Our two verification methods
A review can come from two sources. The display and the badge are identical, but the way each one is verified differs.
Review from a traveller who stayed via Love in Room
The traveller booked and paid for a stay via Love in Room. The booking itself is the proof: we check that the booking reference / email pair matches a real, completed stay on this listing, with no ongoing dispute, within six months of check-out. This check is automatic. The review is then read by our team before publication.
Review imported by the host from another platform
The host transcribes a review received elsewhere (Booking, Airbnb, Google, their own website) and attaches a screenshot of the original review. A member of our team opens the case and manually cross-checks the entry (rating, text, author, date) against the screenshot before any publication. The screenshot stays strictly private: it serves only as internal proof and is never made public.
When a review comes from another platform, its origin is shown discreetly beneath it (for example “via Booking”). If the original rating uses a different scale (for example 9.2/10 on Booking), we display it as-is next to its out-of-5 equivalent, hiding nothing.
What “Verified review” means
The word “verified” means “checked by Love in Room before publication”, not “a stay booked with us”. An imported review is never presented as a stay booked through Love in Room: its real origin is always shown. We hold to this distinction so as never to mislead about where a review comes from.
Publication and rejection criteria
Every review is moderated before it appears: it is first pending, then published or rejected by our team. A review is never rejected because it is negative. It may only be rejected on objective grounds, listed below.
Objective grounds for rejection
- Insults and hate speech — insults, threats, discriminatory or defamatory statements.
- Personal data — a third party's full name, contact details, or any identifying information.
- Off-topic — content unrelated to the stay or the accommodation being reviewed.
- Conflict of interest — a review clearly written by the host, a relative or a competitor.
- Inconclusive proof — for an imported review, a missing, unreadable screenshot or one that does not match the entry.
We never censor the negative
A verified review, however harsh, is published. We do not remove or hide a review merely because it displeases the host. The host does, however, have a right of reply, shown beneath the review, to give their side.
Review date and compensation
Each review shows the date of the stay or of the review, so you can judge how recent it is. Reviews are sorted from the most recent to the oldest.
No review is written in exchange for any compensation. We do not pay for reviews and offer no benefit in return for a positive one.
Data retention
Published reviews remain visible as long as the listing is online. Screenshots backing an imported review are kept in a private space for twenty-four months, long enough to handle any challenge, then automatically deleted. If a traveller requests deletion of their data, their review is kept but their name is anonymised.
Contact us
For any question about a review, to challenge a moderation decision, or to contact the author of a review, write to us at [email protected].
The full framework is set out in our terms of use and our privacy policy.