How we select venues
Cairns has a high proportion of venues serving visitors who come once, which makes review volume an unreliable signal — a tour-bus restaurant can out-review a genuinely good local one many times over. We weight for evidence a place holds up with residents, and judge Port Douglas, Palm Cove and Kuranda on their own terms rather than against the city.
What the Spot Score is
The Spot Score is our own independent rating of a venue, from 0 to 100, with a plain-English label (such as “Exceptional” or “Worth a Look”). It blends several signals: the venue's reputation, its popularity, the quality and completeness of information available about it, how well it fits its category, and how fresh that information is.
What the Spot Score is NOT
- It is not for sale. No venue can pay to raise its Spot Score or its ranking. Ever.
- It is not a Google rating. It's distinct from any star rating you'll see elsewhere — it's our methodology, applied consistently.
- It is not a guarantee. It's an informed editorial opinion to help you decide, not a promise about your visit.
No pay-for-ranking
Nothing on Cairns Spots is for sale. Sponsorship funds the site and is separated completely from ranking and Spot Scores. Paid placements are labelled Sponsored every time.
Independence & sponsored content
Where content is paid for — a sponsored listing, a featured placement or a newsletter sponsorship — it is always clearly labelled as such, so you can tell the difference between our independent recommendations and a commercial placement. See our advertising options for how this works.
Corrections
We get things wrong sometimes, and we want to fix them fast. If a venue has closed, moved, changed, or if we've published an inaccuracy, tell us via our contact form and we'll review and update it promptly. Venue owners are welcome to request corrections too.
A note on how we research
We use modern tools, including AI assistance, to research efficiently — but we don't invent facts: checkable details are published only with a source, and drafts are checked against that source material before publishing. We do not claim visits or owner confirmations we have not made. For the full detail, read how we create content.