How we calculate the family score

1. Family score

We calculate the 0–100 family score from the available details for each age band (0–2, 3–5, 6–9, 10–12, 13+). The checklist questions fall into 7 topics: sleep, room and bathroom; food and kitchenette; pushchair and access; safety and health; play and activities; water and swimming; services for parents and terms. Each topic has a fixed share of the score for each age. For a baby, sleep and safety weigh more; for a school-age child, play and water.

Every question works the same way: has it = full points, does not have it = 0 points, unchecked = half the points. A question does not count when a confirmed answer rules it out: for accommodation without a restaurant, the children's menu does not count, for example. We count a private pool, hot tub, garden, sandpit, dishwasher, terrace with barbecue and at least two bedrooms only when the accommodation has them, and stairs and a fireplace only with a confirmed answer. The rules are the same for a hotel, resort, guesthouse, chalet and apartment.

You can find the share of known details under “How we calculate the score”. For each topic we state how many of the counted items the accommodation has, for example “has 7 of 14”. With several children, the lowest score applies, along with the share of known details for the child who sets it.

New details can raise or lower the score. A confirmed “has it” usually raises it and a confirmed “does not have it” lowers it compared with when we do not know the detail. Entry questions are the exception: “no restaurant” rules out the restaurant questions, so the score can also go up. We calculate the score the same way for all accommodation, and payment never changes it.

We count a detail when the accommodation provides or confirms it, when the editorial team adds it, or when an automatic check finds it on the accommodation's website with high confidence. Every detail shows where it comes from: “per the hotel's website”, “stated by the hotel”, “added by the editors”, “per a parent” or “checked on site”. We write “checked on site” only for details from a visit to the accommodation.

We show the score once we know at least 10% of the details for the child's age. Questions added on 27 October 2026 do not yet count towards this threshold, so accommodation does not lose its score just because new questions were added to the list.

Home page selections such as “For your children” include only accommodation where we know at least 25% of the details for each child and at least a third of at least 3 topics. If no such accommodation exists for the chosen age and type, “For your children” shows a short note and a link to the full list, and the other selections do not appear. Being included does not mean we have visited the accommodation.

What matters for your children's ages

On accommodation cards we write, for example, “Has 7 of 12 things that matter for your children's ages”. For each age band we have a fixed list of 12 things that weigh most in the score and that parents know about. With several children, we combine their lists and count each thing once.

“Has” also covers things offered for a fee, on request or with restrictions. When accommodation confirms it has no pool or restaurant, for example, we count the things that depend on them as “does not have”. The order in the list is set by the family score from all details, not by this count.

0–2 yrs

Baby cot, High chairs, Kitchenette in room / apartment, Fridge in the room, Family room with separate bedroom, Room blackout, Step-free entrance, Ground-floor rooms or a lift to the family rooms, Pushchair storage, Toddler corner, Children's pool, Smoke-free grounds

3–5 yrs

Children's pool, Playroom, Outdoor playground, Supervised kids' club, Play corner in the restaurant, Children's menu / portions, Children in the main pool, Family room with separate bedroom, Bed guard, Room blackout, Kids' entertainers, Fenced grounds

6–9 yrs

Water slide, Children in the main pool, Supervised kids' club, Kids' entertainers, Family room with separate bedroom, Trampoline, Bad-weather programme, Outdoor playground, Children's pool, Allergies and diets, Children's menu / portions, Bikes, balance bikes, scooters

10–12 yrs

Family room with separate bedroom, Fridge in the room, Water slide, Children in the main pool, Teen zone, Sports ground, Kids' entertainers, Bikes, balance bikes, scooters, Allergies and diets, Smoke-free grounds, Children's menu / portions, Bad-weather programme

13+ yrs

Teen zone, Fridge in the room, Sports ground, Water slide, Allergies and diets, Children in the main pool, Family room with separate bedroom, Bad-weather programme, Kids' entertainers, Smoke-free grounds, Children in the spa, Bikes, balance bikes, scooters

2. Order of results

The default order is set by the family score for your children's ages. We rank by the exact, unrounded score, so two accommodations next to each other can show the same number. With equal scores, the accommodation we know more details about appears higher. When you search for hotels near an attraction, we group them by driving time (up to 20 minutes, up to 30, up to 45, up to 60 minutes and over 60 minutes) and rank each group by score.

Payment never changes the score. Paid placements (Tip of the week, Tip of the month, Featured in region, Hotel near an attraction, Region banner, Family profile and Family profile Plus) always carry the “Ad” label. Hotels with a Family profile appear in the list above hotels without a paid listing. Family profile Plus comes before Family profile, and near an attraction only within its own group. When you sort by travel time from home, paid hotels do not move up. The Family profile includes a detailed equipment comparison with similar hotels. It shows the hotel what other hotels have but does not change the score.

In the list you can choose the order “Best match (no ads)”. The order then takes into account your children's ages and the requirements you select, and near an attraction also the travel time. Paid hotels still carry the “Ad” label there but get no priority. In the hotel list, paid placements never bypass filters you mark as “Must have”: a hotel that does not meet them does not appear in the list, even with a paid listing. Separate blocks above the list, such as Tip of the month, are labelled separately. The “For your children” selection on the home page is always based on the score alone.

3. Articles, tips and discounts

Paid partnerships and the paid Tip of the week carry the “Ad” label and the partner's name. A paid tip shows the hotel's offer, and an editor checks it before it goes live. We choose the Editors' tip ourselves, without payment. We publish family discounts for partners free of charge, only with written confirmation. None of this changes hotel scores.

Links to Booking.com

Hotels without a paid listing have a “See prices and dates” button on their profile that links to Booking.com. This is an affiliate link: when you book a stay through it, we receive a commission from Booking.com. Your price stays the same. The commission does not change the family score or the order of hotels. After you click, the intermediary CJ and Booking.com process data about your visit under their own policies: CJ policy, Booking.com policy.

4. Parents' reviews

Only an account signed in with Google can add a review. Each account has one review per hotel and can edit it after another stay. The stay can be at most 24 months old. We do not ask for proof of the stay, so we cannot confirm that the author really stayed at the hotel. An editor reads each review before it goes live. The editor does not publish insults, personal data, advertising or a review they have reason to believe comes from the hotel or a competitor. We publish positive and negative reviews, we do not reward reviews, and a hotel cannot pay to have them published or removed. Reviews are sorted by most recent stay. Anyone can report any review, and an editor decides on each report and gives a reason.

5. Wrong details?

Every hotel has a Report wrong details button.