Booking.com Review Guideline to Managing Guest Feedback for Hotels

Pop quiz: How many travelers read reviews before booking a hotel?

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If you guessed nearly every single one, you’d be right.

Glowing reviews are often more persuasive than the world’s best marketing campaign, and online travel agencies (OTAs) are where guests often go to leave them. Out of all the websites in the travel and tourism sector, Booking.com is the most visited by far. So when travelers need intel, it’s the place to go. With that in mind, let’s explore why review insights for hotels matter, how to optimize your Booking.com presence and key tips for feedback management.

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Key highlights:

 
• Learn what Booking.com reviews are and why they’re important
 
• See how to inspire and collect positive reviews on Booking.com
 
• Get guidelines for both positive and negative guest feedback management

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What are Booking.com Reviews?

Booking.com makes it easy for travelers to book everything from hotels and flights to rental cars and tours in one place. And after guests complete a hotel stay, the platform invites them to share their experience.

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When hotel guests book through Booking.com, they’ll receive an automated email inviting them to leave a review. The only required input is an overall rating from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). Guests are also able to rate individual aspects of their stay, including:

 
• Staff
 
• Facilities
 
• Cleanliness
 
• Comfort
 
• Value for money
 
• Location
 
• Wi-Fi

Guests have the option to upload photos and share details about their stay. Future travelers are able to filter reviews by rating, topic, and time of year to find the most relevant insights and determine if a property is the right fit.

What is The Role of Booking.com Reviews for Hotels?

The majority of travelers use the internet to research and make decisions about their travel, so Booking.com reviews are a vital part of how your hotel is perceived. Hoteliers often know this intuitively, but there are some serious business benefits to boosting your ratings, too. Whether they’re hotel reviews on Google or Tripadvisor reviews about an on-site spa, potential guests want to be certain a property is worth their time and money before they book.

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For example, if a hotel increases its review score by one point, it can increase its price by 11% and maintain the same occupancy rate and 76% of travelers are willing to pay more to stay at a hotel with higher ratings. Clearly, getting good Booking.com ratings is a good move for…well, bookings! So, how do hoteliers make it happen?

Getting Good Reviews on Booking.com

Hoteliers know that sometimes even a great stay doesn’t result in a great review. Of course, if a stay was less than stellar? That’s a review you’re sure to see come through.

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To make sure the good experiences outweigh the bad, it’s important to go above and beyond to inspire a rave review and make sure you ask for feedback as part of the checkout flow. (And if you want to read more about this specifically, our latest pocket guide has you covered!)

Creating Review-Worthy Experiences

No matter what level of service your hotel provides, leaning into what makes your property unique is what makes guests glad they booked it over the others (and why they’ll want to tell the world about it!).

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From airport hotels to five-star properties, here are some ideas that transform your hotel into more than just a place to sleep:

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Limited Service Hotels:

 
• Custom pre-arrival messages
 
• Welcome pack of local snacks at check-in
 
• In-room toys for guests traveling with kids
 
• Friendly wake-up calls for early flight departures

Mid-Service Hotels:

 
• Free coffee in the business center
 
• Weekend happy hours in the lobby
 
• Treats for guests traveling with pets
 
• Taxi hailing service from the front desk

Full-Service Hotels:

 
• Monogrammed bed pillows
 
• Cards congratulating guests on special occasions
 
• Priority reservations at hotel restaurants
 
• Deals on spa combos purchased on-site

Effectively Asking for Reviews

When guests have a great stay with you, you hope they’ll spread the word on their own…but that’s not always the case! While the front desk staff may be trained to ask for reviews at checkout, this manual process often gets overlooked.

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However, there are a few ways to automate the ask for reviews and be certain that happy guests get a reminder every time:

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• Checkout prompts. Implement a checkout tool that asks happy guests to leave reviews after they leave positive internal feedback.  
 
• Tipping triggers. Adopt a digital tipping tool that does double duty by prompting guests to submit a review when they leave gratuity.
 
• Messaging follow-ups. Use guest messaging to send post-stay texts to guests with direct links to your review platform profiles.

Guests who love your hotel are usually more than happy to tell people about it—it’s just a matter of making sure they’re asked in the right way and at the right time!

6 Benefits of Responding to Guest Reviews

Responding to guest reviews is an integral part of managing your online reputation. Guests who leave feedback, both positive and negative, want to feel like their input matters.

