Our Review Policy
Last updated: 7 October 2026
Reviews only help you choose a cottage if you can trust them. This policy explains how StayGentic collects, checks and publishes reviews, so you know exactly what you’re reading.
1. Who can leave a review
Only guests who booked directly with StayGentic and completed their stay. The day after you leave, we email the lead guest a review link. The link belongs to that one stay and works once, so every StayGentic review comes from a real booking.
We don’t accept reviews any other way. Property owners, StayGentic staff and anyone connected to a property can’t review it, and we don’t write, buy or commission reviews.
2. No incentives
We never offer anything in return for a review: no discounts, refunds, upgrades, prize draws or gifts. We ask every guest who is eligible, not only those we think enjoyed their stay. We send one reminder seven days later if you haven’t reviewed, and nothing after that.
3. What we publish
We publish every review that meets this policy, positive or negative, exactly as the guest wrote it. We don’t edit reviews, and we don’t hide or delay reviews because they are critical.
On each property page we show all of its published StayGentic reviews, newest first, with the month and year of the stay. The average score, and the averages for cleanliness, location and value, are worked out from all of those published reviews. We aim to check each new review within a few days.
4. When we don’t publish, or remove, a review
Only if it breaks one of these rules:
- Offensive, abusive or discriminatory
- Contains personal information about someone
- Not about the stay
- Spam, advertising or links
We never reject or remove a review because it is negative, gives a low score or criticises the property or us. Every decision is recorded with the reason and the date.
5. How your name appears
You choose: your first name and the initial of your surname (for example “Sarah J.”), or “Verified guest”. We also show the month and year of your stay. We never show your email address or booking details.
6. Private notes
The review form has an optional private note to StayGentic. It is never published. Only the StayGentic team reads it, and we may pass on what you tell us to the property owner so they can act on it.
7. Replies
StayGentic may post one public reply under a review, sometimes on the owner’s behalf. A reply never changes or replaces the review.
8. Reviews from other sites
Some properties also show reviews left on another site, such as Airbnb. They’re quoted word for word and labelled with their source. We show the most recent reviews from that site, newest first, with the overall rating and number of reviews there, as at our last check. You can read them all on the original listing. They’re kept separate from StayGentic’s own reviews and never included in our averages.
9. Questions or concerns
If you think a review breaks this policy, or someone has offered you something in return for a review, please tell us at bookings@staygentic.co.uk or on 07398 074688.