The short answer: choose the category that holds the properties your guests would compare you with, and in which your evidence is strongest. The Jury team or the Management of Golden Tree scores an entry against its peers in that category. The right category puts your property's real strengths in front of the people judging it. The wrong one leaves good evidence looking out of place.
Why the category matters as much as the entry
Every award category is a comparison set. When a jury reads an entry in Best Beach Resort, it is asking how well this resort delivers a beach holiday compared with the other beach resorts in front of it. The same property entered in Best Business Hotel would be judged on meeting space, connectivity, location for corporate travellers and the speed of check-in. That is a very different conversation.
This is why two equally strong properties can have very different results. One chose a category that matched what it does best. The other chose a category whose name sounded more prestigious but whose criteria pointed somewhere else. The quality of the hotel did not change. The fit between the hotel and the category did.
The judging process at the International Travel Awards runs in stages, with entries reviewed and scored independently. Each stage is easier to pass when the evidence answers the question the category is really asking.
The accommodation categories at a glance
The International Travel Awards groups hotels and resorts into six accommodation categories. The table below shows who each one is usually for and what evidence tends to carry the most weight. The full list across all travel sectors is on the award categories page.
| Category | Usually the right fit for | Evidence to lead with |
|---|---|---|
| Best Luxury Hotel | Full-service properties that compete on the complete luxury experience | Service standards, personalisation, dining, guest feedback on the overall stay |
| Best Boutique Hotel | Smaller, design-led properties with a distinct personality | Design story, sense of place, personal service, how the character shows up in reviews |
| Best Business Hotel | City and airport hotels whose guests are mostly corporate travellers | Meeting and event facilities, location, connectivity, corporate guest feedback |
| Best Budget Hotel | Properties that deliver a reliable, well-run stay at an accessible price | Consistency, cleanliness, value for money, operational efficiency |
| Best Beach Resort | Coastal resorts where the beach is the main reason to book | Beach and pool experience, activities, family or couples offering, guest feedback |
| Best Spa & Wellness Resort | Resorts where wellness programmes and treatments drive the booking | Programme design, therapist expertise, facilities, outcomes guests describe |
Four questions that point to the right category
1. Why do most guests book this property?
Look at the booking reasons in guest feedback and in the questions guests ask before they arrive. If most guests mention the beach, the sea view and the pool, the property is competing as a beach resort, even if it also has an excellent spa. If they mention the meeting rooms and the short journey to the business district, it is a business hotel, even if the rooms are luxurious.
2. Which properties would a guest compare you with?
Name three or four properties a guest might consider instead of yours. If they are all small, characterful hotels, the boutique category is your peer set. If they are large full-service hotels with several restaurants, the luxury category is. The category should contain your real competitors, not the ones you would most like to be compared with.
3. Where is your strongest evidence?
Make a quick list of what you can show, not just what you can say: guest review themes, service measures, programme details, photographs, certificates and examples of how the team solved a guest's problem. The category where that list is longest and most specific is usually the one to enter first.
4. Is the claim true of the whole property?
A category describes the property as a whole. A city hotel with one excellent spa floor is still a city hotel. A beach resort with one fine-dining restaurant is still a beach resort. If a single strength stands out, it may suit a second entry, but the main entry should describe what the whole property delivers to most guests.
Common edge cases, and how to decide
The small luxury hotel
A property with a small number of rooms and a full luxury offer sits between two categories. If guests talk mainly about the design, the intimacy and the personal welcome, Best Boutique Hotel will show those strengths more clearly. If they talk about the depth of service, the dining and the facilities, Best Luxury Hotel is the stronger match. Many such properties enter both, with each entry leading on different evidence.
The resort with a large spa
Here the deciding question is what guests come for. If the spa and its programmes are the reason for the trip, enter Best Spa & Wellness Resort and lead with programme design and therapist expertise. If guests come for the coast and use the spa as one part of their stay, Best Beach Resort fits better.
The city hotel with mixed guests
Many city hotels serve corporate travellers on weekdays and leisure guests at weekends. Look at which group drives the business across the year, and at which group's feedback is strongest. If corporate guests dominate, Best Business Hotel is a natural fit. If the property is also a full luxury hotel, a second entry in Best Luxury Hotel can make sense.
The hotel group with several properties
The Jury team or the Management of Golden Tree evaluates a specific property against its category, so each hotel in a group is entered on its own, with its own evidence. A group with a beach resort, a city business hotel and a boutique property would usually make three entries in three different categories, rather than one entry for the group as a whole.
Categories beyond the accommodation types
Some of a property's strongest stories are not about its format at all. Three cross-sector categories are worth a look:
- Sustainable Travel Award: for properties with a measurable sustainability programme, such as energy, water, waste, local sourcing or community work.
- Travel Innovation Award: for a new guest-facing idea, service model or use of technology that changed how the property works.
- Travel Leader of the Year: for a general manager, owner or executive whose leadership produced clear results for the team and the guests.
These categories ask for different evidence from the accommodation categories. Treat them as separate entries with their own story, not as a short add-on to the main entry.
Entering more than one category
A property can enter every category that accurately describes what it offers, and each entry is evaluated on its own. The most effective multi-category entries are not copies of each other. Each one opens with the evidence that matters most to that category's jury. A beach resort entering both Best Beach Resort and the Sustainable Travel Award might use the same photographs, but the first entry would lead with the guest experience and the second with the measured results of its environmental programme.
The plans that cover more than one category are listed on the nomination price page.
Choices that weaken an otherwise strong entry
- Choosing by name rather than fit. A category that sounds more prestigious is not a better choice if the evidence points elsewhere.
- Describing one outlet as the whole property. An excellent restaurant or spa is a strength to mention, but it does not change the property's format.
- Using the same text for every category. Repeated wording makes each entry look less focused on the question its jury is asking.
- Leaving out the evidence the category expects. A wellness entry without programme details, or a business hotel entry without meeting facilities, leaves the jury guessing.
A quick checklist before you nominate
- Write one sentence on why most guests book the property.
- List the properties a guest would compare it with.
- Pick the category that holds that comparison set.
- Gather the evidence that category expects, using the table above.
- Decide whether a second category, such as sustainability or innovation, has its own strong story.
- Read how to win a travel award and how to nominate before you start the form.
Browsing the past winners directory by category is also a useful way to see what kinds of property each category recognises. If you are still unsure, the team can suggest a category: use the contact page and describe the property, its guests and the evidence you plan to submit.