Booking.com uses a simple formula to calculate the overall review score for each property: we add up all the review scores and divide that number by the total number of reviews. It’s straightforward, but we’re always looking to improve.
Currently, we’re testing a weighted review system in a few select locations, including Malta, Iceland, Australia, Greece, Brazil, and North Carolina. This system gives more weight to recent reviews, meaning they have a bigger impact on the overall score.
Guests can also provide separate ‘subscores’ for important aspects like location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money, and free Wi-Fi. It’s important to note that these subscores are completely independent of the overall score.
Your Reviews: Sharing Your Experience
Have you stayed at a property booked through Booking.com? Whether you enjoyed your stay or had a less than stellar experience, we encourage you to share your thoughts by writing a review. You can also review a property if you arrived but didn’t stay.
Want to edit a review you’ve already submitted? No problem! Just reach out to our friendly Customer Service team.
Keeping Reviews Real: Fighting Fake Reviews
We take the integrity of our review system seriously. We have a team of dedicated professionals and sophisticated automated systems that work tirelessly to identify and remove fake reviews. Anyone found submitting fake reviews will face consequences.
We also rely on our users to help us spot suspicious activity. If you see anything that looks fishy, please report it to our Customer Service team so our Fraud team can investigate.
Maintaining Review Quality: Our Guidelines
We believe in transparent and honest reviews, so we strive to publish every review, whether positive or negative. However, there are a few things we won’t tolerate. Any review that includes:
- Impersonation: We don’t allow reviews from people pretending to be someone else.
- Violations of our review guidelines: We have specific guidelines to keep reviews relevant, respectful, and family-friendly.
We may also choose to accept only reviews submitted within three months of check-out and may stop showing reviews after 36 months, especially if there’s a change of ownership.
What You Can Do: Leaving a Helpful Review
We want to ensure reviews are as helpful as possible. To make your reviews most impactful, please:
- Be detailed: Share specific details about your experience to help other travelers make informed decisions.
- Keep it travel-related: Focus on your travel experience and avoid personal, political, ethical, or religious commentary.
- Respect the global community: Use respectful language and avoid profanity or discriminatory remarks.
- Be genuine and unique: Your review should be your own, honest opinion and not influenced by incentives or attempts to harm competitors.
Protecting Privacy and Accuracy
We’re committed to protecting the privacy of our users. We will blur or hide email addresses, phone numbers, website addresses, and other personal details in reviews.
It’s important to remember that the opinions expressed in reviews are those of the guests and property owners, not Booking.com. We are simply a distributor and do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the reviews.
Sorting and Filtering Reviews: Finding What Matters to You
By default, reviews are sorted by date, with the most recent reviews appearing first. We also use other factors to ensure relevance, including language, reviews with text, and non-anonymous reviews.
You can also filter and sort reviews by additional criteria, such as time of year, review score, type of traveler, and more.
External Reviews: Providing More Perspective
Sometimes, you may see review scores from other well-known travel websites displayed on our platform. We will always clearly indicate when we’re sharing external reviews.
A Final Note: Transparency and User Experience
We believe that clear, transparent guidelines and standards are crucial for maintaining a positive user experience and encouraging respectful, helpful reviews. Our goal is to create a platform where travelers can find the information they need to make informed decisions about their travels, while ensuring everyone feels safe and welcome.
