Every review you see on Booking.com helps other travelers make informed decisions about their next trip. We strive to make sure these reviews are genuine, fair, and relevant, so you can trust what you read.
How We Calculate Review Scores
We calculate our overall review score by adding up all the individual review scores we’ve received and then dividing by the total number of reviews. This simple average gives you a good snapshot of the overall experience at a property.
We’re also trying out a new weighted system in a few select regions, including Malta, Iceland, Australia, Greece, Brazil, and North Carolina. This system gives more weight to recent reviews, ensuring that the score reflects the most up-to-date guest experience.
To give you a more detailed picture, guests can provide subscores for different aspects of their stay, like location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money, and free Wi-Fi. These scores are independent of the overall score, so you can get a clear understanding of what guests liked or disliked.
Keeping Reviews Real: Fighting Fake Reviews
We take review integrity very seriously. We have a dedicated team and automated systems that work tirelessly to detect and remove fake reviews. If we catch someone trying to manipulate the system, we take appropriate action. We encourage you to report any suspicious reviews to our Customer Service team so we can investigate.
Making Reviews Relevant: What We Don’t Allow
We want to make sure that every review is helpful and relevant, so we have some guidelines in place. We don’t allow reviews that:
- Impersonate someone else.
- Violate our review guidelines. This includes reviews containing offensive content, personal attacks, or promotional material.
We also have time limits on reviews. Reviews must be submitted within 3 months of checkout, and we may stop showing reviews after 36 months or if the property changes ownership.
Helping You Find the Right Reviews
When you see multiple reviews, the most recent ones appear at the top of the list. We also consider factors like the review’s language, whether it includes text or just a rating, and if it’s anonymous or not.
You can sort and filter reviews by your preferred criteria, such as the time of year, review score, or type of traveler. We also sometimes show reviews from other well-known travel websites, but we make it clear when we’re doing so.
Respecting Everyone: Our Community Guidelines
We want Booking.com to be a welcoming and respectful space for everyone. That’s why we have a few simple rules:
- Keep it travel-related. Focus on the accommodation itself and your experience there.
- Be respectful of others. Avoid using offensive language, discriminatory remarks, threats, or promoting illegal activity.
- Be genuine and honest. Don’t try to manipulate reviews or post on behalf of others.
Booking.com respects the privacy of all our users. We’ll do our best to obscure personal information like email addresses, phone numbers, website addresses, and social media accounts in reviews.
We strive to create a positive and valuable experience for all our users. By following these guidelines, we can ensure that Booking.com remains a trusted source for travel inspiration and information.
