The independent hotel guide
Fewer hotels. Better trips.
The Better Trip: 180 hotels in 18 places, chosen by people who know them. Not ranked, not listed, not paid for.
4.7/5
596,900+ GetYourGuide reviews of the 98 experiences we list
9.1/10
219,900+ Expedia guest reviews of the 165 hotels we list
Averages of the ratings GetYourGuide and Expedia publish, weighted by review count; read 13 November 2026.
- Hotels cannot pay to be here.
- Chosen, not listed
Where are you going?
United StatesNew York City
New York is a city of neighbourhoods, and the hotel you choose decides which one you step out into each morning. These are ten of them, from Central Park to the Lower East Side, across the river to Brooklyn and out to JFK, priced from about two hundred dollars a night to well over a thousand, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe classicThe new classic+7
United KingdomLondon
London is not one city to choose a hotel in but eight or nine, and the address you pick shapes your days more than the room does. These are ten of them, spread across the centres that matter and priced from under two hundred pounds a night to well over seven hundred, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe grand oneThe view+7
SpainTenerife
Europe’s most reliable winter sun, with a green, historic north most visitors never see. Ten hotels, ten different reasons, and honest notes on scale.
The all-rounderThe complete resortThe classic+7
ItalyRome
Rome’s centre is small and its quarters are not, so the hotel question is less about distance than about what the street outside is doing after dark. One address here is a pedestrian cul-de-sac that ends in steps; another sits on a square that fills with touts and stays busy late. These are ten we would book, from about 95 euros a night to 2,000, each here for a different reason.
The viewThe iconThe grand one+7
SpainGran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the dry, sunny south of dunes, beaches and resorts, Las Palmas, a real city with a beach of its own, and the mountains between them, so the base decides the trip. Ten hotels, from an old-town house at about €85 a night to a palm-grove five-star at over €500, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe classicThe adults-only one+7
United StatesLas Vegas
Las Vegas is one long boulevard of very large hotels, and the one you choose decides how much of it you walk, how late the noise runs and what the nightly fee buys. These are ten of them, from the Bellagio fountains to Fremont Street and out to Red Rock Canyon, priced from about $55 a night midweek to about $400, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe grand oneThe classic+7
FranceParis
In Paris the quarter shapes the trip more than the room does, and these ten are spread across seven of them, from the palaces of the Concorde and the Left Bank to the Marais, Auteuil and Pigalle. They are priced from under three hundred euros a night to over two thousand, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe grand oneThe new classic+7
SpainFuerteventura
Fuerteventura is the Canaries' island of beaches and wind, and the base decides the trip: Corralejo and its dunes in the north, Caleta de Fuste by the airport, the kite lagoon at Sotavento or Jandía’s long white sand in the far south. Ten hotels, from a surf base in Corralejo at about €95 a night to a renovated five-star above Jandía’s beach at about €355, each here for a different reason.
The adults-only oneThe all-rounderThe surf one+7
SpainLanzarote
Lanzarote is black lava, white houses and César Manrique’s gardens, and the base decides the trip: a resort beach in Puerto del Carmen or Playa Blanca, the windsurfing beach of Costa Teguise or the vineyards and old towns inland. Ten hotels, from a town-beach three-star in Arrecife at about €100 a night to an all-inclusive in Manrique’s gardens at over €400, each here for a different reason.
The design oneThe beach oneThe escape+7
PortugalPorto & the Douro
Porto is a river-view city, and the hotel question is really which bank and which window. These are the ten we would book, from a Gaia hillside icon to a working estate in the Douro valley, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe grand oneThe all-rounder+7
PortugalLisbon
Lisbon rewards choosing the right hill. These are the ten hotels we would put our own money on, from a Chiado landmark to a palace above the river.
