Why join HotelShortlist
A private members' club for travellers who check a hotel before they book it.
What members get
- Free public research pages on more than a thousand hotels, with the problems named and dated.
- As a member: the full research on every hotel, unblurred, and a deep analysis of any hotel you ask about.
- Member rates, usually a few percent under Booking.com.
What it costs
- Membership is €500 a year. When you apply it is a hold on your card, not a charge.
- The card is charged only if the application is accepted. If it is declined, the hold is released and nothing is charged.
- Once accepted, the €500 sits on your account as credit to spend on rooms.
- The fee is waived by booking €500 or more of hotels with us in the year.
- Every member gets €50 of research credit. A full review analysis of a hotel costs €0.50, so the credit covers a hundred hotels.
- Member rates are usually a few percent under what Booking.com charges for the same room on the same night.
- Every application is read by a person. Admission is by introduction or by application.
How we research a hotel
- Every hotel page is built from our own analysis of public guest reviews across platforms, not from what the hotel says about itself.
- We look for what guests report and star ratings hide: bed bugs and other pests, noise, hidden fees, and serious complaints.
- Each page shows how many reviews were read and the date of the analysis.
- No hotel pays to be listed or to be rated. There is no advertising.
- Our own 1 to 5 rating starts high only for hotels guests score 9.0 or more, and any pest, noise or fee problem pulls it down hard.
Questions
- What does HotelShortlist membership cost?
- Membership is €500 a year. When you apply it is a hold on your card, not a charge. The card is charged only if the application is accepted. If it is declined, the hold is released and nothing is charged. Once accepted, the €500 sits on your account as credit to spend on rooms. The fee is waived by booking €500 or more of hotels with us in the year.
- Is the membership fee refundable if I am not accepted?
- The card is charged only if the application is accepted. If it is declined, the hold is released and nothing is charged.
- Where does the hotel research come from?
- Every hotel page is built from our own analysis of public guest reviews across platforms, not from what the hotel says about itself. We look for what guests report and star ratings hide: bed bugs and other pests, noise, hidden fees, and serious complaints. Each page shows how many reviews were read and the date of the analysis.
- Do hotels pay to appear on HotelShortlist?
- No hotel pays to be listed or to be rated. There is no advertising.
- How do I join?
- Ask for an introduction at hotelshortlist.com/intro, or apply at hotelshortlist.com/apply. You can also write on WhatsApp.
Working in travel or hotels?
Tour operatorsHeads of product, contracting and quality at tour operators.
Luxury travel designers, advisors and agentsIndependent advisors and members of Virtuoso, Signature, Internova and other consortia.
Hotel owners and general managersOwners and general managers of independent and boutique hotels.
Hotel chains and management companiesBrand standards, quality and revenue teams responsible for many properties.