How we rank wedding resorts
How Wedding Hotelist ranks resorts: public data only. Locked ranking criteria and weights, one-per-brand awards rule, freeze date, and why no resort can pay for position.
Data as of 2026-10-27 (America/Denver). Method locked 2026-10-27 — weights 30/20/15/15/12/8 (review volume stays at 0, listed as future). Freeze 2026-12-15; announce 2026-12-31. We never claim to have tested, visited or stayed at a resort. Every fact comes from what the resort publishes on its own site or wedding brochure.
1. Only verified facts
A fact counts only if it comes from the resort's own website or wedding brochure, with the source URL and the date we checked it. If a resort doesn't publish something, we show "Not published — ask the resort". We never estimate, average or fill gaps, and an unknown is never counted as a yes or a no.
2. Complete profiles (eligibility)
Each fact counts once: all of a resort's packages together count as one fact, and all of its ceremony and reception spaces together count as one. A resort profile is shown to search engines only when all of these hold:
- at least 8 distinct facts are verified in total;
- at least 5 of them are specific to that resort, stated on the resort's own pages;
- at least 3 of those resort-specific facts are wedding facts: a venue or ceremony space, capacity, a package or price, room-block terms, a coordinator, wedding fees, vendor rules and the like (property facts such as resort type, adults-only, rooms, nearest airport, airport transfer time don't count toward these 3);
- the resort confirms on its own site that it hosts weddings.
Brand-wide policies stated on the brand's own wedding pages (including options listed on a brand's wedding inquiry form) are shown as "brand policy" with their source and date. They count toward the 8 only, never toward the resort-specific counts. The facts we track: Hosts weddings, Resort type, Adults-only, Rooms, Max wedding guests, Min guests for a private event, Exclusive buyout, Ceremony spaces, Indoor backup space, Weddings per day, Outside vendors, Outside vendor fee, On-site coordinator, Legal ceremony possible, Same-sex weddings, Wedding packages, Day pass for non-staying guests, Venue fee, Group minimum (rooms), Courtesy room block, Courtesy block terms, Contracted block terms, Group perks, How groups book, Symbolic ceremony possible, Marriage licence / legal fee, Wedding deposit policy, Free wedding offer, Fee per extra guest, Share of guests who must stay on site, Nearest airport, Airport transfer time. List pages (destinations, areas, brands, themes) are shown to search engines only once they have 5 or more complete profiles. Only complete (indexable) profiles are eligible for "#N in …" ranks and for the Wedding Hotelist Awards 2026.
3. How order is decided
Every destination hub and theme list uses the same deterministic method for on-page ranks. Results are shown only as ranks: "#N in [Category] · ranked by public data". We do not show points, scores or "/N checks" on the site. These on-page ranks are the pure method order and do not apply the awards one-per-brand rule.
| Criterion | Weight | How it is measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published resort-specific wedding facts | 30 | min(resort_specific_wedding_count, 12) / 12 | Verified wedding fields with scope=resort on the resort's own site or wedding brochure (packages and ceremony spaces each count as one field). |
| Pricing transparency | 20 | 0.5 if a sourced package price > 0 is published; +0.5 if a free package / free-wedding offer is published | Wedding packages (or free-wedding offer) on the resort's own site, each with source URL and checked date. |
| Verified wedding guest capacity | 15 | 1 if published, else 0 | max_wedding_guests from the resort's own wedding page, with source URL and checked date. |
| Ceremony and reception venue spaces | 15 | min(space_count, 4) / 4 | ceremony_spaces listed on the resort's own wedding pages. |
| Room-block terms published | 12 | 0.4 if courtesy block yes/no is published; +0.4 if any courtesy or contracted term value is published; +0.2 if group minimum rooms is published | courtesy_block_offered, courtesy/contracted block terms, group_min_rooms from the resort's own site. |
| Source freshness | 8 | share of verified facts checked within STALE_DAYS (180) | checked_on dates on each verified fact (America/Denver). |
| Public review volume (future) | 0 | unused | Not in the catalogue yet (review_signals unfilled). Listed for later; unweighted until sourced. |
Weights sum to 100 (30/20/15/15/12/8, plus review volume at 0). Public review volume is listed at weight 0 until we have sourced review_signals in the catalogue; it does not affect order today. Method locked 2026-10-27.
Tie-breaks (in order)
- Higher weighted total from the table above
- More resort-specific wedding facts
- More total verified facts
- Newer most-recent
checked_ondate - Resort name, A–Z
Special-purpose lists that are about price or capacity (for example cheapest packages, largest weddings, best value) still filter by that theme and sort by that theme metric first, then apply these tie-breaks. That on-page order is separate from award spots.
4. No pay-to-play
Listings are free. Resorts can correct facts for free via Suggest an edit, but can never buy rank. Featured slots sit outside the ranked list, labelled "AD · SPONSORED · not ranked", and are never numbered; list numbering skips them. Sponsored and featured placements are excluded from awards and never change any "#N" position. Enforced in the ranking code and in the site build check.
5. Awards
The Wedding Hotelist Awards 2026 use the same public-data method to order eligible resorts in each category, then apply a one-winner-per-brand rule when filling the winner and finalist spots (top 3):
- Brand lines such as Excellence, Secrets, Dreams, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Vivid are separate. Parent companies are not used. Excellence and Finest would be separate brands; each Hyatt-owned brand line is separate.
- Each independent resort counts as its own brand line.
- In each award category, one brand line can hold at most one spot among the winner and the finalists. Once a brand has a spot, the next-ranked resort from a different brand moves up.
- The rule applies to award winners and finalists only. Site-wide "#N in [Category] · ranked by public data" ranks stay the pure method order, so an award position can differ from the on-page rank.
Award categories are exactly the site's ranked destination hubs and theme lists (no invented categories). Until 2026-12-15 spots are marked provisional; they freeze on that date and are announced and given on 2026-12-31. Data stamp: 2026-10-27. Method locked 2026-10-27.
6. Corrections
If a resort's own published page shows that we mis-read a fact, send a correction with the page URL and the quote to artyom@weddinghotelist.com or use Suggest an edit. We update from the resort's own page, re-check the quote, and refresh ranks on the next data build. After the awards freeze, factual corrections still update profiles and live ranks; the frozen award winners for 2026 change only if the freeze-day computation itself contained an error in applying these published rules.
7. Freshness
Each fact carries its own checked date. Facts older than 180 days are flagged "may be outdated". Freshness is one of the ranking criteria above; we still never invent a value for a missing fact.
8. Guest-room prices and photos
We show no guest-room price until we have a dated sample from a booking partner, and then only as "from $X/night, sampled on date". We use only official press photos or partner images with credit; no stock "destination" images.