As a host who takes pride in offering a clean, well-maintained, and welcoming property, I’m incredibly disappointed by Booking.com’s failure to support its partners when they are targeted by dishonest guests.A recent guest confirmed in writing—through the platform—that everything was fine 24 hours after check-in. After checkout, they sent me a private message outside Booking.com saying the mattress was bad and the hot tub water was dirty. They also said: “I didn’t want to give a bad review.”This wasn’t feedback—it was an attempt to pressure me into offering compensation. I responded respectfully and explained that the mattress is brand new and that the hot tub is professionally cleaned, drained, and refilled after every guest. I also said I wished they had contacted me during their stay, because I would have sent out a technician immediately to address the issue.They didn’t reply—but then posted a public review filled with misleading and exaggerated complaints, even criticizing the 360° exterior security cameras that are clearly disclosed in the listing and used only for safety.I submitted a formal complaint with screenshots of the off-platform message, my response, and evidence—but Booking.com said the review doesn’t violate policy. They then sent me back to the same internal message form I had already used, calling it a “dispute resolution center.”Hosts like me pay high commissions but have zero tools to protect ourselves from guest abuse. We can’t review guests. We can’t see if they’ve done this before. We’re told to “just respond to the review.”If you’re a host considering Booking.com, be warned: they do not protect their partners from manipulative or dishonest guests—and your reputation can be harmed without any real recourse.
