1. Introduction

Nowadays, listing your property on major platforms (OTAs) like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia can help you attract bookings relatively quickly. However, if you rely on OTAs alone to run your business, you’re often exposed to serious risks—such as being delisted or seeing bookings plummet—whenever the algorithm changes or negative reviews start piling up.

In fact, it’s quite common for hosts to say, “I finally got listed, but bookings aren’t coming in as much as I expected.” To overcome this challenge, your strategy immediately after opening is crucial. In particular, the key lies in how quickly you can accumulate your first reviews.

In this article, under the theme “Lower your prices right after opening to build up reviews,” we’ll explain the benefits of discounting your rates, concrete methods for gathering reviews, and how to effectively expand your operations and marketing once you’ve built up a solid review base.

2. The Benefits of Lowering Prices Right After Opening

2-1. Lowering the Booking Barrier

When you’ve just started your vacation rental, you don’t yet have enough reviews or ratings, which means guests are often left wondering, “I wonder what this place is really like?” One effective way to ease that uncertainty is by setting your price below market rate.

A lower price makes it easier to attract guests who want to give your place a try, which in turn lowers the barrier to booking. Especially if your goal is to gather a good number of reviews in a short period, increasing your initial guest count means more chances to earn ratings.

2-2. Building Up Reviews Quickly

Lowering your price makes it easier to attract guests, which helps you accumulate a certain number of reviews in a short time. On vacation rental platforms, the number of reviews and average rating score have a major impact on your ranking in search results. The faster you gather initial reviews, the easier it becomes to boost your rating—and that translates into a significant boost in future bookings.

2-3. Helping You Work with OTA Algorithms

OTAs like Airbnb and Booking.com use algorithms to determine the order in which listings appear in search results. Generally, listings with higher ratings and more reviews tend to be prioritized and shown near the top, so building up reviews right after opening gives you an edge in climbing the rankings.

By securing reviews early and nurturing a strong reputation, you’ll be better positioned to maintain a solid standing even when algorithm changes occur. As a result, even if you’re relying on OTAs, you can significantly reduce the risk of being delisted or dropping in search rankings.

3. The Importance of Reviews and How They Build Trust

3-1. The Sense of Reassurance Reviews Provide

When guests book a stay in an unfamiliar place, they place enormous weight on “what other guests have experienced beforehand.” Simply having reviews gives guests at least some reassurance that “other guests have stayed here without issues.”

In particular, reviews with specific comments like “the room was clean” or “the host was attentive and courteous” go a long way toward putting guests’ minds at ease. Reviews fill in the gaps that photos of the location or facility alone simply can’t convey.

3-2. Filtering by Average Score

On many OTA sites, guests can filter hotels and vacation rentals by review score when searching. For example, setting a condition like “show only properties with a score of 8 or higher” narrows results down to top-rated listings.

In such cases, a property that hasn’t gathered any reviews yet right after opening may be excluded from search results entirely as “unrated,” leading to missed opportunities. Starting to collect positive reviews is a major advantage, since it helps your listing pass through these score-based filters.

4. Pricing Points and Precautions

4-1. Don’t Discount Too Drastically Below Market Rate

While lowering your price is important, pricing far below market rate can leave guests thinking, “It’s cheap, but something feels off,” or “You get what you pay for.” Research the going rates for nearby properties and accommodations, and aim for a temporary discount of roughly 10–20% below market rate as a general guideline.

4-2. Take Advantage of Seasonal Price Adjustments

Demand fluctuates significantly depending on the local tourist season and whether it’s a weekday or weekend. You’ll want to think carefully about whether to focus your discount primarily on the period right after opening, or to offer discounts only on weekdays—adjusting your rates flexibly by season or day of the week as needed.

On the other hand, offering excessive discounts during peak season can mean leaving legitimate profit on the table. That’s why it’s important to plan your discount period in advance and carefully determine when to return rates to normal.

4-3. Avoid Getting Caught in an Excessive Discount War

Pricing yourself a bit lower than other properties in the area can help you stand out, but going too far with discounts can end up hurting your own business. To avoid getting dragged into an excessive price war, treat your initial discounting as a short-term, well-planned investment, and focus equally on boosting quality and service-based value.

5. Concrete Tactics for Gathering Reviews

5-1. Warm, Personal Messages from the Host

The first step in communicating with guests is the message you send at the time of booking or before check-in. Rather than relying solely on templated text, incorporating messages tailored to the guest’s specific needs along with useful arrival information tends to leave a great impression. Prioritizing thoughtful, attentive communication from the very start helps guests feel at ease during their stay, which in turn has a positive effect on the reviews they leave afterward.

5-2. A Clean Space and Well-Stocked Amenities

One of the things guests mention most often in reviews is cleanliness. Be thorough with room cleaning and linen management, and eliminate anything that might make a guest uncomfortable.

It’s also worth stocking essential amenities (shampoo, conditioner, body soap, toothbrushes, and the like). This matters especially for international guests or first-time visitors to Japan, since it can also be a chance for them to try familiar brands or Japanese products. Attention to these small details tends to earn you higher ratings.

