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Hotel reviews in other languages: how to reply
Hotel reviews in other languages are normal for any hotel with international guests. Replying in the guest's own language is a small courtesy that the next guest from that country notices too. This is how to do it without losing your own voice.
Reply in the language of the review
A German guest who writes in German reads your reply in German, and so does the next German traveller who scrolls through your reviews before booking. A reply in English or Dutch is better than none, but it tells that reader you did not really read along.
Keep your own voice
A translation that is correct but stiff sounds like a machine. Write the reply the way your hotel talks, then make sure it reads naturally in the other language: the same warmth, the same way of signing off.
Watch the form of address
- German and French have a formal and an informal you. In a hotel reply the formal form (Sie, vous) is the safe choice, even when you use a first name.
- Keep names exactly as the guest wrote them.
- Sign with a real name, the same one you use in your own language.
What translation gets wrong
- Times and numbers: check that the breakfast time and the room type survived.
- Idioms: a phrase that is warm in your language can sound odd word for word.
- Apologies: make sure they are not stronger or weaker than you meant.