Tune in to the the latest Suite Spot episode to hear from Senior Product Manager at Booking.com, Laura Xhaferaj as she breaks down the guest review score update being rolled out by Booking.com and how this new innovation will impact travelers, hotels, and hotel management groups alike. 

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. Very pleased to bring you another incredible episode here, a unique episode, exciting episode. As you can tell from the title. We’ve got an update with one of the major players in hospitality, Booking.com and with me today to kind of break down this all important update is Laura Xhaferaj, Senior Product Manager at Booking.com. Laura, thank you so much for being on the Suite Spot with me.

Laura Xhaferaj:
Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Ryan Embree:
We’re excited to share this news. I mean, this is a huge update that Booking.com is about to roll out that has a huge impact on hoteliers and travelers alike. But before we get into sharing this news, I’d love to start, since this is your first time on the Suite Spot, share a little bit about your hospitality background and your role at Booking.com as Senior Product Manager with our Suite Spot audience.

Laura Xhaferaj:
I am the Senior Product Manager for user-generated content at Booking.com. And you may hear me refer to my team as UGC, I have been leading initiatives that improve how we showcase guest review across the platform. My journey in hospitality started years ago, even before I joined Booking.com, and I’ve always been passionate about enhancing travel experience, whether it’s helping hotels connect with guests or finding new ways to elevate guest satisfaction through reviews. Working with UGC, I got to build features that bring authentic travel voice into the booking experience globally.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I think this is one of those, I’m sure, an amazing role that you’re in to be able to kind of look and see what travelers are saying about their experiences with the hotel partners that you’re working with. Making sure that information is as accurate as possible so that guests and hotels alike can make the best booking decisions, make sure hotels are making the best operational decisions to improve the guest experience. So I’m sure it’s a really cool role to be in. You get a lot of feedback probably from both hoteliers as well as guests. At Travel Media Group we do a lot of innovation and, and updates and rollouts, sort of like what you’re going through and what we find is there’s always typically a why behind making these changes. Right. So I think maybe the best way to understand and update like this is to maybe talk about the guest review score update and the why behind it.

Laura Xhaferaj:
Of course, we initiated this change based directly on partner feedback partners highlighted that on our previous system, which calculated overall score using a simple average of users from the past three years had some key limitations for those who had made significant improvements such as renovations, upgrades in services or new guest facilities. The all the reviews still had too much weight slowing down the reflection of their progress. In response to this feedback, we are introducing a weighted review score where recent reviews have bigger influence. This adjustment means that hotels actively enhancing guest experience will see those efforts reflected more quickly in their scores, rewarding their commitment improvement. And it’s an update designed to encourage continuous progress and ensure travelers see the most relevant and recent experiences.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean this is what we talk to hotel partners all the time about, when they come to us and say, how can I improve my reputation? And maybe they have those reviews that just have been plaguing them for years. Obviously we’ve been having a staffing shortage in this industry for a while. You know, maybe there was a time where you were short staffed years ago that could still be having a really bad, uh, impact on reputation and you’re trying to play a little bit of catch up. So I think this is such a cool update needed. We spoke previously about, because with a rollout like this, Laura as you know, can’t just flick a switch. Right? I’m sure there’s a ton of research, ton of testing that’s done. We had spoke previously about the pilot markets and the comprehensive rollout of this update. Can you walk us through, give us a behind the scenes look of what that rollout looked like and really all the things that you did prior to officially announcing this guest review score update?

Laura Xhaferaj:
Certainly we took a phase approach to this rollout, starting with pilot countries to ensure a smooth transition. Our goal was to validate the concept with real data and learn directly from our partners about their needs. We began with smaller markets like Mountain and Iceland, and then expanded to larger regions such as Greece, Brazil, and Australia. During this pilot phases, we conducted interviews, sent surveys, and kept a close eye on how the change impacted partners and guests alike. One major insight was that partners prefer the preview period of two to three months to see the upcoming score change before it went live, which allows them to prepare and understand how their recent efforts are impacting their score. Another takeaway was the importance of clear accessible information about the change. Partners want detailed documentation, so we are committed to providing them with all the support they need.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, and we’re gonna talk about a little bit about that support. Because obviously with a rollout like this, there’s always questions, right? There’s always a little bit of anxiety that comes around with any sort of change. So what would you say to those hoteliers that are wondering, listening to this podcast, maybe hearing about this guest review score update for the first time on this podcast? How is this gonna impact their score as this score update is rolled out and implemented?

