Data Analysis January 28, 2026

The 90-Day Rule: Why Recency is the Pillar of Trust

Four pots of fire representing the 90-day rule of review freshness

A place that was perfect in 2022 might not be quite so perfect today. Things change: buildings age, owners change, and neighbourhoods evolve. That’s why we built what we call Freshness Logic - to help you see what a property is really like now, not what it used to be.

When you browse a typical booking site, you’re usually shown a single score built from years of past reviews. It looks thorough, even reassuring - but it’s a bit like choosing a restaurant based on a menu that hasn’t been updated since the 1990s. Things change. Owners change. Buildings age. And sometimes the neighbours decide to take up the drums.

A lifetime average smooths all of that into one neat number, but it also hides the most important detail of any trip: what the place is actually like right now.

As we like to put it:

"A glowing review from 2021 is a nice memory. A slightly worried comment about the heating from last Tuesday is useful intelligence."

The Ghost of Stays Past

Properties are not fixed in time. They get refreshed, they get worn down, and their surroundings change in ways no review score can predict. When you rely on a long-term average, you’re often looking at a version of the place that no longer exists. That’s why we focus on what we call the Current State of the Hearth - filtering out distant history so you see what’s actually true today.

The 90-Day Priority

Our Peat Fire analysis doesn’t just collect reviews; it gives more weight to the most recent ones. A comment about a new coffee machine or a noticeably better cleaning service from the last few weeks tells you far more than a complaint from three years ago. Instead of treating all reviews as equal, we look for the patterns that are forming now.

Why This Protects Your Happiness

By concentrating on the last three months of reviews, you get a clear picture of how a place is performing right now. You can see whether it’s improving, holding steady, or quietly going downhill — before you commit to it.

That means fewer surprises when you arrive. The experience you read about is far more likely to be the experience you actually have. And that’s what gives you real confidence when you book.

At Reestit, we believe the truth is only useful when it’s fresh. Our 90-day rule keeps the picture current, so you can make decisions based on how a place is today, not how it used to be. In the unpredictable world of travel, that’s a comforting thing to know.

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