How does Booking.com calculate the review score?

Understanding how your review score is calculated can help you better interpret guest feedback and identify areas for improvement. Here's what you need to know about Booking.com's review scoring system.

How the Review Process Works

Review Invitation

After guests check out, Booking.com sends them an email inviting them to review their stay. Guests have up to 90 days after checkout to submit their review.

Overall Score Calculation

Your overall guest review score is based on individual scores submitted by guests over the last 3 years. Booking.com uses a weighted calculation method, which means recent reviews have a greater impact on your total score than older reviews.

The overall score is the only mandatory rating guests must provide to submit a review. It's rated on a scale from 1 to 10.

Optional Subcategory Ratings

In addition to the overall score, guests can optionally rate specific aspects of their stay:

• Cleanliness
• Comfort
• Value for money
• Facilities
• Location
• Staff

These subcategory ratings provide valuable insights but do not directly affect your overall score, as they are completely independent of one another.

Understanding Your Overall Score

It's important to note that your overall score is neither an average nor a sum of the subcategory ratings. Guests provide a holistic impression of their entire stay when selecting their overall score.

The subcategories selected by Booking.com may not represent your guests' complete experience. For example, if a guest valued family-friendliness or design aesthetics highly, these factors would be reflected in their overall score even though they don't have dedicated rating categories.

This is why you might occasionally notice a positive review that doesn't fully align with the overall score given.

Key Takeaway

Focus on delivering excellent experiences across all aspects of your property. While subcategory feedback is informative, remember that guests form their overall impression based on their complete stay experience.