Where to stay, city by city

Beach resorts, downtown high-rises and old-city guesthouses — Dubai has one of the deepest hotel markets anywhere, and the price gap between areas is large.

The largest hotel market on this site. Rooms are small and prices are high, so the thing that matters most is which zone you book in.

A compact, walkable city where most hotels are small converted buildings — which makes the room description matter more than the star count.

Small rooms, high rates and a tax-and-fee structure that makes the headline price misleading — the borough you book in changes the total more than anything else.

An enormous, extremely well-connected city where the station you stay near matters more than the district, and small rooms are the norm at every price.

Not one destination but a dozen — the town you choose decides whether your trip is rice terraces, surf, cliff-top sunsets or a resort by the airport.

One of the deepest hotel markets in Europe, and a city where walking distance matters more than star rating.

A beach city and a dense old city in the same place — which side of that you book decides the trip.

A small centre, a hard cap on hotel supply, and prices that reward booking early more than almost anywhere in Europe.

Better value than most European capitals of its size, with a compact centre and a summer that empties the city and the prices with it.

Hills that decide your stay, a compact centre, and prices that have risen fast but still undercut most of western Europe.

Smaller, steeper and cheaper than Lisbon, with the river doing most of the work in deciding where to stay.

One of the best value-for-standard markets in Europe, with a historic centre small enough to cross on foot.

Grand buildings, large rooms and the best public transport of any city on this list — which makes staying central optional rather than necessary.

Cheap for a capital, spread across several centres rather than one, and a city where the district you pick changes the trip completely.

A business city first and a tourist one second, which makes its hotel prices behave differently from the rest of Italy.

The one city on this list where luggage, not price, should decide where you book.

Cheap for what you get, with a compact historic core and a hotel market shaped by people passing through to the islands.

Two cities either side of a river, excellent value, and thermal baths that are a genuine reason to check what your hotel has.

A small city with a famously extreme festival month, when hotel prices behave like nowhere else in Britain.

Enormous, split across two continents, and a city where the district you choose changes not just the trip but the crossing time.

Exceptional value at the top of the market, terrible traffic, and one rule that decides everything: stay near a train line.

Small, expensive by regional standards, and the easiest city here to get around — which makes the district you choose almost optional.

The smallest rooms of any city on this list, superb transport, and a harbour that divides the market in two.

The best value of any major Asian capital for the standard of room, in a city that is harder to walk than it looks.

A harbour city where the view is priced into the room, and the beaches are further from the centre than most visitors assume.

Not one city but a sprawl of them, where the wrong neighbourhood costs you hours in traffic rather than money.

Enormous hotels at low headline rates, and the one city here where the advertised price is routinely not the price you pay.

A beach city and a mainland business city with a bay between them, and a hurricane season that quietly halves the price.

Quieter and usually cheaper than its neighbour up the coast, with the same seasons and a more spread-out set of islands.