Laura Xhaferaj:
This update is all about recognizing and rewarding effort for hoteliers. It means that they have a real opportunity to influence their review scores more quickly by focusing on guest satisfaction. The more you invest in the guest experience, the sooner you will see that reflected in your score. It’s a powerful motivator to keep listening to feedback and continuously improve, not just after the stay, but even during it. As guest share their experiences by addressing feedback during the trip hotel have a chance to make adjustments, real time turning potential issues into positive experiences that are reflected in their scores sooner than ever.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, we talk about that all the time on this podcast, Laura, about trying to keep a close ear to your guests. That every touch point in the guest experience, it doesn’t, we don’t just have to wait until afterwards till we get that feedback. If you’re able to meet that guest where they might be having an issue or a positive experience too, that could be a great opportunity to encourage them, we see that you’re having a great time here. We’d love if you left us some comments and feedback. When you get that request for a review or solicitation for a review. Going back to the pilot, you know, we spoke about one of the things you looked at was seasonal properties, and I think this really demonstrates, Laura, when you do a rollout like this, just the meticulous planning of this rollout. You talked about seasonal properties and you talked about properties with fewer rooms that really could see a smaller review flow, right? I mean, a property with 500 rooms gonna see a lot more review flow than let’s say a 32 room bed and breakfast. Talk to us about the pilot results for this segment of properties and those that might be concerned, Hey, I’m a seasonal property, or I don’t get that many reviews. How is this gonna impact me?

Laura Xhaferaj:
Great point. Seasonal properties were definitely a focus. Imagine a beach villa in south of France that only operates in the summer. Reviews will likely peak during the season while the rest of the year it’s quieter. Through the pilot, we learned that partners of seasonal properties sometimes worried that a single negative review in the off season might drag down their overall score. In order to address this, we designed a system to weight reviews by recency. So even if you get a lower rating in the off season, it won’t have a major impact. Those fresh high season reviews will carry more weight and reflect the experiences that guests are having in your busiest times. Also, having the score logic be more sophisticated enables us to make the score more fair to different review volumes and distributions across the seasonal home and chain hotel properties.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, we saw some of the results from that pilot and some impressive stats when it came to seasonal and even smaller volume of review properties still not having an impact, but not having a negative impact on their scoring. I think it really comes down to what you said, Laura, at the top of the episode. It’s gonna be for those hotels that are focusing on the guest experience today, how can they improve that today that are gonna really see the benefits of this rollout? And I think overall it’s gonna be great. We’re gonna talk about that in a second, but what about those properties that are a part of a hotel group or chain?

Laura Xhaferaj:
This update is especially positive news for hotel chains. We know the chains often maintain high standards across their properties and work hard to ensure consistent experience for guests. With a new weighted review system change that are actively improving guest satisfaction, we’ll see those efforts reflected more quickly in their scores. In fact, through our interviews and feedback sessions, we have found that many chain properties are genuinely excited about this change. They’re eager to see their score more accurately reflect the experience they have been they’re delivering today for change. This update means that they can make swift strategic adjustments and see the effort rewarded in their scores. This visibility into recent improvements is valuable asset for change committed to providing great stays globally.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I mean we’re hearing the same sentiment from our hotel partner our reputation hotel partners as well, Laura, that really put a lot of effort. I mean, think about how encouraging this will now be to, we just talked about it, a staffing shortage to say, Hey staff, let’s go out. Let’s get some five star positive reviews and now all of a sudden you can actually see an impact a lot quicker to your overall score than you might before this rollout. So this should be a really exciting and motivating time for hoteliers and their staffs to say, “Hey, we can make some major jumps on our score on Booking.com.” So really cool. But we really focus a lot on the hotelier and obviously this is a hotel marketing podcast, but ultimately I think this is gonna be mutually beneficial. That’s the beauty of our industry, right? We’re hoteliers as well as travelers. We do our own traveling and I think looking from a traveler’s perspective, this is gonna ultimately benefit them as well to put them in the best decision to make an informed booking decision based on recent review data.

