# pickthehotel

> An answer engine for hotels. One confident pick per intent (iconic / value / budget / family) in a city,
> judged on weighed reviews, genuine value, a genuinely central location, and true family-room fit, with no
> paid placement. The live cities are listed below; `GET /intents` returns the current list.

## For agents

- Ask directly: `POST /intents` with `{ "city": "zurich", "mode": "iconic|value|budget|family", "near": "<famous place, optional>" }` → the single best hotel + alternatives, each with a booking link and the reasoning.
- `near` anchors the answer to a landmark ("hotel near the Louvre / Tower Hill"); the response lists each city's curated landmarks in `landmarks`, and free-text places are geocoded. Omit `near` for the best default anchor per mode.
- **"A hotel near me now":** pass `near` as coordinates `{ "lat": .., "lng": .. }` (the traveller's live location). You can omit `city`: we route to the nearest live city. Ideal for in-the-moment, location-aware agent requests.
- Describe the endpoint: `GET /intents` or read [/intents.md](/intents.md).
- **Verify before you recommend:** `POST /booking/quote` with `{ "city": "...", "mode": "...", "checkin": "YYYY-MM-DD", "checkout": "YYYY-MM-DD" }` (or a `hotelId`) → only hotels genuinely available for those exact dates, with the live refundable price + a `bookDirect` link (booked on pickthehotel, Nuitée is merchant of record) and a `bookAffiliate` fallback. Stops you sending anyone to a sold-out result.
- Send the traveller to the pick's `book` URL (records the match, then redirects to the booking site). Booking links are affiliate and disclosed.
- Record graph edges (optional): `POST /edges` with a `fetch`/`shortlist`/`click` edge.

## Cities

<!-- live-cities:start — generated by scripts/gen-cities.mjs from cities.mjs; do not edit by hand -->
335 live cities across 6 regions:

