Same and Single
Why repetition and singleness
Two questions run through every entry on this site. What did the builders make once and then reproduce, and what exists in a single copy? Almost every hotel answers both, and the balance between the two answers says more about a building than a list of its facilities would.
Neither answer is ranked above the other here. A repeated unit is a way of solving a plan, and a room made once is another way. We describe which was chosen and why it was available.
What goes into each of the three blocks
What repeats holds the thing that was drawn once and reproduced: a cabin, a cell, a pipe, an opening in a wall, a floor of bedrooms stacked over the floor below.
What never repeats holds the thing that exists in one copy: a courtyard, a carved hall, a waterfront, a room made by one person for that room alone.
Why it is built like that holds the reason. A former use, a climate, a plot shape, a leased floor, a listed wall. The three blocks do not restate one another.
Why there are no quantities
We write that capsules stand in identical rows, not how many of them there are. Counts change, they are hard to check from published material, and they are not the point. The same rule removes opening times, seasons given as dates, room counts and floor areas from every entry.
What Fix in advance means
The last line of every entry is something to sort out before you travel: a branch to confirm, warm clothing to bring, a room position to ask about. It is preparation, not complaint. These are working companies, and we do not invent faults for them.
What File date means
The month and year under an entry is when we last opened the published material behind it. It is not a visit, and it is not a promise that nothing has changed since. When something has changed and we notice it, we rewrite the entry and move the date.
Where the material comes from
Published sources: hotel sites, architectural and design publications, museum and municipal material, and press coverage of the buildings themselves. Everything is rewritten in our own words. Three of us keep the guide, two writing and one keeping the source list in order, and we have done it this way since 2022.
We do not publish stay reports, and we never claim to have slept in a building we describe.
What is never published here
No prices, no star ratings, no scores, no booking, no affiliate links and no paid placement. Nobody can buy an entry, a change to an entry or a place in a list. We take no commission and we pass no enquiries to hotels.
Why there is a Casino Hotels section
Four Canadian resorts are read by exactly the same test as the rest of the site, because their buildings answer the two questions clearly: the guest wings repeat and a hall or a waterfront does not. The gaming floor is outside what this guide describes. We do not write about play, and we do not link to anything you can play on.