If you've browsed SEA Hotel, you've seen the score — a number from 0 to 100 displayed on every hotel listing. But what does it actually mean, and why should you trust it over a simple star rating?
The Problem with Star Ratings
Hotel star ratings are assigned by national tourism boards using different criteria in every country. A 5-star hotel in Thailand follows different standards than a 5-star in Singapore. Stars also don't get revoked easily — a hotel that was 5-star in 2015 might still carry that rating despite declining standards.
Guest review scores (like Booking.com's 8.5 or TripAdvisor's 4.5/5) are better, but they're single-platform and easily manipulated. Hotels routinely ask happy guests to leave reviews while ignoring complaints. Some platforms also weight recent reviews more heavily, making scores volatile.
Our Approach
The SEA Hotel Score aggregates review data from five major platforms: Booking.com, Agoda, Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, and Expedia. By pulling from multiple sources, we reduce the impact of review manipulation on any single platform.
The Five Dimensions
Each hotel is scored across five weighted dimensions:
Service — 30% weight
The most heavily weighted factor because it's what separates a great hotel from a good one. We analyse review text for mentions of staff attentiveness, response times, problem resolution, and personalised touches.
Location — 20% weight
Evaluates proximity to attractions, transport links, beach/view quality, and neighbourhood safety. This isn't just about being central — a remote resort scores high if its location is part of the appeal.
Amenities — 20% weight
Pool, spa, fitness centre, restaurant quality, room facilities, WiFi reliability, and unique offerings. We weight amenities by category — a luxury resort without a pool is penalised more than a city hotel without one.
Value — 15% weight
The relationship between price and what you get. A $500/night hotel can score higher on value than a $100/night hotel if the experience justifies the price. We compare rates across platforms and factor in included services (breakfast, transfers, etc).
Cleanliness — 15% weight
Extracted from review mentions of room cleanliness, bathroom condition, pool/common area maintenance, and general upkeep. This dimension has the least variance among top-tier hotels but matters significantly in the mid-range.
How the Score is Calculated
Our system pulls the latest review data from all five platforms via their APIs and public data. Natural language processing extracts sentiment for each dimension from review text. Scores are normalised across platforms (a 9.0 on Booking.com maps differently than a 4.5 on TripAdvisor) and combined using the weights above.
The final score is recalculated weekly to reflect the most current guest feedback.
What the Numbers Mean
90-100: Exceptional. Consistently outstanding across all dimensions. These are the best hotels in Southeast Asia.
80-89: Excellent. Minor weaknesses in one or two areas but overall a premium experience.
70-79: Very Good. Solid choice with some notable strengths. Worth booking, especially at the right price.
60-69: Good. Meets expectations but doesn't exceed them. May be a good value option.
Below 60: We don't currently list hotels scoring below 60.
Limitations
No rating system is perfect. The SEA Hotel Score relies on review data, which skews toward the experiences of travellers who leave reviews — typically those who had very positive or very negative stays. Hotels with fewer total reviews may have less stable scores.
We also can't account for very recent changes (new management, renovations) until enough new reviews reflect them. If you notice a score that seems off, let us know — we're constantly refining the system.