5-3. Listen to Guest Feedback and Improve Flexibly

The period right after opening is a golden opportunity to receive candid feedback about “what could be better here.” By taking guest feedback seriously and quickly implementing improvements, you can create a better experience for the next guest. Beyond just reviews posted on OTAs, be sure to identify areas for improvement through direct conversations and post-stay surveys, and keep cycling through the PDCA process.

5-4. Ask for a Review with a Kind Word at Checkout

When a guest checks out, or in a message after their stay, politely saying something like “If you have a moment, we’d love to hear your thoughts on your stay in a review” can significantly increase the likelihood they’ll leave feedback. That said, being too pushy can backfire, so keep your request soft—something along the lines of, **”If you have the time, a review would mean a great deal to us.”**

6. Strategy for After You’ve Gathered Reviews

6-1. Bringing Your Price Back to a Fair Level

Once you’ve gathered a solid number of reviews and started earning high ratings, it’s time to gradually bring your price back closer to market rate. Continuing to discount indefinitely will not only cut into your profits, but can also lead guests to view your property as “the place that’s always cheap”—which may make your regular price feel overpriced by comparison once you do raise it.

6-2. Repeat-Guest Plans and Driving Direct Bookings

Once you’ve gathered a reasonable number of reviews and your OTA ratings have stabilized, it’s also important to build plans for repeat guests and pathways toward direct bookings.

For example, setting up an official website that encourages direct bookings can help you reduce OTA commission fees. Using social media and email newsletters to reach out to past guests with offers like “Book directly through our site next time and get X% off” is another effective tactic.

6-3. Leveraging Influencers and Social Media

Rather than relying entirely on OTAs, building your own voice and presence is essential for the long haul. Social media marketing is a direct channel that isn’t affected by OTA algorithms.

Especially on visually-driven platforms like Instagram and YouTube, sharing your property’s atmosphere and information about the surrounding area can help you build a following and create opportunities for reviews and direct bookings. You could even invite a major influencer to experience a stay and share it with their audience on social media.

That said, as your popularity grows, so does the likelihood of malicious reviews or criticism, so it’s important to consistently practice good quality management and prepare for handling complaints.

7. Moving Beyond OTA Dependence: A Medium- to Long-Term Branding Strategy

7-1. The Risks and Limitations of OTAs

As mentioned earlier, major OTAs offer powerful reach and can be a real asset right after opening. However, if you run into risks like algorithm changes or delisting, your bookings can plummet and your revenue can take a sharp hit. If you’re aiming for stable, long-term vacation rental management, it’s wise to build other booking channels alongside OTAs.

7-2. Building Your Own Brand Through a Dedicated Website and Social Media

By developing a robust company website with direct booking functionality, you can capture guests who, after reading your reviews, think “I’d love to stay here again.” Strengthening your brand through social media and continuing to share content tailored to a specific target audience (for example, guests from Chinese-speaking regions or those who prioritize Halal accommodations) can also help you win over repeat guests and further spread word of mouth.

If you become a globally recognized “influencer” host, you can gain powerful drawing power that isn’t dependent on OTAs at all.

7-3. Leveraging Top Reviews for Further Growth

Once you’ve built up a strong collection of high ratings, you can prominently feature things like “award history” or “X% guest satisfaction” on social media and your own website. This gives new guests a sense of reassurance and boosts their motivation to book. What’s more, properties with a wealth of positive reviews are more likely to be featured in magazines or travel-related media, which further benefits your public relations efforts.

8. Conclusion: Balancing Initial Investment with a Long-Term Perspective

Right after opening your vacation rental, awareness is still low and you have few reviews, making it a period when guests are especially prone to feeling uncertain or hesitant. One effective way to lower this barrier and encourage guests to book smoothly is the strategy of “lowering your price to build up reviews.”

However, this should really be viewed as a form of initial investment, rather than something you maintain indefinitely. It’s best to bring your prices back closer to market rate once you’ve gathered a reasonable number of reviews and earned high ratings. Beyond that, after boosting your review count and ratings, you’ll want to keep working to build up repeat guests and independent booking channels through social media, gradually reducing your reliance on OTAs.

Running a vacation rental successfully requires a long-term perspective—continually cycling through PDCA and refining what makes your property special. Although online bookings are central to the process, at its heart, this is a service business built on human connection. By carefully listening to guest feedback and continuously improving the quality of your service and operations, you’ll enrich your reviews in both quantity and quality, laying the foundation for a stable, sustainable business.

We encourage you to make good use of an early discounting strategy to quickly build up your reviews. From there, taking your strategy a step further—by building mechanisms to increase direct bookings, strengthening your brand through social media, and leveraging influencers to attract guests from overseas—can help you develop a self-sufficient vacation rental business that isn’t dependent on OTAs.

If you need advice on management or hands-on support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Stay Buddy Co., Ltd. We’re here to help ensure your vacation rental becomes a comfortable, reassuring, and genuinely appealing place for your guests.