Every Walterlog guide follows the same rules. Nothing on a guide is hand-picked, and no hotel pays to be listed.
Where the data comes from
For each city we search Agoda's partner data three times: sorted by Agoda's recommendation, by star rating and by price. We keep the hotels within 20 km of the city center. This gives us a sample of the city's hotels, not every hotel in the city.
We then look up each of those hotels again, one by one. That second look supplies the star rating, guest review score, number of reviews, nightly price, room type, breakfast and Wi-Fi details shown on the guide.
Who makes the list
- 3 stars or more
- Guest review score of 8.0 or higher
- 50 or more guest reviews
- A private room: dormitory beds, capsules and rooms with a shared bathroom are left out
- A believable star rating: hotels list their own star rating on booking sites, so a hotel listed at 4.5 stars or more is left out if its name says hostel, guesthouse or similar, or if it costs less than 35% of the middle price of the other hotels we checked
- If fewer than 5 hotels pass, we do not publish a guide for that city
How each category is chosen
- Best overall: the highest review score; ties go to the hotel with more reviews.
- Best value: the highest review score among hotels that cost no more than the middle price of the hotels we checked in that city.
- Best luxury: the highest review score among hotels listed as 5-star that also cost at least that same middle price. We have seen hostels listed as 5-star, so the star label alone is not enough.
- Best budget: the lowest nightly price.
- Breakfast included: the highest-scoring hotel with breakfast in the rate.
A hotel appears in one category at most. If no hotel fits a category, the category is left out. The rest of the list is filled with the other hotels we checked, highest review score first, for 5 to 10 hotels in total.
Each guide states how many hotels we checked and their middle price. Words such as "highest" or "lowest" on a guide always mean among the hotels we checked for that guide, never among every hotel in the city.
How prices are checked
Prices are for 1 night, 2 adults, with check-in about 30 days after the check date, in US dollars. Each guide shows the exact check-in date and the time of the check. Hotel prices change often, so always confirm the current price on Agoda before you book.
How the text is written
Tables, prices, scores and FAQ answers are generated straight from the data. The short hotel descriptions are drafted by an AI model from the same data, then checked automatically: every number must match the data, a description may not mention other hotels, and claims we cannot verify (such as walking times or "best price") are rejected. A guide that fails these checks is not published.
How often guides are updated
We aim to re-check each guide about once a week. The "Last updated" date on a guide changes only when its data was actually re-checked.
How we make money
We earn a commission from Agoda when you book through our links. It does not change the price you pay, and it does not change which hotels are listed. See our affiliate disclosure.