15
Normalised platform rating
A displayed rating on a five-point scale is converted to 100 using: rating ÷ 5 × 100. Eligible platform scores are normally averaged equally.
Published evaluation framework
The Apex Circle Methodology
A transparent, multi-dimensional framework designed to make hospitality evaluation understandable, comparable, and open to scrutiny.
100
Total points
Scores are published only after evidence review is complete. Current preview profiles do not display invented or provisional Apex Circle scores.
Business Excellence
Operating standards, governance, consistency of delivery, financial and organisational resilience where evidenced, and category-specific professional practice.
Customer Experience
The quality of the end-to-end guest journey, service design, responsiveness, accessibility, recovery from service issues, and consistency across touchpoints.
Public Reputation
Publicly available ratings and feedback from relevant platforms, assessed for rating level, review volume, recency, consistency, and apparent integrity.
Innovation
Distinctive concepts, meaningful service or product innovation, digital capability, design thinking, and evidence of relevant improvement rather than novelty alone.
Industry Impact
Leadership, talent development, responsible practices, contribution to the destination, collaboration, and wider influence within hospitality.
Public reputation · 25 points
How public feedback contributes
Where applicable, publicly available guest or customer feedback may be considered from Google, Tripadvisor, Facebook, and other relevant public platforms. A platform reference does not imply affiliation or endorsement.
05
Review volume
The breadth of feedback is considered through normalisation; the largest raw review count does not automatically receive the best result.
03
Recency & consistency
Recent sentiment is compared with the historical pattern to assess whether public feedback is sustained.
02
Review integrity
Potential duplication, manipulation, irrelevant feedback, or other reliability concerns may be excluded from consideration.
When a platform is not relevant or sufficient data is unavailable, the treatment of that evidence must be recorded for the category. Public reviews never form the sole basis of a result.