How do you choose the hotels in these guides?

Never by price alone, which is what the booking sites already do and the reason their pages are interchangeable. Each guide picks eight to twelve properties that between them cover the real traveller types for that city, then says plainly which traveller each one is wrong for. A hotel that is perfect for a couple and hopeless for a family should be described that way rather than given a score out of ten.

Are the walking distances real?

Yes, and that is deliberate. Every walking time is a routed pedestrian path to a named landmark in that city, not a straight line and not an estimate copied from a listing. Where a city has serious gradients we publish the height difference too, because in a place like Funchal a ten-minute walk can involve seventy metres of climb and the map will never tell you that.

Why do you show price bands instead of prices?

Because hotels do not publish fixed nightly rates. They all run live booking engines, so any number printed on a page like this is out of date almost immediately. Each guide states the date its rate check was run, what was actually measured, and what each band means, so you can judge the guide rather than trust it.

How far in advance should I book a hotel?

It depends far more on the city's event calendar than on any general rule. Somewhere with a flat climate and one huge annual event needs early booking for that week and very little notice the rest of the year. Each guide has a booking-window section that gives the reason rather than a generic instruction to book early.

Best Hotels, City by City

Booking sites rank hotels by price and star rating, which tells you nothing about whether a place suits the way you travel. These guides do the opposite: every pick names the one traveller it is wrong for, and every walking distance is measured.

Emma - Hotels and neighbourhoods

Published July 29, 2026

In Brief

What makes these hotel guides different?

Each one names the traveller every pick is wrong for, measures the walk to a real landmark rather than estimating it, and shows price bands with the date they were checked. The aim is that you book once and do not second-guess it.

Choose a city

Green aurora over Lyngenfjorden in northern Norway, the fjord water still below snow covered peaks

Norway northern lights hotels

12 hotels compared · best all-round: Lyngen North

Banff Avenue running north to Cascade Mountain, the street almost every Banff hotel sits on

Banff hotels by walk and parking

10 hotels compared · best all-round: Moose Hotel and Suites

Positano stacked down its cliff above the sea, every hotel terrace on its own level

Positano pools by height above the sea

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Covo dei Saraceni

Diamond Head seen along Waikiki beach, the stretch Honolulu's hotels sit behind

Honolulu hotels by resort fee

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Halekulani

Central Gothenburg above the canal, the compact old town its hotels are packed into

Gothenburg hotels by walk to the centre

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Pigalle

The downtown Houston skyline, the district where the city's rail-connected family hotels sit

Houston family hotels by walk to rail

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel ZaZa Museum District

The downtown Atlanta skyline above Centennial Olympic Park and the family attractions around it

Atlanta family hotels by walk to the park

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park

The Red Sea shoreline at Hurghada, the coast its resorts are spread along for 55 kilometres

Hurghada hotels by bay and beach entry

9 hotels compared · best all-round: The Oberoi Beach Resort, Sahl Hasheesh

Riders hang off a Powell-Hyde cable car as it crests Hyde Street with the bay and Alcatraz behind

San Francisco family hotels

12 hotels compared · best all-round: Argonaut Hotel

English Bay Beach at low tide with the West End towers behind, the setting for Vancouver's family hotels

Vancouver family hotels by pool

12 hotels compared · best all-round: Fairmont Waterfront

Canada Place under its white sail roof with ships alongside and the downtown Vancouver skyline behind

Vancouver cruise port hotels

12 hotels compared · best all-round: Pan Pacific Vancouver

A Lower Broadway corner in Nashville, the streetscape the family hotels sit behind

Nashville family hotels

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Drury Plaza Hotel Nashville Downtown

The Nashville skyline seen from Fort Negley, above the city's rooftop pools

Nashville hotels with pool

8 hotels compared · best all-round: JW Marriott Nashville

Rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, the streetscape near the best family hotels in Montreal

Montreal family hotels

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Bonaventure

The Montreal skyline from Mount Royal, above the city's rooftop pools

Montreal hotels with pool

7 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Bonaventure

Georgian doors on a red-brick Dublin terrace, the streetscape around the best family hotels in Dublin

