Landmark decision by Dutch Court of Appeal for Booking.com: Misleading information about star hotel ratings if origin not disclosed

For hotel stars that are not provided by an independent and verified source, but are defined by the hotels themselves, there must be a clear indication of their origin, otherwise this practice, which Booking.com adopts, is considered misleading. This is the essence of a landmark court ruling by a Dutch court, which has broad implications and reinforces the debate about the reliability of online booking tools.

The Dutch Advertising Code Committee’s (Reclame Code Commissie – RCC) College van Beroep (College of Appeal – CvB) issued a landmark decision regarding the use of hotel stars on online booking platforms, confirming that presenting hotel stars on Booking.com may mislead consumers if there is no clear indication that the stars displayed have been awarded by the hotels themselves in the Netherlands.

This confirmed the deception of Booking, which RCC had already detected since November 6, 2025.

The CvB strengthens consumer protection in the online booking market and vindicates the German hotel and restaurant association DEHOGA and the Dutch sister association Hotelsterren.

“The Court of Appeal also clarified that, from the consumer’s point of view, hotel stars are an objective, standardized and verified quality indicator. If Booking.com uses star ratings awarded by the hotels themselves in the Netherlands without clearly and explicitly informing consumers, this constitutes a breach of the rules on fair advertising,” explains Christin Neumann, CEO of DEHOGA.

The CvB placed particular emphasis on the fact that hotel stars are an important selection criterion for consumers: “Hotel stars provide an indication of luxury and comfort that is not determined by the visitors themselves.” Therefore, according to the CvB’s decision, Booking.com should no longer display self-assigned stars for hotels in the Netherlands, either in the desktop or mobile versions, without a clear indication.

“This decision clarifies that consumers must be able to rely on the validity of star ratings for hotels,” adds Markus Luthe, head of DEHOGA and President of the European Hotelstars Union, confirming that hotel stars represent verified quality and not unverified self-assessment. “This clarification is an important step towards transparency in the digital hotel booking market in Europe,” Mr. Luthe concludes.

The decision is a benchmark for reliability and transparency in online bookings and digital platforms for tourism and hotel content.