Our scores run from 1 to 10, and we try to make them mean something. A stay earns its number across five dimensions weighted roughly equally: the room and the bed, the food and drink, the service, the sense of place, and value for what you pay. A beautiful hotel that fumbles service or overcharges will not crack a nine, however good the photos.
The value dimension is the one that keeps us honest. It is easy to love a place that costs a fortune; the harder, more useful judgement is whether it is worth the money against its peers. That is why a modest guesthouse and a grand resort can land on the same score — each is being measured against what it charges and what it promises.
We publish a number because it is genuinely helpful for comparing at a glance, but we would rather you read the words. The score tells you roughly where a stay sits; the review tells you whether it is right for your particular trip — which, in the end, is the only rating that matters.
