This page contains the editorial process and publishing principles of the HotSprings.co travel blog (HotSprings). Our mission is to be your go-to guide for all your travel & adventure needs, and here’s how we aim to achieve that mission.
We have a strict editorial policy we follow that ensures our content is not only helpful and entertaining but also accurate and factually correct. The editorial process was developed by the founder of HotSprings and it plays a large part in how operations are managed and decisions are made.
Editorial Values & Guidelines of HotSprings
HotSprings writes for you, the reader. We ensure all of our content passes the “Would you recommend this to your best friend test.” This means that we only publish thoroughly fact-checked and accurate travel guides that we’d be happy to share with our own best friends.
Any content that doesn’t pass this test is re-researched, rewritten, and edited multiple times to ensure our guides are the very best they can be.
We are aware that not every traveler has the same needs or desires, budget or experience, therefore as our travel guides make various suggestions to help you make the most of your travels, we follow 4 pillars that act as our editorial guidelines:
The 4 Pillars of our Editorial Guidelines are:
1. Content Quality and Accuracy – Make the content as useful & accurate as possible
2. Locals Writers & Experts – Our local writers live in or grew up in the area they cover, which gives them the ability to pass on that firsthand knowledge to you. As a result, you get to know an area from a locals perspective, the kind of insider knowledge you can’t typically get from other travel guides. Our expert writers have significant knowledge of an area having visited the location during their own travels or having lived in the area for some time.
3. No Pen Names or AI Content – All writers write under their own names and are accountable for the information contained in each guide and piece of content they create. Furthermore, we use 100% human-generated and edited content. We publish ZERO AI-generated content on HotSprings.
4. Content Freshness – We ensure that our content is regularly monitored and updated to maintain its quality.
By following these guidelines we are able to provide more in-depth information than would otherwise be provided by a generic travel writer.
Our writers as so passionate about travel and sharing their knowledge and experiences through the written word and they are committed to the above policies.
Fact-Checking & Accuracy
Back when our founder Lewis Ogden worked in the corporate world, one of his roles was that of a business analyst on what was known as ‘SCOBP‘ or the Steering Committee On Business Policy (I know exciting right!).
At its core, this role gave his first-hand experience in fact-checking company documentation to ensure compliance with business and industry policies. So you might say that fact-checking is in our blood!
All of the content on this website is extensively checked and reviewed before publishing. We fact-check our content and always strive to link to external citations and evidence within our content to provide the reader with the ability to check the information for themselves.
We have a rigorous multi-step fact-checking and verification process in order to correct any mistakes or inaccuracies. Facts are cross-checked against various online resources including government websites, independent media sources, business websites, social channels, and trusted 3rd party sources.
Whilst we strive to make our content and guides perfect, we do make mistakes from time to time and are quick to correct errors when they are found.
Updating Content
One of our biggest challenges is ensuring that our travel guides are kept up-to-date. As you can appreciate, businesses may close, attractions may change their policies, ticket prices, and opening hours, and customer experience or product quality could take a dip over time.
So in order to provide you with the best user experience possible, we are strategic about the articles and guides we allow on our website and constantly review, update, and improve them on a regular (often monthly) basis.
This includes the periodic vetting of product brands, suggested attractions, restaurants, hotels, hostels, and service providers.
Product Reviews & Vetting
HotSprings operates with editorial independence. We are free from external influence and do not accept payment or incentives in exchange for positive reviews or promotions. Our opinions are solely based on our writers’ personal experiences and research.
Occasionally we publish articles that review or rank products, such as travel luggage, accommodation, tours & travel services. All products/services we review and recommend are thoroughly vetted by our review team.
Any products/services we do feature come from reputable brands that have been vetted against user reviews before we decide to proceed with a review article.
HotSprings only reviews products that our team has actually touched and used. Where possible we seek to “show our work” by sharing exactly how a product was tested, including original photos and videos wherever practical.
In most cases, in the instance of physical products, we purchase review samples with our own funds or use products our team of expert writers already own. Occasionally, we will accept review samples from brands which will be disclosed at the top of the review page.
For more information on our advertising & affiliate policy, please click here.
Corrections & Feedback
At HotSprings we strive for accuracy and transparency in all of our content.
If you’ve noticed something that requires a correction, please contact us at info@hotsprings.co and include the URL of the page and indicate the specific part of the page, as well as any evidence you can provide in support of the proposed correction.
Once we receive your correction request, we will investigate the issue and take appropriate action. This may include correcting the error, updating the content, or adding a correction note to the article.
Please note that often our articles include both factual assertions and editorial opinions and that changes to the latter are at the sole discretion of the writer.
So that we can serve you better, we welcome all feedback, so please do let us know if you have any questions, or comments or find any content in need of correction. You can visit our Contact Page or email us at info@hotsprings.co
Thank you for your support.