Review Cards for Hotels, B&Bs and Holiday Lets

Put a review stand on the check-out desk, a Tripadvisor review card in each room or welcome book, and a card or stand in the breakfast room. Ask at check-out or in one message after the stay. Offer the same card to every guest, and never trade a late check-out or upgrade for a review.

Where hotel reviews start

Guests decide to review a stay at the end of it: while they settle the bill, on the way to the station, or once they are home. Your review link needs to be in front of them at those moments, in a form they can take with them or tap in seconds.

Most hotels, guest houses and holiday lets need two platforms. Travellers read Tripadvisor while planning a trip, and Google Maps when they arrive somewhere new. Every product below opens the review link you give us at checkout, with a tap or, on QR versions, a scan. If NFC review cards are new to you, start with our Google review NFC card guide, which explains how a tap works.

Spot, format and platform

Stands, stickers and plaques in our range open Google review pages; for Tripadvisor we sell cards. Our comparison of review stands, cards, stickers and plaques explains each format in more detail.

Tripadvisor and Google for hospitality

Which platform comes first depends on how guests find you. A city hotel that fills from map searches may need Google most. A country B&B that guests choose months ahead may need Tripadvisor. Look at where your own reviews and your neighbours’ reviews appear today. Our guide to choosing between Google, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot review cards compares the platforms and their rules.

If both matter, use the moments to split them, not the guests. For example: a Tripadvisor card in every room and a Google stand at the desk, both seen by every guest. Never decide per guest which platform to offer based on how their stay went.

The check-out desk

Check-out is the one moment almost every guest passes. A stand facing the guest, beside the card machine, does most of the work while the bill prints. Choose the NFC + QR version so guests with NFC switched off can scan instead. If you also collect Tripadvisor reviews, keep a small pile of Tripadvisor cards next to it for guests to take.

Desk staff need one neutral line, used with every guest: “Thanks for staying with us. If you’d like to leave a review, you can tap or scan here, or take a card for later.” No mention of stars, no follow-up question about the stay.

In the room and the welcome book

A card in the room reaches guests at a quiet moment, often on the last evening. Place it with the room information or on the desk, not on the pillow, and include it in the housekeeping checklist so every room has one. Guests may take it with them; that is the point.

In holiday lets and B&B rooms with a welcome book or folder, a round sticker on the cover puts the review link where guests already look for the Wi-Fi password. It stays in place, so it suits Google, where you have a fixed link.

The breakfast room

Breakfast is often the last unhurried moment of a stay. A card on each table, or a stand by the coffee station, is seen without anyone asking. Staff do not need to mention it during breakfast; the desk does the asking at check-out.

B&Bs and holiday lets

In small places the owner is often the host, cleaner and receptionist, and in a holiday let there may be no check-out conversation at all. The welcome pack does the asking: a card or sticker that guests find on arrival and can use whenever they like. With self check-in and check-out, a short message after departure takes the place of the desk.

Booking sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com run their own guest-review systems. A review card does not change those; it simply offers guests your Google or Tripadvisor page as well.

Timing: check-out and the post-stay message

Ask once at check-out, and at most once afterwards. A short message the day after departure works well: thank the guest, include the review link, and stop there. Send it to every guest with a completed stay, not only the ones who seemed pleased, and do not send reminders.

Avoid asking on arrival or in the middle of a stay. A review should reflect the whole stay, and guests should not feel watched while they are still your guests. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules covers follow-up messages in more detail.

International guests

Many hotel guests are visiting from abroad. Google shows its review form in the language set on the guest’s phone or Google account, so the card works the same for a guest from Madrid as for one from Manchester. Test this before you rely on it: open your review link on a phone set to another language and check what appears.

Keep any printed wording on the card short, and keep the spoken line simple. A guest who does not follow every word will still understand a card and a phone.

Why not offer a free late check-out for a review

A late check-out, a room upgrade, a free drink or a discount on the next stay all count as incentives. Every platform involved says no:

• Google does not allow incentives in exchange for reviews (Google’s policy on fake engagement).
• Tripadvisor says no one affiliated with the business can offer incentives, discounts, upgrades or special treatment in exchange for reviews (Tripadvisor’s owner guidance).
• In the UK, the government’s guidance on reviews gives “a free stay at a hotel” as an example of an incentive that must not be hidden, and concealed incentivised reviews have been banned since April 2025 (GOV.UK guidance on reviews).

A late check-out given to anyone who asks is good service. A late check-out given in return for a review is a reward, and it puts both your rating and your listing at risk.

When a guest complains during the stay

Fix the problem first: move the room, send maintenance, adjust the bill. Do not link the fix to what the guest writes. At check-out, treat them like every other guest — the stand is on the desk for them too. Keeping complaining guests away from the review link is review gating. If they write a critical review, reply calmly, say what happened and what you changed, and never share details of their booking in public.

Setting it up

1. Copy your Google review link and your Tripadvisor review link from each platform’s own tools for owners, and test both in a private browser window.
2. Choose items per spot: a stand for the desk, cards for rooms, a sticker for the welcome book.
3. Paste the right link for each item at checkout and check it before paying.
4. When the items arrive, tap each one with an iPhone and an Android phone and scan the QR codes.
5. Add cards to the housekeeping checklist and brief desk staff on the one-line script.

Our step-by-step guide to setting up an NFC review card covers testing and troubleshooting.

The rules, in short

Never offer incentives such as upgrades, late check-outs, drinks or discounts for reviews. Never ask only the guests who seem happy — that is review gating. Never write, buy or swap fake reviews, and owners, staff and their families must not review the property. A card cannot promise stars or a number of reviews; the review is always the guest’s own.

Questions

Should a hotel use Tripadvisor or Google review cards?

Usually both. Travellers read Tripadvisor while planning and Google Maps on arrival. Split them by spot — for example cards in rooms, a stand at the desk — not by guest.

Where should a hotel put review cards?

On the check-out desk, in each room or welcome book, and in the breakfast room. Check-out is the moment almost every guest passes.

Can we offer a late check-out for a review?

No. Google and Tripadvisor both ban incentives, and Tripadvisor names upgrades and special treatment specifically.

Does the review page work for foreign guests?

Google shows its review form in the language set on the guest’s phone or account. Test your link on a phone set to another language to check.

How do holiday lets ask without a front desk?

Leave a card in the welcome pack or a sticker on the welcome book, and send one message after departure with the review link.

Do these cards affect Airbnb or Booking.com reviews?

No. Those sites run their own review systems. The card opens the Google or Tripadvisor link you give us.