Short answer: the customer needs their own Tripadvisor account, a visit within the last year and a few honest sentences. Your part is telling them where to find you. The rating and the words are entirely theirs.
The rest of this page is for the owner who has just been asked “how do I actually do that?” at the till and realised they weren’t totally sure themselves.
How do you write a review on Tripadvisor? (the steps customers follow)
Tripadvisor’s help page on writing a review gives two ways in:
- From your listing. Open the business’s Tripadvisor page, scroll down to the Reviews section and click Write a Review.
- From the homepage or their profile. Select Write Review and search for the place. Tripadvisor says searching as [Place name] [Location] gives the best results.
Then they choose a bubble rating from 1 (Terrible) to 5 (Excellent), write the review and submit it. A few points from Tripadvisor’s review guidelines are worth knowing:
- Reviews must be at least 25 characters, and Tripadvisor says the most helpful ones are detailed and explain the reasoning behind the rating.
- Depending on the type of place, they may be asked to rate specific things, such as food at a restaurant or sleep quality at a hotel. These are optional, and they shouldn’t rate anything they didn’t experience.
- The review must be submitted within one year of the visit, and it’s one review per visit.
- Each person needs their own account and writes about their own experience. They can’t post on someone else’s behalf, although they can mention people in their party.
Once submitted, the review appears on their profile straight away but can take a few business days to be processed. Tripadvisor emails them when it’s published, or explains why if it can’t be. Sometimes it asks them to click a link to verify the review first.
The usual snag is the search. If your name is similar to another business, or there’s more than one listing, people land on the wrong page. Give them your exact listing name and town, or better still, send them the link to your listing.
Writing a review without the app
The routes in Tripadvisor’s help page are on its website, so a customer who would rather not install another app can use a browser on a computer or phone: open your listing, scroll to Reviews, click Write a Review. The only app note on that page is about photos. Up to 10 photos can go with a review, and on an iPad uploading them needs the app.
Tripadvisor also recommends that guests submit reviews once they’re home, from their own computer or phone. That’s a good reason not to hand customers a tablet at the counter. Tripadvisor’s guidelines list monitoring users while they write reviews as something businesses must not do.
What a helpful review covers (and why you keep it to yourself)
The bit customers really ask about is the empty text box. Tripadvisor’s own guidance answers it: an honest account of their own first-hand experience, with enough detail to explain the rating and tips that help the next traveller.
In practice that usually means three things: what they did, what stood out (good or bad) and who they think it would suit. Specific beats polished. “Lovely place” tells a reader very little; “the staff happily adjusted a dish for my daughter’s allergy” tells them something real.
This is for your own understanding. Tripadvisor’s guidelines say businesses must not suggest specific terms, wording or paraphrasing to be included in reviews. So no printed prompts on the table, no “could you mention the view?” and no example sentences in your request message.
A short sample structure for a restaurant, hotel and attraction
Here is what a useful review tends to cover for three common types of listing. We wrote it as an illustration so you can recognise a helpful review when you see one. It is background for you, and it shouldn’t be passed to customers or copied into a review.
- Restaurant: the occasion, what they ate or drank and what it was like, how the service felt, the atmosphere, and who they’d suggest it for.
- Hotel: how long they stayed and why, the room, what stood out (breakfast, location, staff), one honest thing worth knowing, and what kind of guest it suits.
- Attraction: who they went with, the highlight, roughly how long they spent, how busy it was, and who it’s worth it for.
Only a person who visited could know any of those things. That’s the point of a first-hand review, and it’s why the words have to come from them.
What to tell customers when they ask how
Keep it short. Tell them:
- where to find you on Tripadvisor (your exact listing name and town, or a direct link)
- to click Write a Review on that page
- that they’ll need their own Tripadvisor account
- that it’s their honest account, whatever they thought
If they ask what to write, “whatever you remember most about your visit” is plenty. Don’t suggest a rating, don’t offer example wording and don’t watch over them. If you’d rather send a message after the visit, the free review request message builder words a short, neutral ask for SMS, WhatsApp or email, and you can add your Tripadvisor link to it. Send the same ask to every customer, whatever kind of visit they had. There’s more on keeping asks fair in how to ask for an honest review.
What you must not do: scripts, rewards and filtering
Tripadvisor’s review guidelines and its fraud FAQ for business owners are blunt. Businesses must not:
- Script reviews. No writing reviews for customers, creating accounts for them, or suggesting words or phrases to include.
- Reward reviews. Nothing offered or promised in exchange for a review, whatever the rating. Tripadvisor’s own examples include free drinks, discounts, entry into a contest and donations to a cause in the customer’s name.
- Filter who gets asked. Tripadvisor prohibits selectively asking for positive reviews. If a survey or website ends up sending people to Tripadvisor, the route must be identical for happy and unhappy customers. Sending happy customers to Tripadvisor and unhappy ones to a private complaints form breaks the rules.
- Reward staff for reviews. No bonuses for being mentioned in a review and no contests for the most reviews.
- Review yourself. Current and former staff, owners, their friends and relatives, and suppliers can’t review the business. Asking friends or relatives to post positive reviews counts as fraud.
- Pressure anyone. No withholding service until someone writes a review, and no pushing people to remove a negative one.
Tripadvisor says breaking these rules can lead to ranking penalties, red badges and exclusion from awards. There’s a UK legal side as well, covering fake reviews and reviews with hidden incentives. Our guide to fake reviews and UK law covers it properly.
Where your own reply comes in after the review is posted
You can’t change a customer’s review, and nor can they. Tripadvisor reviews can’t be edited, so a reviewer who wants to update one has to delete it and submit a new one. If you believe a review breaks the guidelines, use the “Report problem with review” flag at the bottom of it.
What you can do is reply. A Management Response is posted directly under the review and anyone can read it. Tripadvisor’s response guidelines ask for replies that are relevant, non-promotional and free of the reviewer’s personal details, with no accusations of review fraud and no threats.
How to reply to Tripadvisor reviews walks through it, review response examples has wording ideas for most situations, and the free review reply writer gives you a first draft to make your own.
Questions people ask
How do I write a review on Tripadvisor?
Open the business's Tripadvisor listing, scroll to the Reviews section and click Write a Review. You can also select Write Review from the homepage or your profile and search for the place. Give a rating from 1 to 5 bubbles, write at least 25 characters about your own visit and submit. You must do this within one year of the visit.
How do I write a review on Tripadvisor without the app?
Tripadvisor's help page describes writing a review on its website, so a browser on a computer or phone will do: open the listing, scroll to Reviews and click Write a Review. You need your own Tripadvisor account. Tripadvisor notes that uploading photos from an iPad needs the app.
What makes a good Tripadvisor review?
Tripadvisor says the most helpful reviews are detailed, based on a first-hand experience and explain the reasoning behind the rating. In practice that means what you did, what stood out and who the place would suit, in your own words.
How do I leave a review for a hotel?
The same way as any listing: find the hotel's Tripadvisor page, click Write a Review, rate it and describe your stay. You may be asked to rate specific things such as sleep quality. Those are optional, and you should skip anything you did not experience.
Can a business write or edit a customer's Tripadvisor review?
No. Tripadvisor does not allow businesses to write reviews for guests, and nobody can edit a review. A reviewer who wants to change one has to delete it and post a new one. The business can post a Management Response or report a review it believes breaks the guidelines.