How Small Hotels and Motels Can Get More Google Reviews (the Right Way)

For owners and managers of independent hotels and motels. Written by a Reno local who builds tap-to-review cards.

If you run a small hotel or motel, your Google rating decides a lot of bookings. Travelers comparing places on their phone look at the stars and the number of reviews before they look at the price. And most of your happy guests never write one. They checked out at 6 a.m., hit the road, and forgot.

The guests who do remember are often the ones who had a problem. So a property that's clean, safe and well run can still end up with a rating that doesn't show it. The big chains have whole teams for this. An owner-run property usually has the owner and whoever is on the desk.

Here's a simple way to fix that without fake reviews, bribes or awkward begging.

1. Put the ask where guests already are

Guests spend most of their time in the room, not at the desk. A small card on the nightstand or desk that says "Tell us how your stay is going: tap here" reaches them when they have a minute. A matching badge at the front desk catches them at checkout.

• NFC card in the room: the guest taps their phone on it and a short survey opens. No app, no camera, no typing a web address.
• QR badge at the front desk: works with any phone camera and catches people while they wait to check in or out.

2. Make it 30 seconds, not 5 minutes

Long hotel surveys get ignored. Ask a few tap questions: how was the room, how was the staff, anything we could fix, and would you recommend us. That's it.

3. Hear about problems while the guest is still there

This is the biggest win for a small property. Every response should land in the owner's or manager's inbox the moment it's sent. If the AC is loud or the shower is cold, you hear about it on night one, fix it or move the guest, and they leave happy. Without that, you find out from a 2-star review a week later.

4. Offer Google to every guest, and follow the rules

Since October 21, 2024, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews, paying for positive ones, and pressuring people to take bad ones down. Google's policies also prohibit "review gating," which means only asking happy guests to post. A system that stays on the right side of both:

• Shows every guest the option to post on Google, whatever they said.
• Never rewards anyone for a review or a rating.
• Never writes or posts a review for a guest.
• Invites, never pressures.

Done this way, the reviews you earn are real, and they last.

5. Recognize staff by name tag, not by name

Housekeeping and night desk staff rarely hear "thank you." Let guests give a shout-out using a name tag number or nickname. The owner sees it, the employee feels appreciated, and nobody's real name ends up online.

6. Watch the trends, not just the stars

Which rooms get complaints? Is checkout slow on Sundays? Are guests mentioning the same thing again and again? A simple results sheet turns guest comments into a fix-it list.

What this looks like at your property

The Customer Appreciation Survey by 3KsAutomation does all of the above:

• NFC tap cards for the rooms and QR badges for the front desk, branded with your property's name
• A 30-second guest survey, with the Google review option offered to every guest
• Instant email alerts to the owner or manager
• A private staff shout-out box and a results sheet you can actually read
• First 30 days free, then $20/month for QR badges or $25/month for NFC cards. Founding pricing is for our first 20 customers.

I'm local, and I drop off and set up everything in person.

Want to see it in one of your rooms? Call or text Kevin at (408) 480-9733, or book a free demo below.