How to reply to a review about cleanliness or hygiene

A hygiene complaint lands hard, because readers skim past everything else and stop on the word “dirty”. So the reply needs to be calm and specific. Check your records first, work out what you can actually confirm, acknowledge the complaint properly, and invite the reviewer to get in touch.

What to say

Start by checking. Look at your cleaning records and who was on shift, if you keep that sort of thing. It’s tempting to fire something off straight away, but a reply built on guesswork tends to cause more trouble than it fixes.

• Acknowledge it and apologise if there’s something to apologise for. Keep it short, clear and polite.
• Admit what went wrong, and only that. If part of it was outside your control, you don’t have to take the blame for it. Explain what you can and can’t do.
• State only what you can confirm. If tables are wiped between customers as routine, say so. If you can’t match the review to a visit, say that plainly.
• Say what you’ve done about it only if it’s true. If you re-checked the property, say so. If you haven’t changed anything, don’t imply you have.
• Invite contact. Ask them to get in touch by email, by phone or in person.
• Sign it and reply in good time. A first name or initials makes it read like a person wrote it, and a prompt answer shows you care.

Replies are public and appear as the business, and the reviewer is notified, so write for both of them. They can still change their review afterwards. Google checks replies against its content policies first, usually within 10 minutes, though it can take up to 30 days, so don’t panic if yours doesn’t appear straight away.

What not to say

• Don’t say “it’s spotless, you’re wrong”. Even if you’re confident, that sentence tells every reader you’ve stopped listening. If the review really does get the facts wrong, see how to reply when the customer is wrong.
• Don’t blame previous guests, other customers or named staff. It reads as passing the buck, and it drags other people onto a public page.
• Don’t share identifying details. Never share the reviewer’s private information, and that includes detail about their room, booking or table that makes the review traceable to one person.
• Don’t promise “it’ll never happen again”. You can’t know that, and the reader knows you can’t.
• Don’t claim an inspection, rating, certificate, cleaning schedule or deep clean unless it’s true and you can back it up. A made-up reassurance is worse than none.
• Don’t offer anything for the review. Keep deals and promotions out of replies, and never offer anything in exchange for a review being changed or removed, which Google strictly prohibits.

Example replies

Café, sticky tables at the lunch rush

Fictional example. The review (2 stars): “Tables were sticky and the place felt grubby at lunchtime.” The facts: tables are wiped between customers; the lunch shift now has an extra person on clearing.

Thanks for telling us, and we’re sorry the tables weren’t up to scratch. Tables are wiped between customers, but the lunch rush clearly caught us out, so we’ve put an extra person on clearing at lunchtime. If you’d like to tell us more, please email or phone us. Priya

Holiday let, hair in the shower

Fictional example. The review (2 stars): “Found hair in the shower and the bathroom didn’t feel clean.” The facts: the changeover clean missed the bathroom; the owner re-checked the property and added a bathroom check to the changeover list.

We’re sorry about this. The changeover clean missed the bathroom, and that shouldn’t have happened. We’ve re-checked the property and added a bathroom check to our changeover list. If you’d like to talk it through, please contact us by email or phone. Daniel

Salon, hair on the floor

Fictional example. The review (1 star): “Hair all over the floor, felt unhygienic.” The facts: floors are swept between clients as routine; the owner can’t match the review to a visit.

Thank you for the feedback, and we’re sorry that’s how it looked. Floors are swept between clients as routine, but we can’t match your review to a visit from our side. Please get in touch by phone or email so we can look into it properly. Mel

When the review goes too far

Sometimes a review isn’t really about a bad visit. If it describes something that never happened, or reads like it comes from someone who wasn’t there, read how to reply to a review you think is fake before you reply.

Google’s Maps policy prohibits content not based on a real experience, and “false or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service”. Only reviews that break Google’s policies are eligible for removal, though. Don’t report one just because you disagree with it; Google doesn’t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers. If a report is rejected, you can submit a one-time appeal.

If the review includes photos, how to reply to a review with photos covers that. If it’s partly fair and partly not, how to reply to a mixed review is the closer fit, and the wider picture is in how to respond to negative Google reviews.

Most of the time, the review is from a person who saw something they didn’t like. Check, acknowledge, say what’s true. To draft yours, add the facts you can confirm to the review reply writer.

Questions people ask

Should I mention our hygiene rating in the reply?

Only if it's a fact you can stand behind and it actually answers the complaint. A rating or inspection describes a particular day, and the reviewer is describing theirs. Acknowledge what they saw first. Never mention an inspection, rating, certificate or deep clean that hasn't happened, because readers and the reviewer can check.

Can I say the place was clean when they visited?

Say what you can confirm, such as your routine, and leave it there. Google's reply tips say to check your records and explain what you can and can't do. A flat "it's spotless, you're wrong" reads as not listening. If your records genuinely contradict the review, state the fact once, calmly.

Will Google remove a review that says we're dirty?

Only if it breaks Google's policies, for example if it isn't based on a real experience or gives a false or misleading account of the quality of a service. Google says not to report a review just because you disagree with it, and doesn't get involved in conflict between businesses and customers. A rejected report can get a one-time appeal.

Should I say it will never happen again?

No. You can't promise that, and readers know it. Say what you've actually changed, if anything, such as an extra check or another person on a busy shift, and only if it's true. The reviewer is notified when you reply and can update their review, so a specific, honest answer gives them a reason to.