Dublin family hotels

8 hotels compared · best all-round: The Grafton

Killiney beach on Dublin Bay, the coast below the castle hotel with the 20 metre pool

Dublin hotels with pool

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Anantara The Marker

The mosaic bench at Park Guell in Barcelona, the sight that decides where families stay

Barcelona family hotels

8 hotels compared · best all-round: The Eixample aparthotels

Barcelona seen from above with the Sagrada Familia rising over the Eixample grid

Barcelona rooftop pool hotels

7 hotels compared · best all-round: The Born rooftop infinity pool

The rooftop infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands looking over the Singapore skyline

Singapore hotels with a pool

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Marina Bay Sands

The Marina Bay Cruise Centre terminal building on the Singapore waterfront

Hotels near Singapore cruise port

7 hotels compared · best all-round: The HarbourFront hotels

The harbour basin at Piraeus, the port that serves Athens, ringed by the town itself

Hotels near Athens cruise port

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Phidias Piraeus Hotel

Cruise ships berthed in the harbour at Civitavecchia, the port that serves Rome

Hotels near Rome cruise port

5 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel De La Ville

Roof terraces and planted balconies above the rooftops of central Rome, where the city's hotel pools are built

Rome hotels with a pool

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Villa Pamphili Roma

A Georgian terrace in Edinburgh New Town, the UNESCO-listed stock the city converts into hotels

Best boutique hotels in Edinburgh

10 hotels compared · best all-round: The Witchery by the Castle

A columned courtyard with a fountain in a Sevillian palace house, the layout most Seville hotels convert

Best hotels in Seville

9 hotels compared · best all-round: EME Catedral Mercer

The Dubai skyline at night with the Burj Khalifa reflected in the water

Best hotels in Dubai

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Address Downtown

Palm Jumeirah from the air, the artificial island holding most of Dubai private-pool resorts

Dubai resorts with a private pool

6 hotels compared · best all-round: Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa

Campo Santa Margherita in Venice, one of the few squares with room for children to run

Best family hotels in Venice

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Ai Reali

The Giudecca canal in Venice, the water between the historic centre and most of its hotel pools

Venice hotels with a pool

7 hotels compared · best all-round: Nolinski Venezia

The Marittima passenger terminal at the western end of Venice, seen from the air

Venice hotels near the cruise port

7 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Santa Chiara

Plaza Mayor in central Madrid, a flat walk from every hotel on this page

Best family hotels in Madrid

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel Regina

Madrid's rooftops at sunset, the city whose hotel pools mostly close in winter

Madrid hotels with a pool

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Dear Hotel Madrid

Lower Manhattan's skyline at dusk from Brooklyn Bridge Park, the city the hotels on this page compete over

Best hotel in New York

10 hotels compared · best all-round: Casablanca Hotel

Toronto's skyline lit at night across the harbour, the city these family hotels sit in

Best family hotels in Toronto

9 hotels compared · best all-round: Delta Hotels Toronto

Sunset over the marina at Ontario Place, with Toronto's skyline behind

Toronto hotels with a pool

8 hotels compared · best all-round: Hotel X Toronto

Funchal's seafront hotels lit up above the Atlantic at sunset, seen from the Lido viewpoint

Best hotels in Funchal

10 hotels compared · best all-round: Castanheiro Boutique Hotel

How these guides work

What goes into a pick, and what does not.

Continue Planning Your Trip

Intelligent tools designed to simplify the complex.

Best Hotels, City by City

What makes these hotel guides different?

Choose a city

How these guides work

Continue Planning Your Trip

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What makes these hotel guides different?

Choose a city

How these guides work

How do you choose the hotels in these guides?expand_more

Are the walking distances real?expand_more

Why do you show price bands instead of prices?expand_more

How far in advance should I book a hotel?expand_more

Continue Planning Your Trip

Things to Do

Where to Stay

Car Rental

Airport Transfers

All-Inclusive Guides

Best Time to Visit

Cheapest Places to Travel

Route Finder

Hotel Finder

AI Trip Planner

Budget Calculator