Review Guidelines for Hosts

Guest reviews play an essential role in helping future guests choose the right property. Understanding how reviews work on Holidu will help you manage your reputation effectively and respond appropriately to feedback.

Reviews vs. Replies: What's the Difference?

To avoid confusion about review processes, it's important to understand these two distinct functions:

• Reviewing a guest: You write feedback about the guest (available on Airbnb and Vrbo)
• Replying to a guest review: You respond publicly to what a guest wrote about your property (available on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Holidu)

How the Holidu Rating System Works

The Holidu rating system is straightforward and transparent. Guests rate their stay on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), and your overall property rating is calculated as the average of all scores received.

Guests can provide detailed feedback through subscores in these categories:

• Location
• Cleanliness
• Description accuracy
• Value for money

Guests may also leave written comments with more details about their stay experience.

Who Can Submit a Review?

• Holidu guests: Guests who booked directly through Holidu can leave a review once their stay is completed
• Partner channel guests: Guests who booked via Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, or other distribution channels can also leave reviews, managed under each channel's specific rules

Related: How does Booking.com calculate the review score?

Related: Why didn't my guest leave a comment?

Manual Bookings and Reviews

Manual bookings are bookings entered directly by you or your property manager, rather than coming through Holidu or a connected channel. An important distinction: guests cannot leave reviews for manual bookings.

What Reviews Are Displayed on Holidu?

Reviews shown on Holidu may come from multiple sources and appear in different formats:

Review Sources

• Reviews from Holidu guests
• Reviews from connected channels (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo)

How Reviews Appear

• A single review from one guest
• An aggregated rating score from multiple reviews
• Additional details such as reviewer country and group type

Review Sorting Rules

• Reviews are primarily sorted by booking date
• Reviews with written content are prioritized
• Negative reviews appear only if your property has at least two reviews

Where to Find Your Reviews

All reviews are visible in your Holidu Host account. To access your reviews:

1. Log in to your Holidu Host account
2. Go to Properties
3. Open Configuration → Reviews

Please note that it can take up to 14 days for a guest review to appear on your account.

Reviews Across Different Channels

While you can see reviews on distribution channels, remember these important distinctions:

• On Holidu, the overall score is displayed prominently
• The full text of the review is only visible if the booking was made directly on Holidu
• On partner channels, only reviews from bookings made through that specific channel are shown

Review Compliance Standards

Holidu displays all legitimate reviews—whether positive or negative—as long as they comply with our community standards.

Content Not Allowed

• References to illegal activity
• Politically or religiously sensitive content
• Promotional material or external links
• Personal details (names, contacts, payment information)
• Profanity, hate speech, threats, or sexual content
• Spam, fake reviews, or impersonation

Review Requirements

All reviews must be:

• Truthful and travel-related
• Helpful to other guests
• Written by the actual guest who stayed

How to Respond to Reviews

Depending on the booking channel, you may respond to guest reviews publicly. Responses are your opportunity to:

• Provide context for future guests
• Show appreciation for positive feedback
• Address concerns constructively

Related: How to write a review response (with examples and FAQs)

Reporting Inappropriate Reviews

If you believe a review violates our guidelines, please contact our Customer Service Team. Our local teams can assist you in your language and help determine if action should be taken.

Related: Can I delete a review left by a guest or My guest left a bad review — what can I do?

Editing or Deleting Reviews

Important: The ability to edit reviews depends entirely on the booking channel. Holidu does not control whether or how guests can edit reviews on external platforms.

• Holidu: Reviews cannot be modified. If a guest wants to change their review, our team must delete it and send them a new link
• Booking.com: Guests can edit their review anytime from their account until it's automatically deleted after 2 years. Guests must contact Booking.com directly
• Airbnb: Guests can edit their review only before it is published. Guests must contact Airbnb
• Vrbo: Guests must contact Vrbo directly to edit or delete their review

Related: Can I delete a guest review?

Improving Your Property's Review Score

Want to increase your property's rating? Our guides can help:

Related: How to get good reviews — a guide for Holidu hosts

Related: Why are reviews important?

About Automated Translations

Some reviews may be automatically translated using DeepL. Please note that Holidu and DeepL do not guarantee perfect accuracy in all translations.

Important Disclaimer

• Guest reviews reflect the opinions of individual guests, not Holidu
• Holidu acts as a distributor, not a publisher, and accepts no liability for review content
• Hosts and partners may not post reviews on behalf of guests or offer incentives for reviews