Booking.com strives to provide you with reliable and insightful reviews to help you make the best travel decisions. But how do we ensure the reviews you see are accurate and trustworthy? Let’s explore!
Understanding the Review System
Every review on Booking.com is rated on a scale of 1 to 10. To calculate the overall review score, we simply add up all the individual scores and divide by the total number of reviews.
In some regions, such as Malta, Iceland, Australia, Greece, Brazil, and North Carolina, we’re currently testing a weighted review system to prioritize recent feedback. This means that the most recent reviews have a greater impact on the overall score.
Guests can also provide detailed “subscores” for key areas like location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money, and free Wi-Fi. These subscores are completely independent of the overall review score, allowing guests to express their thoughts more comprehensively.
Ensuring Review Integrity: A Multi-Layered Approach
Booking.com is committed to eliminating fake reviews and promoting authenticity. We have dedicated teams and automated systems constantly working to detect and remove any suspicious activity.
If you notice something fishy, don’t hesitate to report it to our Customer Service team. Our Fraud team will investigate and take appropriate action against anyone found to be manipulating the system.
Review Guidelines: Maintaining Quality and Respect
We believe in transparency and inclusivity when it comes to reviews. Ideally, we would publish every review, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. However, we have to draw the line at content that is inappropriate or harmful.
Reviews that contain impersonation, violate our guidelines, or include hate speech, discriminatory language, threats, sexually explicit content, violence, or promotion of illegal activities will not be displayed.
To ensure reviews remain relevant and timely, we may only accept reviews submitted within 3 months of checkout and may stop showing reviews after 36 months, or if the property changes ownership.
Transparency and User Control
We want you to have full control over how you browse and interpret reviews. The most recent reviews are always shown first, but you can sort and filter them based on various criteria, such as time of year, review score, language, and more.
To further enhance transparency, we may include external reviews from other reputable travel websites, making it clear which reviews are from Booking.com and which are from external sources.
Respectful Communication and Community Standards
Reviews should focus on the travel experience and provide helpful information for other guests. We encourage you to share your honest feedback but ask that you avoid personal, political, ethical, or religious commentary. Promotional content, issues related to Booking.com’s services, and offensive language are strictly prohibited.
We strive to create a respectful and welcoming community where all travelers can share their experiences openly and honestly.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in reviews are those of individual customers and properties, not Booking.com. We do not assume responsibility for the content of reviews or responses. Our role is simply to provide a platform for sharing experiences.
Conclusion
Booking.com is dedicated to providing you with reliable and insightful reviews to help you plan your next adventure. We employ a comprehensive approach to ensure review quality and authenticity, promote respectful communication, and offer you control over how you browse and interpret reviews. We believe that honest feedback is essential for a thriving travel community, and we’re committed to creating a safe and trustworthy space for everyone.
