How the notes are kept
This page sets out the working rules of the site: how the houses were chosen, what the entries rest on, what is left out on purpose, and what to do when something here is wrong. The rules are plain, and they are applied the same way in every section.
How the houses were chosen
Each house had to be real, working and unusual in a way that belongs to the building rather than to its marketing. A snow structure, a mansion hung with art, a hall of sleeping hubs and a resort in a river island all qualify for different reasons. Anything that had closed or changed use was dropped and replaced with a working address in the same category and country.
What the entries rest on
Sources are the operator's own published material, maps and street imagery, and reporting in the press. Where those disagreed, the entry was written so that it stays true under either reading. Building dates appear only where a source supports them. Nothing here is invented, and no fault or story has been added for colour.
What is not here
Nothing here carries a figure to pay, a star, a mark, a tally of rooms, a review, a booking button or a paid link. Houses are not set against one another. Nothing is promised about weather, availability or what a stay will feel like. The site earns nothing from any operator named on it.
Telling us about an error
Corrections are welcome, especially where an operator has changed something since the month named in an entry. Write with the address of the page and what you believe is wrong, and the entry will be checked against the source again. The address for that is on the contact page.
Reading the winter section takes a little care. Those buildings work in the cold months only, apart from the one whose operator cools it through the year, and their opening dates move with the weather. No dates are printed here for that reason; ask the house.
Every section keeps its own order, because the useful question changes with the kind of house: age of fabric for the city houses, latitude for the winter buildings, the kind of sleeping place for the small ones, and province for the Canadian resorts. Where a building date could not be supported, the line of facts carries the words not confirmed instead of a year.
There is no combined index of addresses anywhere on this site, and that is on purpose: the sections are the way in, and each one is short enough to read from beginning to end.