Rating Criteria

Typically, the hotels I will discuss will rate at 4 or 5 stars or diamonds, but maybe there will be some 3 star hotels that offer something special.  As I share my experiences at hotels I visit, I hope to provide a more personal perspective than many rating sites already in operation, and hopefully with your posts on the Your Hotel Hops page, we can build quite a collection of interesting hotels to visit!  I have very modern tastes, so you are likely to see that trend in the hotels I visit, but there is certainly room for hotels with different design models.

I will try to rate (on a 10-point scale for added resolution) and comment on each hotel I visit in the following categories:

- Overall: This is the overall rating for the hotel, taking all factors into account and just a general sense about how the hotel rates against others I have visited and ones I just know about.  You can also think of this as being the remembrance factor: How likely am I to remember this hotel 10 years from now?

- Room: This is a rating that encompasses all aspects of the room, except for the bathroom(s).  The biggest factors for this rating are the bed; view; fixtures, finishes, and features; additional furnishings; and technology features, which include but are not limited to the television(s), programming, HVAC, phone, internet, alarm clock (bonus points for iPod capabilities).

- Bathroom(s): Because there can be so much detail here, I decide to rate bathrooms separately.  I have seen nice rooms with below average bathrooms and vice versa.  Here, I am looking for a nice shower/tub combination or separate bath and shower.  A jacuzzi tub is definitely a plus.  Nice fixtures and modern design are also important.  Bonus points for plush towels, robes, and quality toiletries.

- Lobby: I like to rate lobbies because they give you your first impression of the hotel.  It's also probably the area of the hotel that receives a significant investment because everyone has to pass through to get to their rooms.  A hotel that places a high value on providing a good first impression probably pays a lot of attention to detail and is likely to do the same in the rooms and throughout the site.

- Amenities: This category can include a lot of different features, but I will try to limit things to a pool, fitness center, business center, spa, athletic facilities (e.g. tennis or basketball courts), and restaurant/bar.  This blog is more design focused, so I will probably not go into detail about the food quality in the restaurant, but it will certainly factor in the ratings.

- Service: Last, but not least, and not as design focused as the other rating categories, is service.  This is the intangible quality that is an absolute requirement for luxury hotels.  Hotels that take pride in their appearance should also take pride in their service, which includes reception, room, and amenities services, such as pool-side, restaurant, or spa services.

A rating of 5 indicates the 'average' level of quality that you would expect from a luxury hotel.  This leaves room on both sides of the scale for exceptional and disappointing ratings for a particular category.  I will try to keep the ratings pretty simple, but I may add a category or two if I am really leaving something important out.  Things like location, price, parking, etc. matter as well, but again, I am focusing more on the design and quality of the hotel experience versus the overall, all-encompassing vacation experience.