Disclaimer and Data

Last updated: 25 September 2026

1. These prices are a snapshot from the survey date

Every price on this site is a guide as of that city’s survey date. All cities were first collected on 21 September 2026; since then a few cities are re-surveyed each night in turn, so each city is refreshed roughly once a month. The survey date is shown on each city page. Price changes, currency movements and availability after that date are not reflected.
What you actually pay varies a great deal with when you book, the dates of your stay, the number of guests, the room type and the cancellation terms.
We do not guarantee that any room is available at the price shown. Always check the current price on the booking site.

2. Method

Scope	Properties shown as “4-star” in 348 cities across 120 countries
Terms	Two adults, one room, one night, taxes included, priced in Japanese yen
Dates	One date in each of the twelve months following the city’s survey date (the second Tuesday in even-numbered months, the second Saturday in odd-numbered months), twelve in total
Sample size	4,176 measurements (348 cities × 12 months)
Statistic	For each city and month, the median price of available 4-star properties, meaning half of them cost less
Annual median	The median of those twelve monthly figures
Collected on	First on 21 September 2026; each city is then re-surveyed roughly once a month (shown on each city page)

3. Why only 4-star hotels

Comparing cities needs a common yardstick that exists in similar numbers everywhere. Four stars is not a matter of taste: at other star levels there are simply too many cities where a median cannot be computed meaningfully.

Measured distribution of listings (4-star, 348 cities)

Fewest in any city	3
Lower quartile	32
Median	66
Upper quartile	152
Most in any city	3,667

Even at 4-star, 71 cities (20% of the total) list fewer than 30 properties. The 5-star pool is a third to a fifth of that size, so in most cities it would amount to averaging a handful of hotels, which is not usable as a figure.

What each star level is like

1–2 star	A mix of guesthouses and simple lodgings, defined differently in every country. Many countries barely list any, so they cannot be compared.
3 star	The layer people actually book most, but also the one where quality differs most between countries. Two “3-star” hotels can be nothing alike.
4 star	Few extreme outliers, and a stable pool with a median of 66 listings per city. The best unit for comparing cities.
5 star	A handful of luxury properties drag the price, and most cities list fewer than ten. Not stable enough to use as an index.

Limits of this choice

This is not a like-for-like quality comparison. What we measure is the price of hotels labelled 4-star in that country. A 4-star in Hanoi and one in Zurich differ in facilities and location.
Four stars means different things in different countries. In expensive countries it is a standard business hotel; in cheaper ones it sits near the top of the market, so the figure runs above what locals would consider normal.
Apartments and hostels are out of scope, so this will not match what a long-stay traveller actually spends.

4. Limits of the data

It is not a calendar year. The display runs January to December, but each month’s figure is for the next occurrence of that month after the survey date (the year is shown in the monthly table on each city page).
“4-star” is the rating shown on the booking site. Actual quality differs by country (see why only 4-star hotels).
Where few properties are listed, the median is unstable. Cities with fewer than 30 listings are dimmed in the table.
Some cities and months could not be collected and are shown as “—”.
Each month is sampled on a single date, so price movement within a month is not captured.

5. Sources and rights

The underlying prices are statistics (medians) derived from publicly visible Booking.com search results. No individual property prices, names or images are published here.
Booking.com is a trademark of Booking.com B.V. This is an independent personal site with no ownership or partnership ties to that company.
Map library: Leaflet (BSD-2-Clause).

6. Disclaimer

The information here is provided for information only. We make no warranty as to its accuracy, completeness or currency.
We accept no liability for any loss arising from decisions or actions taken on the basis of this information.
Content may be changed or withdrawn without notice.
To request a correction or removal, please use the contact details on the about page. We will respond promptly.