Hotels reviewed honestly, by someone who actually stays in them.
I started Luxury Hotel Compare after fifteen years of paying for stays personally and being frustrated by the gap between what travel publications said and what was actually true on arrival.
Every hotel ranked on these pages was either paid for personally or stayed at on industry rates we have disclosed. No press trips. No paid placements. No exceptions.
How we review hotels.
First-hand stays
Every property in our top-ten guides has been visited in person. No reviews are written from press kits or hotel-supplied photography. If we have not slept in the bed, we do not rank the property.
Honest scoring
We rank on five criteria: villa quality, food, house reef or location, staff service, and value. Each scored independently and weighted equally. The four resorts we would not return to are flagged on every guide.
Disclosed economics
Most stays are paid for personally. Where we received industry rates, we disclose them in the relevant guide. We earn affiliate commissions when readers book — disclosed under every link.
Annual revisits
Every destination guide is updated each April after the season's site visits. Properties that have declined are removed. New openings are added only after a stay.
Reader contact
Every guide invites reader corrections. We have updated five resorts in the last year based on reader reports of property changes we had not yet revisited.
No paid placements
We do not accept payment to feature properties. We do not accept gifts or hosted stays in exchange for coverage. Hotels cannot pay to be ranked higher. Ever.
The masthead.
The three guarantees behind every review.
Independently researched
No press trips, no editorial placements, no hosted stays in exchange for coverage. Every property is paid for or stayed on disclosed industry rates.
Honest comparisons
We rank on five criteria, equally weighted. Every guide includes the resorts we would not return to. Hotels cannot pay for higher placement.
Disclosed affiliates
We earn small commissions through Booking.com (AWIN), Priority Pass, Airalo and Skimlinks. All disclosed inline. Reader cost: zero.