Review Guidelines for Hosts

Guest reviews are essential for building trust and helping future guests make informed booking decisions. This guide explains how reviews work on Holidu and what you need to know as a host to manage them effectively.

Understanding Reviews vs. Replies

It's important to distinguish between two key concepts:

• Reviewing a guest: Feedback you write about a guest (available on certain platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo)
• Replying to a guest review: Your public response to feedback guests leave about your property (available on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Holidu)

How the Holidu Rating System Works

The rating system is straightforward and transparent:

• Guests rate stays on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)
• Your overall property rating is calculated as the average of all scores received
• Guests can provide detailed subscores in key categories including location, cleanliness, description accuracy, and value for money
• Written feedback provides additional context about each guest's experience

Processing time: Reviews may take up to 14 days to appear on your property listing.

Who Can Submit Reviews?

Two groups of guests can leave reviews:

• Holidu direct bookings: Guests who book through Holidu can leave reviews once their stay is complete
• Partner channel guests: Guests booking via Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, or other connected channels can also leave reviews, managed according to each platform's rules

Important note: Guests cannot leave reviews for manual bookings (bookings entered directly by hosts or property managers rather than through automated systems).

Where to Find Your Reviews

All reviews are centralized in your Holidu Host account for easy management:

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

Reviews displayed on Holidu include content from direct bookings and connected channels. Your overall score is always shown, but full review text appears only for direct Holidu bookings. Reviews are primarily sorted by booking date, with written reviews prioritized. Note: negative reviews only appear when your property has at least two reviews.

Review Compliance Standards

Holidu displays all legitimate reviews—positive or negative—that meet our community standards. We remove reviews containing:

• References to illegal activities
• 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, travel-related, helpful to other guests, and written by the actual guest who stayed at your property.

Responding to Guest Reviews

Depending on the booking channel, you can respond publicly to guest reviews. This is an excellent opportunity to:

• Thank guests for positive feedback
• Provide context or address concerns raised in critical reviews
• Showcase your commitment to guest satisfaction to potential future bookings

For detailed guidance on crafting effective responses, see our review response guide with examples and FAQs.

Reporting Inappropriate Reviews

If you believe a review violates our guidelines, contact our Customer Service Team. Our local teams are available to assist you in your language and can help evaluate whether content meets compliance standards.

Learn more about your options in our article on dealing with negative reviews.

Guest Review Editing and Deletion Policies

Review modification policies vary by platform:

• Holidu: Reviews cannot be modified by guests. If changes are needed, our team can delete the review and send a new link
• Booking.com: Guests can edit anytime before automatic deletion after 2 years. Direct guests to their Booking.com account
• Airbnb: Guests can edit only before publication. Edits after posting require Airbnb support
• Vrbo: Guests must contact Vrbo directly for edit or deletion requests

Improving Your Property's Review Score

Strong reviews require consistent quality and attention to detail. For practical strategies to enhance your ratings, explore our comprehensive guide: How to get good reviews—a guide for Holidu hosts.

Understanding why reviews are important can also help motivate your efforts to maintain excellent standards.

Understanding Translated Reviews

Some reviews may be automatically translated using DeepL technology. While we work to ensure accuracy, Holidu and DeepL cannot guarantee perfect translations. If a translation seems incorrect, contact our support team for clarification.

Key Takeaways

• Guest reviews directly influence booking decisions and your property's visibility
• Reviews reflect guest opinions, not Holidu endorsements
• Hosts and partners cannot post reviews on behalf of guests or offer review incentives
• Always respond professionally and authentically to reviews
• Report non-compliant reviews to our support team
• Use review feedback constructively to improve your hosting

Need additional help? Our Customer Service Team is here to assist with specific review questions or concerns about your property's ratings.