Editorial Standards

These standards apply to everything We Are Guests publishes — first-hand reviews and guides written by us, and travel news produced with newsroom automation under our oversight. They are our commitment to accuracy, fairness, and honest travel advice.

Last updated 17 May 2026

Introduction

These editorial standards apply to all content published by We Are Guests, whether it is a first-hand review written by us or a news article produced with our newsroom automation under human oversight. They represent our commitment to accuracy, fairness, and genuinely useful travel advice.

Everyone involved in We Are Guests content shares responsibility for upholding these standards.

Accuracy Requirements

Factual precision

All content must be factually accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.

We verify:

  • Names and spellings of hotels, resorts, ships, parks, and restaurants against official sources
  • Dates, opening times, park and attraction hours, and seasonal closures
  • Prices, fees, and what an advertised price does and does not include
  • Room types, cabin categories, board basis, and ticket inclusions
  • Cruise itineraries, ports of call, and sailing dates
  • Quotes — reproduced exactly, never paraphrased inside quotation marks

When facts are uncertain:

  • We indicate the nature and degree of uncertainty
  • We attribute uncertain information to its source
  • We avoid presenting speculation as fact
  • We update when better information becomes available

Prices and offers

Travel prices change constantly. We Are Guests treats them with particular care: prices and deals are dated, the basis is stated (per person, per night, per room, and so on), and readers are reminded that an advertised price is indicative and should be confirmed at the point of booking.

Quote handling

  • Direct quotes reproduce the source wording exactly and are clearly attributed
  • We never invent, composite, or reconstruct quotes
  • Paraphrase is preferred over long block quotes, and is not placed inside quotation marks

Attribution and Sourcing

Every news article:

  • Identifies the original source of the news where applicable
  • Links to that source — an operator announcement, official park or cruise-line information, or the outlet that first reported it
  • Makes clear what is first-hand and what is drawn from elsewhere

When several outlets report the same story, we credit the one that broke it and link to the original reporting over later coverage. We add value through context and verification — never by copying.

Fairness and Honest Reviewing

Honest reviews

A We Are Guests review:

  • Reports the experience as it actually was — the disappointing parts included
  • Gives the context a reader needs to decide if a place suits their family
  • Separates what we experienced first-hand from what we researched
  • Is never improved by payment, a hosted stay, or affiliate commission

Right of reply

Where coverage is critical of an operator or business, we give them a fair opportunity to respond when possible, include substantive responses, and note a refusal to comment where it is relevant.

Avoiding misleading presentations

Content must not:

  • Omit context that would change a reader's decision
  • Emphasise trivial details over the things that matter for a trip
  • Use selective quotation to misrepresent a position
  • Imply a conclusion the facts do not support

Language and Tone

We Are Guests writes in clear, warm, practical language:

  • Accessible writing aimed at families planning real trips
  • Jargon explained or avoided
  • A neutral tone in straight news coverage
  • Respectful reference to everyone we write about

We avoid sensationalism, snark in news reporting, and any discriminatory or dehumanising language.

Headlines and Presentation

Headlines

Headlines must accurately reflect the article, avoid clickbait and overstatement, carry appropriate qualifiers, and never imply certainty where uncertainty exists.

Images

  • Our reviews use our own photography wherever possible
  • Photos are not edited to misrepresent a place — basic cropping and lighting only
  • Supplied or stock images are used appropriately and not passed off as our own
  • Any AI-generated illustration is clearly labelled as such

Content Types

We Are Guests publishes distinct kinds of content, and we keep them distinct:

  • Reviews — our verdict on a hotel, resort, restaurant, attraction, or cruise, badged We Stayed for first-hand visits or Researched where we have not visited in person.
  • Guides and comparisons — practical planning content written by us.
  • News — factual travel developments, produced with newsroom automation under human oversight and carrying the We Are Guests Newsroom byline.
  • Opinion — clearly labelled, attributed to a named author, and kept separate from straight news.

Automation-Assisted Content Standards

News produced with our newsroom automation is held to every standard on this page. The byline does not lower the bar.

  • Clearly attributed to the We Are Guests Newsroom byline
  • Checked against its source material before publication
  • Subject to human editorial oversight throughout

We acknowledge the limits: automation can introduce errors, which the quality-control stage exists to catch; it cannot replace human judgement on what matters; and human accountability for it sits with the founders. The full detail is on the Technology & AI Policy page.

Updates and Corrections

Updates add new information to a developing story or refresh details such as prices, with a timestamp. Corrections fix errors in published content. The two are handled distinctly. The full error-handling process and the corrections log are on the corrections page.

Editorial Independence and Conflicts

We Are Guests keeps a strict separation between editorial decisions and commercial considerations. Advertising and affiliate relationships do not influence coverage, scores, or rankings. Within the team we disclose any relationship that could create bias — including hosted or discounted stays, press trips, and personal or family connections to a business we cover. The full conflict-of-interest picture, including how affiliate revenue is handled, is on the Trust page.

Enforcement and Accountability

The founders are responsible for maintaining these standards, reviewing content against them, and addressing failures. When a standard is missed:

  • The severity of the error is assessed
  • A correction is published under the corrections policy
  • The cause is examined, and where it is systemic the automation pipeline is adjusted rather than the article patched in isolation

Readers help maintain these standards by reporting errors, questioning accuracy or fairness, and holding us accountable.

Contact

Questions about these standards, or concerns about content that falls short of them, can be sent to editorial@weareguests.net. To report a specific error, see the corrections page.

These Editorial Standards are part of our wider policy framework. See also: Authenticity, Trust, Technology & AI Policy, and Corrections.