The all-rounderThe special oneThe insider one+7
United StatesLos Angeles
Los Angeles is a set of separate towns joined by freeways, and the hotel you choose decides which one your days begin in. These are ten of them, from the sand in Santa Monica and Malibu to the Sunset Strip, Hollywood Boulevard, Silver Lake, Downtown and the Palos Verdes cliffs, priced from a little over two hundred dollars a night to more than a thousand, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe beach oneThe romantic one+7
Monaco / FranceMonaco & around
Monaco has fewer than a dozen hotels that matter and a price for each of them. This is the shortlist: ten hotels, each here for a different reason.
The all-rounderThe iconThe intimate one+7
PortugalMadeira
Madeira is Portugal’s island of cliffs, levadas and mild winters, and the base decides the trip: Funchal’s hotel zone, old centre and hills, the cliffs at Caniço de Baixo, the green north coast at Santana or the south-west coast at Ponta do Sol. Ten hotels, from a 1969 modernist hotel in central Funchal at about €150 a night to the clifftop grand hotel of 1891 at about €825, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe viewThe grand one+7
United StatesOrlando
Orlando is two worlds of theme parks, Walt Disney World and Universal, and the hotel you choose decides which gates you reach first and which park perks come with the room. These are ten of them, from the monorail at Disney’s Grand Floridian to a gate into Epic Universe and an art hotel in Winter Park, priced from under two hundred dollars a night to well over a thousand, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe complete resortThe family one+7
SpainMallorca
A capital with its cathedral on the sea, stone villages in the mountains above the west coast and coves in the south-east, on an island where seven of these ten close for the winter. Ten hotels, ten different reasons, and honest notes on the drives.
The iconThe classicThe special one+7
MoroccoMarrakech
Marrakech is a walled Medina and the garden districts and desert around it, and the address decides the trip: a riad down a lane or a palace hotel inside the ramparts, Hivernage just outside the walls, or a resort in the Palmeraie, on the Route d’Amizmiz or in the Agafay desert. Ten hotels, from a six-suite riad by Bab Doukkala at about €205 a night with breakfast to a private riad with its own roof plunge pool at Royal Mansour at about €2,300, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe grand oneThe design one+7
ItalyAmalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast is a run of cliff towns on one road above the Gulf of Salerno, and the town decides the trip: Positano’s steps and beach, quiet Praiano, the cliffs of Conca dei Marini, Amalfi the hub, Ravello and Scala up on the ridge, flat Minori by the sea. Ten hotels, from a family-run hotel in Minori at about €225 a night to a clifftop hotel with its own cove east of Positano at about €3,530, each here for a different reason.
The iconThe escapeThe grand one+7
Things to do worth booking
The most reviewed pick in each place, with its from price and its score.
The immersive artARTE MUSEUM in New York
From $29.994.7(14,400)
The Tower and the Crown JewelsTower of London and Crown Jewels tickets
From €45.484.6(33,570)
Whales, then a swimTravelin' Lady whale and dolphin trip
From €27.754.7(19,874)
The ColosseumColosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine with a guide
From €48.754.8(94,507)
The dunes, by camelA camel ride in the Maspalomas dunes
From €184.4(5,300)
The immersive artARTE MUSEUM in Las Vegas
From $404.7(15,500)
The concert by candlelightCandlelight concerts in Paris
From €19.954.7(20,100)
Dolphins, from the southDolphin watching by speedboat from Morro Jable, with a snorkel stop
From €504.6(4,300)
For this winter
Winter sun, Christmas lights and the trips to take before spring.
Which Canary Island is warmest in winter? We read the official records
Every island claims winter sun. We took the long-term records of Spain’s weather service, AEMET, for every island’s weather station and put them side by side, month by month. The answer depends on whether you want heat, sunshine or dry days.
Christmas in New York 2026: what’s on, when, and where to stay
Every big free Christmas sight in New York with its 2026 date, the candlelit evenings worth booking between late November and early January, the hotels within a walk of the tree, and what December in Central Park is really like.
Christmas in London 2026: what’s on, when, and where to stay
Every big Christmas sight in London with its 2026 date from the organiser, the candlelit evenings worth booking between late November and early January, the hotels within a walk of the lights, and what December in central London is really like.
