I'm not gonna give away the tricks of the trade here, but, uh, I will say keep your menu close. Yes. While you're responding, you want to know, right, uh, what the person who left the review was looking at and menus change all the time. So if you don't even know what was available when they dined with you, how could you appropriately respond? Yeah. I would also kind of keep in mind what experience were they going into? Is it a hustle bustle hotel? Is it you can feel the vibes of the hotel from the restaurant? Or is the whole idea you're supposed to be feeling like you're not in the hotel anymore? Sure. So, uh, you really need to get, uh, keyed into the atmosphere and the specific menu that was available when that guest stayed. Otherwise, I think it's really hard to give an authentic, careful, caring response. Ryan Embree: Yeah, absolutely. A restaurant in Miami Beach on a Friday night, it's gonna have a very different atmosphere and vibe to, you know, a a branded hotel, uh, maybe off the highway, right? And, and responding to those two reviews could look and sound very, very different. My little tip, I don't do the responding to reviews, but my little tip is storytelling. Your culinary experts, you know, telling their story, they have immense passion. Some of the most passionate people that I've talked to in hospitality have been, uh, chefs and f and b uh, culinary artists. To get that passion and to put it into your, uh, social media, your website, your reviews and and responses. So important. And also share if you have a story with sourcing how you source your food. Uh, local sourcing, so important right now and things, you know, travelers care about Gen Z, younger travelers. This is the type of stuff that they want to talk about, they wanna share with their friends. And again, have that kind of feel good moment there. So those are my 2 cents on tips. Jackie Avery: Absolutely. And you're not wrong. Those are going to be mentioned in reviews because kind of what we mentioned earlier as well, it feels good to share that you dined at a place that was doing this Yeah. Or that was serving this. So as long as you put that information out there, they're gonna keep spreading it. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And reviews great barometer with how well you're telling your story. You think you're telling your story about your chef for your locally sourced food. If you're not seeing that mentioned or talked about in your reviews, uh, it's falling flat, it's not hitting. And that's just not for f and b, that's for your hotel experience too. 'cause I, I'll talk to guests on, on this podcast, they'll share some amazing fun facts and then we will go to their website and can't find it anywhere or their reviews and can't find it anywhere. So make sure, you know, that's all part of getting your team members a, a, a part of the story and sharing that with the, sharing that with the guests. Great tip. And again, you want a barometer with how well it's working, just check the reviews and um, hopefully Jackie and her team will be responding to those. So Jackie, thank you so much. Um, always so interested to kind of hear this, this list and gear us up for 2026. Yeah. Are you, uh, thank you so much for being on the podcast and thank you for doing this with me. Jackie Avery: Yeah, thanks for having me. I love going through it all. Um, I can't wait to see what we're talking about next year. I know. But uh, you know, of course I'll work on getting you some of those data points you were interested in. Maybe we'll get some of those staff mentions next time. Ryan Embree: Yeah. It'll be here before we know it. Ho Hoping for a record breaking year. It and travel is certainly not slowing down, so can't wait to talk with you, uh, about it. And good luck to you and your team as, uh, you head into 2026 and continue to partner with our hotels across the country. Jackie Avery: Yeah, thank you. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you next time on the Suite Spot. Thanks for listening. To join our loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I'm your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.