How We Verify Every Hotel
No vague "family friendly" labels. No scraped data. No paid placements that change what we say. Here is exactly how every data point on Tiny Trip Index is researched, verified, and kept honest.
Why this exists
I became a mum in 2024. When I started planning our first trip with my daughter, I kept hitting the same wall.
Hotel websites that said “family friendly” but buried the kids club minimum age in a PDF, or didn’t mention it at all. Booking.com showing a beach as a highlight with no mention of the 75 steps to reach it with a buggy. Review sites full of opinions from parents of ten-year-olds that told me nothing about whether my eight-month-old would actually be welcome in the crèche.
I wanted one place that answered the questions that actually matter when you travel with a baby. What is the exact minimum age for supervised childcare? Is the beach genuinely safe for a toddler, or does “beach access” mean a rocky scramble? Can I push a buggy through this resort without carrying it up stairs?
So I built the index I needed. Every hotel in it has been researched the way a parent actually asks questions, not scraped, not guessed, not generated. Verified.
Our trust promise
Every kids club age, childcare quality indicator, beach reality rating, and buggy friendliness score on this site was checked by a real person.
We research hotels using a combination of direct visits, official hotel documentation, direct contact with hotel staff, and cross-referencing real parent reviews from TripAdvisor, Mumsnet, Google, and specialist family travel forums. We look for the reality behind the marketing, and we write what we find.
If something doesn’t check out, the hotel doesn’t go in the index.
Our 5-step verification process
Every hotel in the index goes through this process before it appears on the site.
Official website review
We start with the hotel's own website. We read the kids club page, the family section, pool descriptions, resort map, and any PDFs or brochures they publish. If the kids club age is buried in a FAQ or a downloadable brochure, we find it.
What we check
- Kids club operating hours and age groups
- Baby pool dimensions and heating details
- Beach access path descriptions and gradients
- Family room configurations and cot policies
- Baby equipment available (sterilisers, bottle warmers, high chairs)
Direct hotel contact
When the website is ambiguous or missing key details, we contact the hotel directly by email or phone. We ask the specific questions a parent with a baby would ask, not the questions a travel journalist would ask.
What we check
- "What is the absolute minimum age for supervised childcare?"
- "Are your baby carers qualified? What certifications do they hold?"
- "Is the staff-to-child ratio published? What is it?"
- "Is there a separate sleep or nap room for babies in the crèche?"
- "Can I bring a buggy to the beach, or are there stairs?"
Parent review cross-reference
We read parent reviews on TripAdvisor, Google, Mumsnet, and niche family travel forums. We look for the real-world experience, not the marketing version. One parent's offhand comment about carrying the buggy up three flights of stairs tells us more than the resort brochure.
What we check
- Does the kids club actually accept the ages they advertise?
- Are parents satisfied with the carers and the supervision quality?
- Is the beach genuinely suitable for toddlers, or is it rocky and steep?
- How buggy-friendly is the resort in reality, including lifts, ramps, and terrain?
- Any red flags or caveats that parents consistently mention?
Data entry and quality check
We enter every data point into the index: minimum age, amenities, childcare quality indicators, beach reality rating, buggy friendliness score, and an honest description written in plain language.
What we check
- Kids club minimum age (the single most important number)
- Three Childcare Quality Indicators: staff ratio, dedicated baby carers, sleep room
- Beach Reality rating (0-5) with a written note explaining the score
- Buggy Friendliness rating (1-5) with terrain details
- Verified Exceptional for Babies badge, only awarded to hotels that meet all criteria
Ongoing re-verification
Hotel policies change. Kids clubs get restructured, pools get renovated, new baby facilities get added. We re-verify listings periodically and whenever a parent reports a change.
What we check
- Every listing shows a "Last verified" date
- Parents can report updates directly from any hotel page
- Seasonal changes, such as clubs that only run in summer, are clearly noted
- Price and availability are never cached - "Check Prices" links go direct to current booking pages
What we measure
Every hotel in the index is rated across these five dimensions.
Kids club minimum age
The exact youngest age accepted in supervised childcare. The number one question every parent with a baby asks, and the one most hotel websites bury or omit entirely.
Childcare Quality Indicators
Three binary indicators: published staff ratios, dedicated baby carers, and sleep room availability. A hotel can have a crèche from 4 months and still score poorly here if the staffing and facilities don't hold up.
Beach Reality rating
A 0-5 score reflecting actual beach conditions for families with babies: sand quality, access path, shade, wave intensity, and how shallow the water entry is. Marketing photos show beaches at their best. We describe them as they are.
Buggy Friendliness
A 1-5 score rating how easy it is to navigate the resort with a buggy: lifts versus stairs, ramp availability, path surfaces, and distances between accommodation and facilities. Several resorts that score well on everything else score poorly here.
Verified Exceptional for Babies
A special badge for hotels that genuinely excel across all criteria. Not self-reported by the hotel, not based on marketing materials. Earned through our full verification process and only awarded to a small number of properties in the index.
What we won't do
We won't let commercial relationships influence our ratings or descriptions. Hotels are listed because they meet our verification standards, not because they paid to be here.
We don't use self-reported hotel data without independent verification. If a hotel tells us their crèche accepts from 4 months, we check it against parent reviews and direct contact before it goes in the index.
See it in action
Browse our verified hotel listings and see the data for yourself. Every detail has been checked using this methodology.
Browse HotelsBuilt by a tired mum. Verified by someone who needed this to exist.