Every resort we feature earns one independent Palmprint: a single 0 to 10 grade, built from evidence, that you can trust the same way on every page.
What goes into it
The overall Palmprint is a blend of the things that actually shape a week away. Each dimension is scored 0 to 10 on its own, from measured sub-factors and thousands of guest voices, then rolled into the headline number. Here are the core ones:
Sand and water quality, how swimmable it is, seaweed reports, and how crowded it gets.
Variety and quality across the restaurants, à la carte access, and how well dietary needs are handled.
Warmth and responsiveness, the small touches, and whether staff make the week feel effortless.
Space, upkeep, beds and bathrooms, and what you actually see from the balcony.
How many, how they are laid out, swim-up bars, and the quiet-versus-lively balance.
What the stay really delivers for the nightly rate, not just the sticker price.
Adults-only calm, couples' touches, and how much privacy you can find.
Kids' clubs and pools, room sizes, and how easy the resort makes traveling with children.
Other dimensions, like wellness, nightlife, quiet, adventure, and accessibility, appear on a resort only where they genuinely matter. A resort is never penalized for lacking something it never set out to be.
How to read the number
The scale runs the full 0 to 10, and we hold the top of it back for resorts that truly earn it. As a rough guide:
What the Palmprint is not
No resort can buy a higher grade, a better rank, or a placement. The research pipeline does not even know which resorts pay us a commission.
Stars count amenities on paper. The Palmprint measures how the stay actually lands, from the beach to the last dinner.
We combine unique guest reviews across many sources with our own measured factors, rather than echoing one platform's star average.
Where you will see it
On browse and best-of lists, the Palmprint rides along as the round ink seal, so you can compare resorts at a glance. Open any resort and scroll to The Palmprint file to see the full breakdown: every dimension, the evidence behind each mark, the review volume, and the date it was last verified.
Want the deep version of how we gather sources, rate confidence, and re-check the data over time? That lives in our full methodology.
See a Palmprint in the wild
Browse the resorts and open one to read its full Palmprint file.