Cookie policy
What cookies GoHotelly uses, why, and how you can control them. A short and honest breakdown.
1. What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser when you visit a website. They let a site remember things — that you're logged in, that you prefer a particular language, that a certain page loaded correctly. Some cookies help the site work; others gather statistics about how it's used.
2. Why we use cookies
We use cookies for three reasons:
- To make the website work (essential)
- To understand which pages are useful to travelers (analytics)
- To track affiliate referrals to booking partners (partners)
We do not use cookies for third-party advertising, retargeting, or selling your data.
3. Essential cookies
These are required for GoHotelly to function. They cannot be disabled without breaking parts of the site.
- gh_session — keeps your session active while you browse. Expires when you close the browser.
- gh_csrf — protects against cross-site request forgery on forms. Session-only.
- gh_consent — remembers your cookie preferences. 12 months.
4. Analytics cookies
These help us understand how travelers and hoteliers actually use GoHotelly. They are optional — if you decline, none of them are placed.
- _ga / _ga_* — aggregate usage analytics. 24 months.
- gh_ab — used to keep you in the same variant of an editorial A/B test. 30 days.
Analytics cookies are anonymized at the source and never linked to personal details you submit through forms.
5. Booking partner cookies
When you click a "Check availability" button, we add a short-lived referral cookie so the partner can credit the click to GoHotelly. This is what funds our editorial work — and your price does not change because of it.
- gh_ref — stores the referring hotel page for attribution. 30 days.
Once you land on a partner site (e.g., Booking.com), their own cookies apply under their policy. We have no control over those.
6. Advertising cookies
We do not run third-party display ads on GoHotelly and we do not place advertising or retargeting cookies. If you see a cookie from a known ad network on our site, something is wrong — please tell us.
7. Managing cookies
You can control cookies in several ways:
- Use our cookie banner to decline analytics cookies
- Clear existing cookies from your browser settings
- Block cookies entirely in your browser — note that some parts of GoHotelly will not work without essential cookies
- Use a "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control signal — we respect these where supported
Your browser's help pages explain how to inspect and clear cookies for any site.
8. Updates
If we add, remove, or change how cookies work on GoHotelly, we will update this page and update the "Last updated" date. Material changes will also be flagged through the cookie banner.
9. Contact us
Spot a cookie that shouldn't be on GoHotelly, or have a question about this page? Write to us at contact@gohotelly.com or via our contact form.