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
432,900+ GetYourGuide reviews of the 75 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 31 October 2026.
- Hotels cannot pay to be here.
- Chosen, not listed
Where to stay in Monaco, Lisbon, Tenerife, Porto, London, Rome, New York, Mallorca, Las Vegas, Paris, LA, Gran Canaria, Orlando, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Madeira, Amalfi Coast and Marrakech
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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 in Monaco, Lisbon, Tenerife, Porto, London, Rome, New York, Mallorca, Las Vegas, Paris, LA, Gran Canaria, Orlando, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Madeira, Amalfi Coast and Marrakech
The all-rounder
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
The icon
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
The all-rounder
Bairro Alto Hotel
The special one
Palácio Príncipe Real
The all-rounder
Royal Hideaway Corales Beach
The complete resort
The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama
The icon
The Yeatman
The grand one
The One Monumental Palace
The icon
The Ned
The grand one
Claridge's
The view
Palazzo Manfredi
The icon
Orient Express La Minerva
The icon
The Plaza
The classic
The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel
The icon
Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor
The classic
La Residencia, A Belmond 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 icon
The Beverly Hills Hotel
The beach one
Shutters on the Beach
The icon
Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia
The classic
Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel
The icon
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The complete resort
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort
The design one
Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote
The beach one
Hotel Fariones
The adults-only one
Secrets Bahía Real Resort & Spa
The all-rounder
Barceló Corralejo Sands
The icon
Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel
The view
The Cliff Bay
The icon
Le Sirenuse
The escape
Il San Pietro di Positano
The icon
La Mamounia
The grand one
Royal Mansour Marrakech
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.