How we choose
The house rules
Seven rules. They apply to every list.
Three editions of eight
Every city gets a Luxury, a Boutique and a Value Edition, eight hotels each, ranked. The Value ceiling is set per city and printed on the edition. A hotel joins a full edition only when another leaves. If no hotel meets the bar, the place stays empty.
The record
Every hotel is chosen from the published record: MICHELIN Guide Keys and listings, the World's 50 Best Hotels, guidebooks, travel and design press, and the hotel's own information. Each hotel page lists its sources.
Stays
A stay is paid at the public rate unless it is labelled as hosted. Every hosted night is labelled on the hotel's page, with the dates. A hosted night never buys a place. Offers with conditions are declined.
Money
No hotel can buy a place on a list, and none sees a review before it runs. We carry no hotel advertising. Every booking link goes to the hotel's own website, and we take no commission on it.
Photographs
A hotel page carries a photograph only when we took it. We use no press images and no AI imagery.
Changes
Lists move with the record: openings, awards, renovations and closures. A hotel can leave a list. The date on each edition shows when it last changed.
Who it is for
Anyone who wants a short answer to where to stay. Twenty-four hotels we would send a friend to, sorted by what the friend wants to spend.