How Does Booking.com Calculate the Review Score?

Understanding how your review score is calculated is essential for managing your property's reputation on Booking.com. Your overall guest review score plays a crucial role in your property's visibility and credibility on the platform.

Understanding the Review Process

The review calculation follows a structured process that begins immediately after your guests check out.

Step 1: Review Invitation

Once guests complete their checkout, Booking.com automatically sends them an email invitation to review their stay. Guests have 90 days after checkout to submit their review. This ensures that feedback is collected while the experience is still fresh in their minds.

Step 2: Overall Score Calculation

The most critical component of your review score is the overall rating. Guests rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 10, and this is the only mandatory question required to submit a review.

Key Point: Your overall guest review score is calculated using a weighted system based on all individual scores submitted over the last 3 years. More recent reviews have a greater impact on your total score than older reviews.

Step 3: Optional Subcategory Ratings

Beyond the mandatory 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 into specific areas of your property but do not affect your overall review score. They are completely independent metrics.

Why Your Overall Score May Differ from Comments

You might notice that a guest left positive comments but their overall score doesn't match. This happens because the overall score is neither an average nor a sum of the subcategories. It reflects the guest's personal, holistic impression of their entire stay.

Guests may rate important aspects—such as general design or family-friendliness—that aren't included in the standard subcategories, and these considerations directly influence their overall score selection.

Key Takeaways

• Only the overall 1-10 score is mandatory for guest reviews
• Your final review score uses weighted calculations, with recent reviews counting more heavily
• Subcategory ratings are optional and do not impact your overall score
• The overall score represents the guest's complete experience, not just individual ratings

By understanding this calculation method, you can better interpret your review feedback and identify areas for improvement to enhance your overall guest rating.