UltimateHotels.com's guiding philosophy rests on the knowledge that today's urban explorers desire real and authentic experiences that more fully connect them with the people and places they are visiting. As we look toward the future, our commitment is to:

• Create innovative, world-class guides to help independent travelers explore and better understand the world.

• Establish a measure of success that comes not from profits but rather the positive experience a traveler has by relying on an UltimateHotels.com recommendation.

• Push ourselves to publish the most savvy, up-to-date and credible travel guides on the planet.

• Search out and celebrate unique and extraordinary travel experiences and the people and places that never settle for taking the conventional approach.

• Put forth a little good karma in the world. UltimateHotels.com donates 5% of profits to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's respected "Teachers + Schools" program.

As a company of travelers, we have gratefully relied for years upon guidebooks to help us find the best places to stay. We've discovered that in any one guidebook, there are many excellent hotel recommendations and some average ones—and occasionally, even a couple of recommendations that substantially fall short of the mark.

When developing the concept behind UltimateHotels.com, we knew we had to develop a methodology that would ensure each and every property we recommended possessed the unique character and personality that distinguished it as truly "best-of-class".

The proprietary selection methodology developed by UltimateHotels.com is now among the most rigorous in the industry. It consists of three stages:

Stage One: Advanced Statistical Modeling

To create the most comprehensive list of hotels on which to base our selection process, UltimateHotels.com statistically sampled hotel recommendations from the world's leading twenty-five travel guides to San Francisco. (See "Sources" below for complete bibliography.)

From these highly-respected guides, we entered 2,197 discrete hotel recommendations into our customized database. After eliminating duplicates, we arrived at a total of 157 hotels that were then individually sorted and stack ranked by order of recommendation frequency. For example, of the 157 San Francisco hotels identified in our sample, the highest rated hotel was recommended by 88% of the guidebooks and the lowest, by only 4%.

From this pool of 157, the least frequently recommended 57 hotels (36.3% of sample population), were eliminated from further consideration. The remaining 100 highly-rated hotels then advanced to Stage 2 of the UltimateHotels.com selection process.

Stage Two: Qualitative Evaluations

Once we narrowed the pool of hotels to 100, the real work began. Each property was carefully evaluated to determine if it met the UltimateHotels.com standard.

What were we looking for? We knew that every Stage 2 property was a high quality hotel, but was it extraordinary? Was it truly one-of-a-kind in style, personality and character? Did it make a bold design statement? If the hotel was part of a larger chain, did it distinguish itself from the rest of its peers? And finally, would the hotel lead the traveler to connect with the city and its people more fully?

Stage Three: Personal Inspections

Prior to finalizing our list of San Francisco's Top 50 Luxury and Boutique Hotels for 2007, UltimateHotels.com personally inspected the 100 highest-rated properties.

Before a property was named an "Ultimate Hotel," we needed to personally experience the hotel—its lobby, rooms, staff—and its neighborhood—sounds, smells, sights— to get a true sense of what the hotel was all about. How you, the traveler, would experience the hotel and the particular vibe of the area was critically important to us.

Only after personally inspecting every one of the excellent properties that made it to Stage 3 did we confirm the final 50. Our goal remains simple: to ensure that each and every hotel recommended by UltimateHotels.com lives up to its billing. Period.

Connect With the Most Influential Audience in San Francisco

With the Urban Market at UltimateHotels.com, you can now reach affluent travelers and sophisticated Bay Area locals through our online advertising program specifically designed to bring profitable customers to your business.

Eliminate Wasted Advertising Dollars

In print, radio and other forms of conventional advertising, your message competes with hundreds of other advertisers, all whose messages are being broadcast to thousands of people who may or may not be qualified for your business.

Eliminate wasted advertising dollars by delivering your company's message to a highly-targeted, affluent and educated audience through UltimateHotels.com.

For more information, please contact us at advertising@UltimateHotels.com. We would enjoy the opportunity to learn more about your company and how we can help you reach your business goals.

UltimateHotels.com is passionately committed to creating the world's finest guides for independent travelers. To see praise for UltimateHotels.com, please visit our Awards page.

Three years in development, UltimateHotels.com's inaugural edition is the result of thousands of hours of work by a small, dedicated team of passionate travel professionals.

We bring this guide to you in the sincere hope that it serves you well and is a trusted and valued companion on your journey.

Project Architects

Mark Blair - Web Design
Pacific Web, Cotati, CA

Jack Fisher & Donna Fisher - Graphic Design
Communication Graphics, Sebastopol, CA

The Team

Anne Goodwin - Research
Dave Buerger - Photography
Tricia Huebner - Creative Writing
Holly Pierce - Writing/Editing
Jessica Koukis - Marketing

Dawn Hollingsworth - Research
Bob Stolzman - Database
Flora Greve - Concept
Emily Ahrens - Research

Jill Tydeman - Editing

Partners

Red Bricks Media - Search Engine Optimization
San Francisco, CA

AndHow Marketing/Communications
Petaluma, CA