No Referrals? Why Guests Don’t Recommend Your Place
Why word-of-mouth breaks before it starts.
Most of your five-star reviews do not create referrals or repeat stays. This week, you will pull your last 10 five-star reviews and ask one simple question: could a guest retell why they stayed with you? If the answer is mostly “no,” you have found the a breakpoint where repeat and referral bookings die. Close even part of that gap, and stays start turning into both a repeat visit and a referral.
Guests leave happy. They intend to tell friends. Then someone asks “where should I stay in your town?” and they draw a blank.
The problem is not that your place was bad. Nothing specific comes to mind.
“It was really nice” is not a referral. It is a dead end.
Guests leave happy. They intend to tell friends. Then someone asks “where should I stay in your town?” and they draw a blank. The problem is not that your place was bad. Nothing specific comes to mind.
“It was really nice” is not a referral. It is a dead end.
Why the system forgets you
Right now, roughly 77% of repeat guest revenue still flows through online travel agencies (OTAs). About 8% of guests who first book on Airbnb switch to booking direct the next time.
Booking.com’s loyalty programs are designed to increase repeat behavior to their platform, not to your property.
These numbers skew higher for large portfolios.
Smaller operators often do better. Until things get busy. Then the booking still comes through the platform.
When the platform is easier to remember than you, you lose:
The repeat stay
The referral
The industry problem is not loyalty. It’s recall.
Most guests don’t leave unhappy.
The platform is simply easier to remember than your place.
When a friend asks where to stay, they need one clear detail they can repeat.
“There was this bakery they told us about. Blue door. No sign. Go before 9am.”
That travels.
“Really clean, great location” does not.
One operator noticed guests mentioning a walking path behind the grocery store.
Three months later, a new guest booked because their cousin mentioned that path.
Same detail. Two bookings. That’s a working referral.
Your reviews tell you whether this is happening.
Count how many mention a specific moment versus generic praise.
That ratio tells you whether your guests can sell you to their friends.
Right now, you’re paying to acquire guests who already want to recommend you but can’t.
Every “it was great” without a reason is a referral that dies mid-sentence.
This isn’t a marketing problem.
It’s a memory problem.
Fast: 10‑minute review check.
If you only do one thing from this email, make it this ten-minute review check.
Take your last 10 five-star reviews and make two tallies:
• Reviews that mention a clear moment or detail
• Reviews that sound like “great stay,” “super clean,” or “would recommend”
When the generic pile is bigger, guests can’t tell other people why they chose you.
As a quick benchmark:
• 6 or more specific reviews = referral fuel
• 2 or fewer = nothing memorable to repeat
If you only have three reviews, run the same check anyway. You’ll still learn something.
Deeper: 30 minutes (save for later)
When you have more time, look at guest photos and messages. What do they mention without prompting? By the end, you’ll have a shortlist of 3–5 moments.
Today is about noticing the disconnect. Thursday is about what to do once you see it.
If you want this done in five minutes, use AI
This prompt helps you sort reviews and spot patterns faster. The counting matters more than the tool.
Copy your reviews into your AI tool of choice and paste this:
You are a short-term rental consultant. I will paste several guest reviews.
For each review, give:
an index number
the first few words
one category:
Sticky (specific detail a guest could retell)
Generic positive (vague praise that could fit any rental)
Utility (mainly logistics or communication)
Then tell me:
how many reviews are in each category
which specific details repeat across Sticky reviews
if no details repeat, what pattern you see in the Sticky reviews
When a detail repeats, that is your existing peak. Amplify it. When nothing repeats, you know your next job is to design one clear, memorable moment.
You are not behind on referrals. You are just seeing where they actually start. That is the only job for this week. 😉
Kay
If, you missed Sunday’s post showed how guests vanish before booking.
We used to do a QR code with incentive at check-out to book direct next time and leave a review. I think guests who see a return for their time are more apt to write the review!