How hosts rise in search
Finding Retreats rewards excellence, not spend. Every ranking factor can be improved through genuine effort. None require paying more commission.
The five pillars
Your composite score is a weighted sum of these five categories.
Listing Quality
15%Completeness of your listing and host profile — photos, bio, qualifications, identity verification.
Guest Trust
37%Guest reviews, guest experience sub-ratings, and repeat bookings. The most weighted pillar because social proof is the largest driver of retreat purchase decisions.
Host Engagement
20%Response speed, response rate, and how findable your listings are in search (SEO quality).
Operational Reliability
23%Host cancellation rate, calendar freshness, and onboarding completeness (banking, verification, first listing).
Community & Contribution
5%Programme diversity and platform contribution — small positive weight.
Ranking tiers
Your composite score maps to a visibility tier.
| Tier | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Premier | 85–100 | Featured placement, homepage, category top |
| Established | 65–84 | Strong organic placement in search |
| Active | 45–64 | Standard search placement |
| New | 25–44 | Lower placement, "New" badge shown |
| Inactive | 0–24 | Deprioritised, listing review recommended |
What cannot buy ranking
The following are explicitly excluded from the algorithm. We publish this list publicly so there's no ambiguity.
- Commission rate paid to the platform
- Advertising spend or promoted-listing fees
- Relationship with the platform team
- Length of time listed (beyond the new-host grace period)
- Number of external social-media followers
How to improve
Appeals
If you believe a factor score is wrong, you can submit an appeal. Appeals are acknowledged within 48 hours and decided within 5 working days. Force-majeure cancellations, vexatious disputes, and platform errors are all legitimate override grounds.
Contact supportThe ranking system is deliberately published because transparency is the point. If anything here is unclear or feels unfair, we want to hear about it.