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Responding to reviews shows past guests (as well as potential ones!) that their opinion is valuable to your business. Here are 6 key benefits to note:

 
1. Build trust with future guests. They’ll see that your property values the feedback it receives.
 
2. Improve your hotel’s visibility. The Booking.com algorithm favors active listings.
 
3. Strengthen brand loyalty. When guests feel like their feedback matters, they’re more likely to become repeat visitors.
 
4. Increase word of mouth. Guests who feel valued are more likely to recommend your property to friends and family.
 
5. Stand out from the crowd. Because many hotels miss the chance to respond to reviews, acknowledging feedback helps yours stand out online.
 
6. Gain improvement insights. When guests leave feedback about what could have been better, you get valuable insight for hotel improvements.

Are There Bad Reviews of Your Hotel on Booking.com?

Don’t worry—you’re not alone! Not every review of your hotel will be positive—in fact, only having 5-star reviews might raise red flags for potential travelers. It’s frustrating to receive negative reviews, but responding well to critical feedback shows your hotel's commitment to continually improving the guest experience.

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There are a number of reasons why guests may be less than thrilled about their stay. It’s not uncommon for hoteliers to be in the dark about issues until they read about them in a review! Some of the most common issues guests report pertain to:

 
• Room cleanliness
 
• Outside noise
 
• Quality of in-room linens
 
• Functionality of common areas
 
• Wait times at the front desk

Fortunately, the data you receive from negative reviews serves as a helpful signpost for where you can improve. And because Booking.com ratings are weighted by recency, making strategic improvements is also an investment in improving your ranking on the platform.

Best Practices of Responding to Reviews on Booking.com

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Engaging in feedback management (responding to and learning from reviews) is just as important as soliciting reviews in the first place. Research shows that 71% of guests appreciate it when hotels respond to reviews. However, it’s important to tailor your responses to acknowledge both positive and negative ratings.

Dealing With Negative Feedback

No hotel is able to guarantee perfect stays every time, so issues are bound to come up. But how you respond makes all the difference for potential travelers researching your property. Here are some best practices:

 
• Make sure your replies are personalized and genuine
 
• Be courteous, even when responding to criticism
 
• Show empathy for the issue the guest faced
 
• Include how you plan to improve in the future

Managing Positive Guest Experience Reviews

Responding to positive guest reviews is a good way to show appreciation, reinforce your guest relationships and show potential travelers that you value your public brand image. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when responding to good reviews:

 
• Start with a genuine thank you
 
• Mention something specific from the review when possible
 
• Reinforce the positive attributes your hotel is known for
 
• Invite them to come back and stay with you again

Criteria for Removing Reviews on Booking.com

To maintain the accuracy of a hotel’s rating, guest experience reviews can only be removed from Booking.com in a few specific cases, like if a guest didn’t show up. The site has also introduced a score weighting system that prioritizes recent reviews, so if you’ve made updates or improvements to your property, reviews reflecting this will be more beneficial to your overall score.

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However, if a review is factually incorrect or was left in error, you can contact Booking.com to have them review the case. Here are some instances where this might be applicable:

 
• The guest canceled their booking and didn’t arrive at the property
 
• You canceled the reservation more than 24 hours before the scheduled check-in
 
• The guest didn’t show up for their reservation
 
• You canceled the booking due to an invalid credit card
 
• The guest reviewed the wrong property
 
• The guest is using a review as blackmail

Also, a few things to keep in mind about the removal of Booking.com reviews:

 
• If a guest arrives at your property and decides to leave because they aren’t satisfied, they can still leave a review
 
• If a guest cancels or doesn’t show up because the hotel couldn’t accommodate a request, Booking.com will investigate the situation
 
• In the case of a double-booking that requires you to cancel less than 24 hours before check-in, the guest can still leave a review
 
• When a guest confirms their stay, their review cannot be removed

These policies are always subject to change, so their Partner Hub is the best place to check for the most up-to-date policies.

Empower Your Feedback Management With Canary’s Hotel Reputation Management Software

Good Booking.com reviews aren’t just a nice-to-have—they have serious implications for your hotel’s booking, revenue and reputation. Fortunately, by providing a good guest experience and engaging in conscious hotel reputation management, you’ll start getting more reviews and better reviews in no time. Want to learn more about how a great guest experience can get you there? See Canary’s Guest Management Platform in action by booking a demo today.