How ranking works
RankStay is a paid ranking. A hotel's position is decided by one thing: the total amount it has paid us. It is not based on guest reviews, star ratings, inspections or our opinion of quality. Every position on the boards is effectively an advertisement, and every outbound link is marked rel="sponsored".
Where you rank
One payment ranks you everywhere it counts. The same total is compared against a different set of hotels depending on which board you are looking at:
- National — every hotel in India, on the home page. The biggest board and the hardest #1.
- City — hotels in your city, for example
/mumbaior/goa. - Area — hotels in your locality, for example
/mumbai/bandra.
A quiet city is the cheapest #1 on the site: the same ₹499 that leaves you unranked nationally can top a city board outright.
The two time windows
- Today — payments since midnight India time (IST). It resets every night.
- All-time — everything a hotel has ever paid.
Rank is your total on that board, highest first. Boards update within about a minute of a payment.
Minimum bid and overtaking
| Board | Minimum bid | To beat a listing |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels | ₹499 | Total at least ₹100 more than theirs |
| Platforms (separate board) | ₹1,999 | Total at least ₹200 more than theirs |
Example: if the hotel at #1 has paid ₹5,000, a hotel at #2 with ₹4,800 needs a total of at least ₹5,100 to take #1 — it must add ₹300.
A single claim is capped at ₹9,99,999. You can raise again later as often as you like — the cap applies per payment, not to your running total.
Ties
If two listings have exactly the same total, the one whose last payment was earlier ranks higher. Paying later never leapfrogs an equal total.
Unranked hotels
Hotels that have paid nothing on a board are still listed, below all ranked hotels, marked “Also in <area>”. They are in alphabetical order, with no rank number.
Platforms
Booking platforms and OTAs compete on their own board, separate from hotels, with higher minimums.
What you can see publicly
- Total paid for each ranked listing.
- Each hotel's rank history on its profile page.
- How many devices tapped WhatsApp, Call, Map, website or offer-code buttons over the last 7 days (one count per device per day).