Christmas in Paris 2026: what’s on, when, and where to stay
The Champs-Élysées lights, the Galeries Lafayette tree and windows, the Christmas markets and the ice rinks with their 2026 dates, every candlelit evening worth booking from mid November to early January, the hotels within a walk of the lights and the grands magasins, and what December in Paris is really like.
New York in November 2026: what’s on, a three-day plan, and where to stay
November is when New York turns from autumn to the holidays: a marathon, two parades, the first skating and markets, and short, cool days that suit an evening show. These are the 2026 dates, the weather we measured, and a three-day plan with one booked evening a day.
Better Fit
Your Better Fit, everywhere
Based on the answers you gave, the hotel we would book for you in each place.
Hotels we would book
The icon
The Plaza
The classic
The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel
The icon
The Ned
The grand one
Claridge’s
The all-rounder
Royal Hideaway Corales Beach
The complete resort
The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama
The view
Palazzo Manfredi
The icon
Orient Express La Minerva
The icon
Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia
The classic
Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel
The icon
Bellagio
The grand one
Wynn Las Vegas
The icon
Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel
The grand one
Le Bristol Paris
The adults-only one
Secrets Bahía Real Resort & Spa
The all-rounder
Barceló Corralejo Sands
The design one
Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote
The beach one
Hotel Fariones
The icon
The Yeatman
The grand one
The One Monumental Palace
The all-rounder
Bairro Alto Hotel
The special one
Palácio Príncipe Real
The icon
The Beverly Hills Hotel
The beach one
Shutters on the Beach
The all-rounder
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
The icon
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
The icon
Reid’s Palace, A Belmond Hotel
The view
The Cliff Bay
The icon
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The complete resort
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort
The icon
Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor
The classic
La Residencia, A Belmond Hotel
The icon
La Mamounia
The grand one
Royal Mansour Marrakech
The icon
Le Sirenuse
The escape
Il San Pietro di Positano
Before you book
Tickets, fees and routes, checked and priced.
Colosseum tickets 2026: prices, when they go on sale, and what to do when they sell out
We read the official ticket calendar slot by slot twice, on 19 October and 6 November 2026, for every ticket type. Here is what each ticket costs and includes, how the 30-day release works, which slots go first, and how to get in when your date looks full.
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel tickets 2026: prices, what sells out, and what to do when it has
We read the Vatican Museums' own ticket office slot by slot on 10 November 2026, for 16 dates from the next day to early January. Here is what a ticket really costs, which days and times go first, how the free last Sunday works, and how to get in when your date looks full.
Statue of Liberty tickets: real prices, the crown, the pedestal, and what to book when the crown is gone
We read the official ferry operator’s booking calendar on 10 November 2026, hour by hour, for the crown, the pedestal and general admission from both departure points. Here is what each ticket costs, how far ahead each one goes, which pier to use, and the 30-cent ticket that is still there when the crown is not.
Las Vegas resort fees: what every Strip hotel really costs a night
Las Vegas hotels advertise a room rate, then add a nightly resort fee and the room tax. We priced 40 hotels, every big resort on the Strip plus Circa downtown and Red Rock in Summerlin, on the same Tuesday and Saturday, and set the advertised rate beside what the night really costs.
Teide cable car tickets: prices, the summit permit and what to book when it is full
We read the operator’s booking calendar slot by slot on 10 November 2026, for every date to the end of January. Here is what each ticket costs, how far ahead the slots go, how the separate summit permit works, what happens on a windy day and what to book when your date is full.
Eurostar or fly? London to Paris, timed and costed door to door
We timed every way from central London to central Paris using each airport’s and Eurostar’s own advice, then priced the train against every direct flight on two dates this winter. The train wins on time. Whether it wins on price depends on your bag.
Better Journeys
The train rides and ferry crossings worth planning a trip around.
How we choose
Independently selected through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included.