James B. Stoney

Everywhere in The Lifestyle Edit has been visited. Not researched from a press release, not assembled from other people's reviews. If a piece describes a terrace, I sat on it. If it describes a service route crossing the lawn in front of that terrace, I watched it happen.

Claims get checked before publication. Founding dates, ownership, architects, restoration costs, who designed what and when — these are verified against primary sources where they exist, and where sources conflict, the piece says so. A recent Edit noted that two accounts of a manor house disagreed on whether it was 14th or 17th century, because they do. Several pieces have been rewritten, and at least one abandoned entirely, when the underlying facts didn't survive checking.

The interesting story is usually not the obvious one. A country house hotel's restoration budget is less interesting than the fact that postal workers bought the building in 1959 as a memorial to colleagues killed in two wars. A pizza restaurant's menu is less interesting than the horse trailer it operated out of for years beforehand. The Edits look for the thing that isn't in the brochure.

Criticism is included where it's warranted. Not everything scores highly. A hotel built around the idea of tranquillity that routes its kitchen traffic across the guest terrace gets marked down for it, and the piece explains why. A publication where everything is excellent isn't assessing anything.

Every place is scored across four axes, chosen to fit what it is. A hotel is assessed on setting, design and comfort, food and drink, and atmosphere. A workshop or maker is assessed on craft, continuity, setting and character. An agricultural show is assessed on atmosphere, sense of place, heritage and access.

The overall score is the average of the four.

What the numbers mean:

• 9.5 and above — exceptional, and rare. Reserved for places where something genuinely unusual is happening: continuity that can't be replicated, or a quality of craft or setting that has no obvious equivalent.
• 9.0 to 9.4 — excellent. The large majority of places that make it into an Edit sit here. Somewhere worth going out of your way for.
• 8.5 to 8.9 — very good, with identifiable shortcomings. The piece will say what they are.
• Below 8.5 — rarely published, because places that would score here generally don't make it into an Edit in the first place.

The scores are editorial judgments, not measurements. They exist to make the assessment explicit rather than leaving it implied.

All visits are paid for unless stated otherwise in the piece. Where a stay, meal or visit has been hosted or provided, that is disclosed within the article itself.

No place pays for coverage in The Lifestyle Edit, and no place will.