New feature: automatic review summaries

Every hostel with enough reviews in Camino Ninja now has a summary of all its pilgrim reviews. Instead of reading through dozens or hundreds of individual entries, pilgrims can see at a glance what makes a place to stay – summarised from all the reviews it has received.

The summary draws the same building blocks out of all the reviews: how many reviews were analysed, what percentage of pilgrims rate the hostel four or five stars, a short description in two or three sentences, the points pilgrims liked, the points that could be better, and practical tips from pilgrims for pilgrims. It is created by AI and recalculated once a week; a note makes this transparent on every page.

The Roncesvalles hostel at the start of the Spanish Camino Francés shows what it looks like: 118 reviews, 88 per cent of them with four or five stars. Pilgrims praise the friendly staff, the cleanliness, the meals, the beds with privacy and the laundry; they criticise the rushed service, some of the meals and the sober, almost barrack-like atmosphere. The tips: pre-order your meals on arrival, use the lockers – and don't miss the Gregorian chant.

Camino Ninja only started collecting reviews a few weeks ago – and already more than 50 new pilgrim reviews are added every day during the season. With every new review, the next summary becomes more accurate.

For pilgrims this means: choosing a hostel takes seconds instead of minutes, and the choice is based on the experience of many, not on single voices. For the hostels themselves, it becomes visible what guests value and what they would like. You can find all places to stay under .