Do you know how reviews on Booking.com work?
MyStay editorial staff
4 minute read
In this blog post, we would like to inspire hoteliers who strive to improve their Booking.com rating.
In order to improve, you should first be aware of how Booking.com calculates your average score.
As you may know, your guests can evaluate you according to six different categories with up to four smiley or sad faces, each face counting for a score of 2.5. When Booking.com calculates your average score, it adds up the scores for Cleanliness, Comfort, Location, Facilities, Staff, and Value and then divides this number by 6 (i.e. the number of individual categories). So, each review that comes in will not make an immediate impact on your property’s average score.
When guests do not give a score for a given category, that category score defaults to zero and will not be used when calculating your average score. Reviews automatically expire after 24 months. However, the system will need another 48 hours to recalculate your average score and publish it on your page.
Reviews older than 24 months are deleted automatically so that the most relevant and recent reviews are shown to customers. This means the review score will change over time.
How can MyStay help in the six categories Booking.com has defined?
Cleanliness
MyStay’s instant feedback feature via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger allows guests to immediately report any problems in their room, or even outside it (i.e. lobby, corridors, elevators, etc.) without the need to physically contact reception. Issues including cleanliness can be fixed immediately, thus preventing negative reviews.
Comfort
This category is made up of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the size of rooms and bathrooms, quality of linens and furniture, overall design, TV size & quality, kettle with complimentary tea, coffee, and more. Frankly speaking, this area is outside of MyStay’s scope. Nevertheless, we can help to promote the investment you’ve made and continue to make as well as help enable convenient smartphone access to services, such as check-in, information, and mobile orders.
Location
Although outside of our scope, thanks to free public transport tickets offered by hotels plus MyStay’s easy navigation to the nearest metro or bus station, you can convince your guests that a quiet area just 10 minutes away from downtown by metro has a better value for money than a noisy hotel in downtown.
Facilities
MyStay’s guest web promotes facilities like the spa, fitness center, F&B outlets, as well as parking, available all in the palm of your guest’s hand. The easier and better access to information is, the more likely guests will utilize your facilities and the more likely you are to generate revenue per guest.
Staff
Apart from the friendly and professional service provided by your team, guests will appreciate the opportunity to fix issues without the need to personally escalate potential problems. With MyStay, guests can simply text you from the comfort of their room or even on the go. Your staff’s prompt response to guests’ needs—via their preferred way of communication—will dramatically improve guests’ experiences and satisfaction.
Value
This category pertains to value for money. The better you present the hotel services, the better guests will rate you and consider the price they paid as justified given the communication and service you provided. Guests will also appreciate your hotel’s digital resources, such as pre-arrival online check-in and hotel services readily available to order on their mobile device.
Needless to say, it is common market knowledge that a better review score leads to a significant increase in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) or your small property revenue. With the help of MyStay, you can improve Booking.com review scores to make your hotel a more attractive and interesting choice for guests when it comes to their stay.
We hope this article provides you with inspiration for your hotel to try new things, to improve ratings, and to enjoy what MyStay has to offer while doing them.
