Customer reviews online are slowly trickling in. I'm almost as obsessed with checking them as I am with checking our web hits. They're a tricky thing though. It seems that the only people who decide to take the time to write reviews are people who either had horrible experiences or really really utterly fantastic ones. I don't think the results accurately reflect the average guest's experience.

We're at about an 8 out of 10 on the biggest site. If you take out all the reviews from French guests, we're at at least a 9. We had a little problem early on where our hostel listing was improperly translated to French. Our northern neighbors were showing up expecting a hotel with concierge desks and uniformed bellhops, and instead they were getting, well, us.

I really think the key is taking the time to get to know each guest and being very social with everyone. We were very enthusiastic hosts upon opening but soon got exhausted and could barely manage smiles. It was reflected in some lower ratings from guests we didn't take the time to talk to. Now we're re-dedicating some time to making each guest feel very at home, personalizing recommendations for them, etc. Even if our satisfied guests don't write reviews, it's rewarding to hear their compliments in person.

We've already gotten gifts of chocolate twice from happy guests! That's better than any darn review.