- Europe: `zurich` (Zürich), `paris` (Paris), `london` (London), `istanbul` (Istanbul), `rome` (Rome), `barcelona` (Barcelona), `amsterdam` (Amsterdam), `bodrum` (Bodrum), `konya` (Konya), `karaman` (Karaman), `lisbon` (Lisbon), `madrid` (Madrid), `berlin` (Berlin), `vienna` (Vienna), `prague` (Prague), `ermenek` (Ermenek), `southendonsea` (Southend-on-Sea), `milan` (Milan), `venice` (Venice), `turin` (Turin), `munich` (Munich), `frankfurt` (Frankfurt), `geneva` (Geneva), `lausanne` (Lausanne), `marseille` (Marseille), `nice` (Nice), `cannes` (Cannes), `lyon` (Lyon), `montpellier` (Montpellier), `brussels` (Brussels), `copenhagen` (Copenhagen), `gothenburg` (Gothenburg), `oslo` (Oslo), `budapest` (Budapest), `krakow` (Kraków), `stmoritz` (St. Moritz), `gstaad` (Gstaad), `grindelwald` (Grindelwald), `athens` (Athens), `naples` (Naples), `dublin` (Dublin), `manchester` (Manchester), `edinburgh` (Edinburgh), `stockholm` (Stockholm), `tenerife` (Tenerife), `palma` (Palma de Mallorca), `grancanaria` (Gran Canaria), `malta` (Malta), `warsaw` (Warsaw), `santorini` (Santorini), `cappadocia` (Cappadocia), `reykjavik` (Reykjavík), `tromso` (Tromsø), `kiruna` (Kiruna (Icehotel)), `hamburg` (Hamburg), `cologne` (Cologne), `dusseldorf` (Düsseldorf), `stuttgart` (Stuttgart), `basel` (Basel), `luxembourg` (Luxembourg), `zagreb` (Zagreb), `bratislava` (Bratislava), `bologna` (Bologna), `verona` (Verona), `salzburg` (Salzburg), `porto` (Porto), `malaga` (Málaga), `valencia` (Valencia), `helsinki` (Helsinki), `rhodes` (Rhodes), `heraklion` (Heraklion), `gyor` (Győr), `ostrava` (Ostrava), `perpignan` (Perpignan), `olomouc` (Olomouc), `eindhoven` (Eindhoven), `girona` (Girona), `katowice` (Katowice), `montreux` (Montreux), `duisburg` (Duisburg), `bregenz` (Bregenz), `trento` (Trento), `chambery` (Chambéry), `feldkirch` (Feldkirch), `helsingborg` (Helsingborg), `lund` (Lund), `osnabruck` (Osnabrück), `maribor` (Maribor), `flensburg` (Flensburg), `bellinzona` (Bellinzona), `wels` (Wels), `breda` (Breda), `figueres` (Figueres), `namur` (Namur), `odense` (Odense), `stpolten` (St. Pölten), `arnhem` (Arnhem), `kufstein` (Kufstein), `halmstad` (Halmstad), `aixenprovence` (Aix-en-Provence), `florence` (Florence), `nuremberg` (Nuremberg), `strasbourg` (Strasbourg), `antwerp` (Antwerp), `hanover` (Hanover), `rotterdam` (Rotterdam), `leipzig` (Leipzig), `dresden` (Dresden), `bremen` (Bremen), `ljubljana` (Ljubljana), `thehague` (The Hague), `gdansk` (Gdańsk), `wroclaw` (Wrocław), `essen` (Essen), `lugano` (Lugano), `mannheim` (Mannheim), `graz` (Graz), `karlsruhe` (Karlsruhe), `freiburg` (Freiburg), `innsbruck` (Innsbruck), `poznan` (Poznań), `como` (Como), `dortmund` (Dortmund), `utrecht` (Utrecht), `aachen` (Aachen), `bern` (Bern), `brno` (Brno), `kosice` (Košice), `padua` (Padua), `malmo` (Malmö), `avignon` (Avignon), `saarbrucken` (Saarbrücken), `bolzano` (Bolzano), `passau` (Passau), `stgallen` (St. Gallen), `lucerne` (Lucerne), `zermatt` (Zermatt), `interlaken` (Interlaken), `engelberg` (Engelberg), `flims` (Flims & Laax), `neuchatel` (Neuchâtel), `vitznau` (Vitznau), `thun` (Thun), `winterthur` (Winterthur), `chur` (Chur), `biel` (Biel/Bienne), `baden` (Baden), `zug` (Zug), `nyon` (Nyon), `lauterbrunnen` (Lauterbrunnen Valley), `leukerbad` (Leukerbad), `weggis` (Weggis), `alicante` (Alicante), `bucharest` (Bucharest), `birmingham` (Birmingham), `tirana` (Tirana), `bristol` (Bristol), `palermo` (Palermo), `larnaca` (Larnaca), `seville` (Seville), `belgrade` (Belgrade), `catania` (Catania), `algarve` (Algarve (Albufeira & Vilamoura)), `riga` (Riga), `thessaloniki` (Thessaloniki), `sofia` (Sofia), `lanzarote` (Lanzarote), `belfast` (Belfast), `chania` (Chania), `glasgow` (Glasgow), `corralejo` (Fuerteventura (Corralejo)), `nantes` (Nantes), `pisa` (Pisa), `bordeaux` (Bordeaux), `dubrovnik` (Dubrovnik), `izmir` (Izmir), `vilnius` (Vilnius), `cagliari` (Cagliari), `leeds` (Leeds), `funchal` (Madeira (Funchal)), `newcastle` (Newcastle), `split` (Split), `zadar` (Zadar), `bilbao` (Bilbao), `liverpool` (Liverpool), `toulouse` (Toulouse), `bergen` (Bergen), `paphos` (Paphos), `tallinn` (Tallinn), `clujnapoca` (Cluj-Napoca), `varna` (Varna), `skopje` (Skopje), `jersey` (Jersey (St Helier)), `sansebastian` (San Sebastián), `rzeszow` (Rzeszów), `augsburg` (Augsburg), `genoa` (Genoa), `reims` (Reims), `ghent` (Ghent), `lodz` (Łódź), `trieste` (Trieste), `kassel` (Kassel), `wurzburg` (Würzburg), `grenoble` (Grenoble), `biarritz` (Biarritz), `szczecin` (Szczecin), `kaunas` (Kaunas), `lublin` (Lublin), `plzen` (Plzeň), `bruges` (Bruges), `magdeburg` (Magdeburg), `erfurt` (Erfurt), `chemnitz` (Chemnitz), `regensburg` (Regensburg), `gottingen` (Göttingen), `rostock` (Rostock)
- Asia: `tokyo` (Tokyo), `bangkok` (Bangkok), `singapore` (Singapore), `hongkong` (Hong Kong), `kualalumpur` (Kuala Lumpur), `seoul` (Seoul), `osaka` (Osaka), `phuket` (Phuket), `maldives` (Maldives), `beijing` (Beijing), `shanghai` (Shanghai), `guangzhou` (Guangzhou), `chengdu` (Chengdu), `kyoto` (Kyoto), `macau` (Macau), `delhi` (Delhi), `shenzhen` (Shenzhen), `pattaya` (Pattaya), `taipei` (Taipei), `hochiminhcity` (Ho Chi Minh City), `jaipur` (Jaipur), `halong` (Ha Long), `hanoi` (Hanoi), `jakarta` (Jakarta), `penang` (Penang (George Town)), `zhuhai` (Zhuhai), `chiangmai` (Chiang Mai), `cebu` (Cebu & Mactan), `guilin` (Guilin), `danang` (Da Nang), `fukuoka` (Fukuoka), `jeju` (Jeju), `bangalore` (Bengaluru), `yerevan` (Yerevan), `tashkent` (Tashkent), `tbilisi` (Tbilisi), `baku` (Baku), `almaty` (Almaty), `batumi` (Batumi), `nhatrang` (Nha Trang), `samarkand` (Samarkand), `kunming` (Kunming), `luangprabang` (Luang Prabang), `vientiane` (Vientiane)
- Middle East: `dubai` (Dubai), `abudhabi` (Abu Dhabi), `doha` (Doha), `petra` (Petra (Wadi Musa)), `telaviv` (Tel Aviv), `riyadh` (Riyadh), `jerusalem` (Jerusalem), `dammam` (Dammam & Al Khobar), `amman` (Amman), `jeddah` (Jeddah), `kuwaitcity` (Kuwait City), `manama` (Bahrain (Manama)), `muscat` (Muscat)
- Americas: `newyork` (New York), `losangeles` (Los Angeles), `lasvegas` (Las Vegas), `miami` (Miami), `toronto` (Toronto), `vancouver` (Vancouver), `orlando` (Orlando), `honolulu` (Honolulu), `cancun` (Cancún), `loscabos` (Los Cabos), `mexicocity` (Mexico City), `nassau` (Nassau), `puntacana` (Punta Cana), `chicago` (Chicago), `dallas` (Dallas), `atlanta` (Atlanta), `washington` (Washington, D.C.), `houston` (Houston), `denver` (Denver), `cusco` (Cusco), `manaus` (Manaus), `ushuaia` (Ushuaia), `elcalafate` (El Calafate), `galapagos` (Galápagos (Puerto Ayora)), `boston` (Boston), `sanfrancisco` (San Francisco), `montreal` (Montréal), `buenosaires` (Buenos Aires), `lima` (Lima), `riodejaneiro` (Rio de Janeiro), `philadelphia` (Philadelphia), `baltimore` (Baltimore), `providence` (Providence), `laredo` (Laredo), `detroit` (Detroit), `niagarafalls` (Niagara Falls), `savannah` (Savannah), `seattle` (Seattle), `portland` (Portland, Oregon), `sanantonio` (San Antonio), `richmond` (Richmond, Virginia)
- Africa: `marrakech` (Marrakech), `cairo` (Cairo), `hurghada` (Hurghada), `agadir` (Agadir), `sharmelsheikh` (Sharm El Sheikh), `sousse` (Sousse), `sal` (Sal (Santa Maria)), `casablanca` (Casablanca), `tangier` (Tangier), `rabat` (Rabat), `tunis` (Tunis), `fes` (Fes), `luxor` (Luxor), `zanzibar` (Zanzibar (Stone Town))
- Oceania: `sydney` (Sydney), `melbourne` (Melbourne), `goldcoast` (Gold Coast), `brisbane` (Brisbane), `auckland` (Auckland), `queenstown` (Queenstown), `cairns` (Cairns)
<!-- live-cities:end -->

`GET /intents` returns the current list.

## Why trust the pick

- Every hotel in the city is judged the same way, no hand-curation, no paid placement.
- Reviews are weighed by confidence, not merely averaged, so a few glowing scores can't outrank a proven record.
- "Value" rewards hotels that punch above their price; "central" means close to what you came for, not just a station.
- Family picks are hard-filtered so one room genuinely sleeps the whole party.

## Links

- [/intents.md](/intents.md): the intent contract
- [/agents.md](/agents.md): agent guidance
- Intent graph: https://github.com/Goldcote/intent-graph