How We Review
Every hotel on The Hotel Life is scored against the same six criteria, whether it's a $200 boutique or a $3,000 palace suite. Here's exactly how it works.
We book like everyone else
Wherever possible we reserve anonymously and pay the going rate, arriving as an ordinary guest rather than an announced critic. It's the only way to see a hotel as you will see it. When a stay is hosted or complimentary, we say so clearly at the top of the review, and we hold it to exactly the same standard.
We test, we don't tour
A press tour shows you the best suite and the empty restaurant. We'd rather sleep in the cheapest room, order room service at midnight, ask for something awkward, and check what the pool is like at 4pm when everyone wants a lounger. The truth of a hotel lives in those ordinary moments.
Six criteria, out of five stars
The Room
25%Space, light, bed and bathroom, soundproofing, the small details of comfort, and, crucially, the gap between the entry-level room and the suite the press shots always show.
Sense of Place
20%Does the hotel feel like it could only exist here? We reward architecture, design and food that reflect their setting, and mark down anonymous international gloss.
Service
20%Warmth over stiffness, anticipation over box-ticking. We test it in small ways, with a special request, an odd hour or a problem, and see how the hotel responds.
Food & Drink
15%Breakfast is the meal that reveals a hotel. We also assess the flagship restaurant and the bar, the room where a hotel shows its personality.
The Extras
10%Spa, pool, grounds, and the signature experiences: the things that turn a good night's sleep into a reason to travel.
Value
10%Not whether it's cheap, because almost nothing we cover is, but whether the price is honest for what you actually get.
A five-star score isn't about price. It's about a hotel doing exactly what it sets out to do, flawlessly, and leaving you longing to return.
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