Written by the Removal Lab team.
The guest cancelled two days before arrival. They never set foot in the building. Now there is a score of 2 on your property page and a comment about dirty towels. Can it come off? Usually, yes. Booking.com review removal is possible when the guest never arrived, reviewed the wrong property, used the review to blackmail you or broke the Booking.com review guidelines. Removal Lab checks the review against those rules for free and replies within one business day. There is no upfront payment on qualifying cases. You pay only if Booking.com removes it.
This guide to Booking.com review removal is for hotels, guest houses, holiday rentals and serviced apartments. It covers the removal conditions Booking.com publishes for partners, the exact Extranet route and the cases that will stay up however unfair they feel.
How Booking.com review removal works
The first thing to know about Booking.com review removal is who may review. Only guests who booked through Booking.com can do it. That includes people who stayed, no shows and people who booked a stay for family or friends. Booking.com sends a review invitation about 48 hours after check out. The guest then has three months to complete it.
Booking.com says it uses people and automated systems to detect fake reviews. It checks for bad language and verifies authenticity before a review appears. If it finds fakes it deletes them and may take action against whoever is responsible.
Once a review is live, a partner can ask Booking.com to remove it. The request goes through the Extranet inbox under the Guest Reviews topic. Booking.com then looks at whether the review fits one of its removal conditions or breaks its content rules. Booking.com review removal is about those conditions. It is not about whether the guest was fair.
Which Booking.com reviews can be removed
Booking.com publishes a short list of situations where it may remove a review at the partner’s request. These are the core of most Booking.com review removal cases.
| Situation | Booking.com condition | What to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| The guest cancelled and never came | The guest cancelled and confirmed they did not arrive | The cancellation record and any message where the guest says they did not come |
| You cancelled well in advance | You cancelled at least 24 hours before check in | The cancellation time and date |
| No show with an invented review | The booking is a no show and the review does not describe the guest’s experience | The no show marking on the reservation |
| Card failed on arrival day | You cancelled on the check in day because of an invalid credit card | The card failure notice and the cancellation |
| Wrong property | The guest reviewed the wrong property | Details in the review that match another property, not yours |
| Blackmail | The guest appears to be using the review to blackmail you | Written evidence of the threat or demand |
Note the blackmail line. Booking.com asks for written evidence. A front desk story is not enough. Save the message, the email or the chat the same day.
Content Booking.com does not display
Separate from those booking conditions, Booking.com lists content it will not show in reviews. A review from a real guest can still break these rules, which opens a second route to Booking.com review removal:
- Politically sensitive comments
- Promotional content
- Illegal activities
- Personal or sensitive information such as emails, phone numbers or card details
- Swear words, sexual references, hate speech, discriminatory remarks, threats or references to violence
- Spam and fake content
- Animal cruelty
- Impersonation, where the writer claims to be someone else
Booking.com also asks that contributions are about travel and avoid personal, political, ethical or religious commentary. It says attempts to bring down a competitor’s rating with a negative review will not be tolerated.
Its content guidelines are grouped into sections on dangerous and disrespectful content, image and editorial rules, privacy and confidential data, spam and deceptive practices, commercial content and reservations where the guest never stayed. The same pages also list an appeal process and a notice portal for illegal content.
How to report a review on Booking.com yourself
Booking.com’s partner help centre gives this route for asking for a review to be removed:
- Log in to the Extranet.
- Click Inbox.
- Select messages.
- Click See contact options.
- Select Guest Reviews as the topic.
- Click See all contact options.
- Choose your preferred contact method.
- If you choose Message, enter the booking number and explain the issue.
Keep the explanation to one condition. “The guest cancelled on 3 March and confirmed by message that they never arrived” is far stronger than three paragraphs about how unfair the score is. That single clear line is what moves Booking.com review removal along.
Report misconduct before the review arrives
If a guest behaves badly during the stay, Booking.com lets you use Report guest misconduct in the Extranet or the Pulse app. Reports are accepted from check in until seven days after check out, for the scenarios listed in the tool. A report made at the time is good evidence later if a hostile review follows.
What evidence helps Booking.com review removal
Good Booking.com review removal requests are short and backed by records.
- The booking number. Booking.com asks for it in the message.
- The cancellation or no show record. Screenshots from the reservation show the date and time.
- Guest messages. A message where the guest says they will not arrive, or where they demand a refund in return for a good review.
- Proof of the wrong property. If the review mentions a pool, a view or a street you do not have, show your property details.