Laura Xhaferaj:
Exactly. It’s a win-win for travelers. Recent experiences are crucial when choosing a stay. Research shows that travelers are more influenced by recent reviews than those from years back. So by focusing on recency, this update ensures that guests see an accurate reflection of the current guest experience at the property. For hotels, this means that guests will see the results faster, leading to better matches between traveler expectations and actual guest experience. This in turn, will trust and boost satisfaction for everyone.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely. We talked about set the importance of setting proper expectations prior to a guest arriving. Some of those properties that have been performing at a four or 4.5 star service rating, but really in their overall store has been reflected a little bit lower because of maybe historical data. Should be really excited about this. I think this is a great way and way to look about this guest rollout, right? What advice, Laura? One of the biggest questions we get at Travel Media Group from our hotel partners is always looking to improve, right? Nobody’s satisfied with where they’re at. What advice would you share with hoteliers looking to improve their score on Booking.com, 2025 when this, this new rollout happens and beyond.

Laura Xhaferaj:
There are a few practical steps that hoteliers can take. First, make sure your property information is always accurate and up to date from photos to room description so guests know what to expect during their stay, provide helpful resources and ensure that you are available for any urgent issues after checkout. Encourage guests to share their feedback on Booking.com and remember, small gestures can make a big difference. A welcoming touch or a quick response to feedback can elevate the guest experience and boost satisfaction. Your score now reflects those efforts faster. So every improvement counts.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely. I love that you brought up the speed of reaction, responding to a guest, the quicker that you can do that we even talked about even before leaving the review and trying to meet them at the guest experience to try to solve any issues or even solicit feedback during that time, I think is gonna be crucial during this rollout. Another thing I would say is just to be mindful of the score at all times. I mean, with something that can change so quickly now and you can have such an impact on it so quickly, it could be very fast changing. So making sure that you’re aware of getting notified, checking Booking.com of any recent reviews and feedback that are coming in. It’s gonna be very important to keep a close eye here because now those impacts can happen at a much faster pace. As we wrap up, as I mentioned at the top of the episode with a rollout like this, a global rollout like this, Laura, I’m sure you’re getting questions. You know, people want resources, they wanna find information. Where can our Suite Spot audience go if they still have questions about this rollout and the impacts that it’s gonna have?

Laura Xhaferaj:
We’ll provide extensive resources on partnerhub and through our review management platforms, partners can access documentation, best practices and guidance on these channels to understand the full scope of the update. Our support team is also on hand to answer any questions and guide partners as they adjust to the new system.

Ryan Embree:
And Laura and I will be conducting a webinar in early December as well to hotel partners to kinda roll through this, this guest update, make sure everyone has their questions answered. But overall, this is super exciting. Congratulations to you and your team. I’m sure this is a long time coming and I’m sure you’re anxious to get this rolled out for everyone. So as we wrap up today, Laura, any final thoughts, anything to share with our audience?

Laura Xhaferaj:
This update is all about valuing continuous improvement and enhancing guest satisfaction. We believe that we believe and have heard from partners that their system is fairer for everyone from partners to travelers, and it fosters healthy competition in the marketplace. For partners, it’s a chance to show their commitment to guest experience and see that care reflected in their score by focusing on creating memorable stays, staying engaged with guest feedback and keeping property details up to date partners can build strong reputations and attract even more travelers.

Ryan Embree:
Which is what everyone wants here listening to the podcast. And Laura, we appreciate you and your team, listening to that feedback from hoteliers and implementing these changes so that again, really a win-win situation for both the hotelier and the traveler. Thank you so much for joining me, Laura, explaining and understanding this new guest review score update. Thank you again. And we’re excited to be collaborating with you on a webinar like I said, next month with Booking.com.

Laura Xhaferaj:
Sure. And thank you for having me. We are super excited to see this change go live and thank you.

Ryan Embree:
All right, awesome. Thank you so much and thank you for listening to the Suite Spot. We will talk to you next time to join our loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.