Review Guidelines for Hosts

Guest reviews are essential for helping future guests choose the right property. Understanding how reviews work on Holidu helps you manage your reputation and attract more bookings. This guide explains everything you need to know about reviews, ratings, and how to respond to guest feedback.

Reviews vs. Replies: What's the Difference?

It's important to understand the distinction between these two concepts:

• 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

Your property rating is calculated based on guest feedback across multiple dimensions:

• Overall Rating Scale: Guests rate stays from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)
• Overall Property Rating: Calculated as the average of all scores received
• Category Ratings: Guests provide subscores for key areas including:
  • Location
  • Cleanliness
  • Description accuracy
  • Value for money
• Written Feedback: Guests may also leave detailed comments about their stay

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 rules

Learn how Booking.com calculates the review score

Discover why your guest didn't leave a comment

Manual Bookings and Reviews

Manual bookings are entries made directly by you or your property manager, rather than through Holidu or connected channels. Guests cannot leave reviews for manual bookings. This is an important distinction to keep in mind when managing your property calendar.

What Reviews Are Displayed?

Reviews shown on Holidu may include:

• Reviews from Holidu guests
• Reviews from connected channels like Booking.com, Airbnb, and Vrbo

Review Display Format

Reviews appear as:

• Individual reviews from single guests
• Aggregated rating scores 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 View Your Reviews

All reviews are visible in your Holidu Host account under the Reviews section.

How to Access Your Reviews:

1. Log in to your Holidu Host account
2. Navigate to Properties
3. Select Configuration, then Reviews

Processing Time: Reviews can take up to 14 days to appear on your property listing.

Reviews on Partner Channels

You can also see reviews on distribution channels, but remember:

• On Holidu, the overall score is displayed
• Full review text is only visible for bookings made directly on Holidu
• On partner channels, only reviews from bookings through that specific channel are shown

Review Compliance Standards

We display all legitimate reviews (positive and negative) as long as they meet our standards. This ensures authenticity and reliability for all users.

Not Allowed in Reviews:

• 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

Valid Reviews Must Be:

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

How to Respond to Reviews

Depending on the channel, you may respond to guest reviews on Booking.com, Airbnb, and Holidu. Public replies are your opportunity to:

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

Read our guide on writing review responses with examples and FAQs

Reporting Inappropriate Reviews

If you believe a review violates our guidelines, contact our Customer Service Team. Our local teams can assist you in your language and investigate the matter thoroughly.

Learn what you can do about negative reviews

Editing or Deleting Reviews

Rules about editing reviews depend entirely on the booking channel. Holidu does not control whether or how guests can edit reviews on external platforms.

By Platform:

• Holidu: Reviews cannot be modified. If a guest wants to change their review, our team must delete it and send a new link
• Booking.com: Guests can edit reviews anytime from their account until automatic deletion after 2 years. Guests should contact Booking.com directly
• Airbnb: Guests can edit reviews only before publication. They should contact Airbnb directly
• Vrbo: Guests must contact Vrbo directly to edit or delete their review

Find out more about deleting guest reviews

Improving Your Property Reviews

Want to boost your property rating? Learn proven strategies to attract more positive feedback from your guests.

Read our comprehensive guide on getting good reviews

Discover why reviews are important for your business

Important Information About Reviews

• Guest Opinions: Guest reviews reflect the opinions of guests, not Holidu
• Distribution Role: Holidu acts as a distributor, not a publisher, and accepts no liability for review content
• Review Integrity: Hosts and partners may not post reviews on behalf of guests or offer incentives for reviews
• Translations: Some reviews may be automatically translated using DeepL. Holidu and DeepL do not guarantee translation accuracy

By understanding these review guidelines, you can better manage your property's reputation and create a positive experience for all guests. For additional support, always feel free to reach out to our Customer Service Team.