- The exact words. For a content breach, quote the line that breaks the rule.
What Booking.com will not remove
Booking.com is just as clear about the reviews that stay. Knowing these saves a wasted Booking.com review removal request.
| Situation | Outcome | Booking.com’s reason |
|---|---|---|
| The guest arrived, did not like it and left without staying | Stays | A guest who arrived can still review |
| You cancelled less than 24 hours before arrival because of a double booking | Stays | The guest can still review |
| The guest confirmed their stay | Stays | A confirmed stay keeps its review |
| The review is anonymous | Stays | Anonymous reviews are not grounds for removal |
| The guest cancelled because you could not meet a request | Depends | Booking.com may investigate. If the guest was told the request depended on availability, removal may be possible. |
| The text breaks a rule but the score is still relevant | Text may go, score may stay | Booking.com may keep the score |
That last row surprises many owners. Booking.com review removal can take away the words and leave the number. A score with no text cannot be replied to either.
How long a Booking.com review counts
Booking.com says reviews stay on the property page for 36 months. After that they are archived automatically and removed from your score, which is then recalculated from the reviews still online. Booking.com also says it may stop showing reviews if the accommodation changes ownership.
Your Guest Review Score is the average of every overall score. Guests pick an overall score from 1 to 10. That is the only required question. The six category ratings, Cleanliness, Comfort, Value, Facilities, Location and Staff, are optional and do not count toward the score.
There is no published timeline for Booking.com review removal requests. We will not invent one.
Replying to a Booking.com review
When Booking.com review removal is not possible, reply. In the Extranet, click Guest reviews and then Guest reviews again to reach the page where you can respond. Booking.com notes that you can only reply to reviews that have a title or a comment.
Booking.com’s own tips: thank the guest whether the review is good or bad, personalise each reply, ask for more detail if the review is unclear and stay fair and objective. It suggests “we” for positive reviews and “I” for negative ones, to show someone is taking responsibility.
What to do if Booking.com says no
If a Booking.com review removal request fails, check whether you sent the right condition with the right evidence. A request that mixed several complaints can sometimes be sent again with one clear point and the booking record. If nothing new exists, reply calmly and focus on new reviews from happy guests.
Also check the other sites. The same guest may have posted on TripAdvisor or Google. Each platform has its own rules. See TripAdvisor review removal, review removal for restaurants and hotels and how to remove a Google review. If you think a rival is behind a run of bad scores, read fake review removal.
Notes for UK hosts
In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority says that since April 2025 obtaining and posting fake reviews is a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. So are paid reviews that are not clearly marked as incentivised and handling reviews in misleading ways, such as hiding negative ones. The CMA can fine a business up to 10% of its global turnover for breaking consumer law. That cuts both ways for hosts. It strengthens a report about fake reviews. It also means you must never buy or suppress reviews yourself. Our page on review removal in the UK has more.
How Removal Lab works
- Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
- Free policy check. A specialist reads it against the platform rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
- We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
- Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.
What we will never do
- Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
- Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
- Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
- Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.
See how our process works and how pricing works.
Get a free Booking.com review check
Send the review and the booking number. A specialist replies within one business day.
Frequently asked questions
Can a hotel remove a Booking.com review?
Not directly. A partner can ask Booking.com through the Extranet inbox under the Guest Reviews topic. Booking.com decides whether the review meets a removal condition.
Will Booking.com remove a review from a guest who never arrived?
It can. Booking.com lists a guest who cancelled and confirmed they did not arrive among the cases it may remove. A no show whose review does not describe a stay is on the list too.
Does Booking.com remove anonymous reviews?
No. Booking.com says anonymous reviews are not grounds for removal.
How long do reviews stay on Booking.com?
Booking.com says reviews stay on the property page for 36 months and are then archived and removed from the score.
What counts as blackmail in a Booking.com review?
A guest using the review to pressure you, for example by demanding a refund for a better score. Booking.com asks for written evidence.
What does Booking.com review removal cost with Removal Lab?
The check is free. On qualifying cases there is no upfront payment and you pay only when Booking.com removes the review.
Sources: Booking.com Partner Hub: Guest review removal, Booking.com Partner Hub: Guest review process and conditions, Booking.com Partner Hub: Guest Review Scores, Booking.com Partner Hub: Improving your Guest Review Score, Booking.com Partner Hub: Managing guest related tasks, Booking.com review guidelines, Booking.com content guidelines and UK Competition and Markets Authority on fake reviews. Removal Lab does not work for Booking.com. Every decision is made by the platform.