Overview
Booking.com's process usually starts with a recruiter call and a HackerRank test, then a coding interview, system design for mid-level and above, and a long behavioral round. Coding and design rounds are usually with two engineers. Some offices add a take-home or a pairing session instead.
Coding problems tend to be LeetCode mediums wrapped in a travel story, like hotels, reviews and trips. System design questions are often about booking, payment and fraud systems, with follow-ups on retries, idempotency, monitoring and scale.
Below is what people get asked in each one and what to study.
System design interviews
Expect booking, payment and fraud problems, with follow-ups on retries, idempotency, monitoring and scale.
What people get asked
- Search hotel availability
- Design a reservation system
- Detect fraudulent credit cards
- Charge cards on a schedule
Coding interviews
Expect LeetCode mediums with a travel story around them: top-k problems, two pointers, and graph searches.
What people get asked
- Find peak concurrent reservations
- Award top k hotels from reviews
- Rebuild a trip itinerary
- Report from payment and booking logs
The rest of the process
Your recruiter will walk you through this, but here's the quick version.
| Stage | Length | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Recruiter or HR call | 30 min | Your background, what you're looking for and pay |
| Online assessment | 90 min | HackerRank, usually 3 problems, LeetCode easy to medium, taken whenever you like |
| Technical interview | 60–90 min | Live coding with two engineers, usually a medium problem |
| System design | 60–90 min | With two engineers, for mid-level and above |
| Behavioral and manager | 1–2 rounds | Lots of stories: helping others, giving feedback, how you grow |
Sources
We pulled this together from candidates' own write-ups of their interviews. They don't always agree, and things change over time.
- Roundz: Booking.com SDE-2 Amsterdam (Jul 2025)
- Jointaro: SWE II Amsterdam (Jul 2024)
- Jointaro: SWE Amsterdam (Jun 2024)
- Jointaro: Software Developer Bengaluru (Feb 2024)
- Jointaro: SWE US (Feb 2025)
- Jointaro: SWE UK (Dec 2024)
- Jointaro: SWE Netherlands (Jul 2025)
- LeetCode Discuss: Award Top K Hotels (Booking OA)
Practice Loop is an independent practice tool and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Booking.com.