HotScore Analytics, the hospitality data and research unit of the Hotel & Tourism Investment Forum (HTIF), reports a third consecutive year of improvement in the quality of hotel services in Bulgaria, based on its proprietary HotScore™ Index — a data-driven benchmark for hotel guest satisfaction.
For the 2025 index, HotScore Analytics analyzed over 500,000 verified guest reviews from leading international platforms, covering more than 1,200 three-, four- and five-star hotels. The results show that the average HotScore™ of the TOP 100 Hotels in Bulgaria increased from 81.55 to 81.99, confirming sustained quality improvements despite growing competitive and operational pressures in the hospitality sector.
A Scalable, Independent Quality Benchmark
HotScore™ is calculated using proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence, aggregating publicly available guest reviews into a transparent, standardized and comparable quality index.
The methodology is:
- Fully independent (no jury, voting or paid participation)
- Free of charge for hotels
- Based exclusively on verified guest feedback
The project is co-financed by the European Union under the Innovation and Competitiveness Operational Programme, reinforcing its credibility as an institutional-grade measurement tool.
International Validation and Expansion
In 2025, HotScore Analytics successfully completed a pilot international study in Paris, analyzing over 800,000 guest reviews across more than 1,200 hotels in one of Europe’s most competitive hospitality markets. The project resulted in the publication of the TOP 100 Best Hotels in Paris 2025, validating the scalability and cross-market comparability of the HotScore™ methodology.
Following this pilot, HotScore Analytics is currently in active discussions with multiple Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) to deploy similar reputation-based hotel rankings and quality benchmarks in other leading European destinations.
Value for Investors and DMOs
HotScore™ provides:
- Objective, comparable performance data across destinations
- A real-time indicator of service quality and competitiveness
- A tool to support destination branding, investment analysis and policy decision-making
The TOP 100 Best Hotels in Bulgaria 2025 will be officially recognized at an awards ceremony in January 2026, further strengthening the visibility and market adoption of the index, with a selection of the ranked hotels to be published on January 23, 2026 on BestHotels.bg.
