The Certificate of Excellence considers the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travelers from around the globe on TripAdvisor. In addition to positive online guest reviews, hotels must have maintained an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have had a minimum number of reviews, and have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Those hotels that earned the Certificate of Excellence for 5 years in row are recognized by TripAdvisor as Hall of Fame members.