bybookmark · reading comfort certification
BYBOOKMARK certifies how well a hotel, a room or a chair lets you read.
Hotels are rated for almost everything. No one rates them for reading. BYBOOKMARK asks one question: can I read here, comfortably and undisturbed, for two hours?
Hotel Certification · five marks, one question
Can you read here?
Every hotel in the register carries one of five marks. The first is a promise, the second a measurement, the last three are a selector's hour of reading. Readers notice a place, BYBOOKMARK checks it, BYBOOKMARK rates it. The further right, the more books to pack.
BYBOOKMARK flow
Stars in Sight → Verified → CertifiedReaders notice it. BYBOOKMARK checks it. BYBOOKMARK rates it.
The reader's path
Worth a look → Reading welcome → Bring a book → Bring a few books → Bring a suitcase of booksThe further right, the more books to pack.
bybookmark institute
We keep the culture of reading at home in the places where people rest.
measures what a photograph cannot show: support for the body, light to read by, quiet, and the comfort of one well-resolved square metre. It awards its mark to the hotels and products that achieve this, and gives readers the certainty that they will be able to read in comfort.
Reading is one of the oldest comforts we have, and one of the easiest to lose. Hotels think of nearly everything: the pillow menu, the spa, the view from the bath. Rarely of the reader. Yet a good chair, a warm lamp and an hour of quiet are what turn a stay into a memory and a guest into a reader again.
BYBOOKMARK INSTITUTE exists to preserve that hour. We hold the standard for the conditions that make reading possible, we certify the hotels and the pieces that meet it, and we show those that do not yet meet it how to get there. Every certificate is a small promise that reading culture still has a place to live.
We do not reward the most photographed corner. We reward the one where an hour passes without anyone noticing.
Neck, shoulders, elbows, the small of the back. The body tells the truth about a chair long before the eye has finished admiring it.
Every number is confirmed the only way that matters: someone sits down with a book and stays for sixty minutes.
A level is a step, not a sentence. We show every hotel the next one, and we are glad when it takes it.
The certificate cannot be bought. Selectors pay for their own night, and nobody knows they were there.
Hotels and makers carry the mark. Readers are the reason it exists: the certainty of a comfortable hour, wherever they travel.
What we measure
Six pillars, one hundred points.
We do not count books on shelves. We ask one question: can I read here, comfortably, for two hours?
The certificate cannot be bought. The procedure is paid by every hotel, in advance, at the same price, whatever the outcome.
BYBOOKMARK INSTITUTE decides. Nobody else.
For hotels
Three ways in.
Register for Stars in Sight, free of charge, and we assess your corners from photographs. Measure your own corners for Verified; we check. Enter for Certified and a selector arrives on an announced date, measures every declared corner and reads there for an hour. One, Two or Three Bookmarks.
Start with Stars in Sight · freeFor makers
Product Certification.
Your piece has already passed the test of the eye. The comfort test is the crown: a licence to read, for the life of the model, and a promise your buyers can sit in. A Collection for the whole reading nook; an Armchair, a Lamp or an Ottoman for each piece.
Enter a model · from 160 €For destinations, chains and collections: the BYBOOKMARK Corporate Programme. The client buys the scope, never the outcome.
For readers
Where to read. What to read on.
The guide to places worth reading in. The Magazine, the reading destinations region by region, the collection of pieces for a corner at home and your bookmarks live on our sister site. We read hotels differently. By the book, with readers in mind.
withreadersinmind.comThe public register
Every mark leads here.
Each certificate carries its level, its year and the version of the standard it was assessed under. Look a hotel up, see where it lies on the map, and read what the selector found.
Open the registerbybookmark · the reading standard · v1.1
The standard.
Measured in millimetres, lux and decibels. Confirmed by sixty minutes of reading. One standard in four forms: S1 internal, S2 for screening, S3 public, S4 for the hotel.
Weights
Body 35, environment 55, detail 10.
Weights are not taste. They follow where discomfort starts: in the body, then in the room, then in the detail. Below, what each pillar means for the reader when it is met in full, at one hundred per cent.
Thresholds
What Verified requires, by pillar.
| Pillar | Verified threshold | How you measure |
|---|---|---|
| Seat | Armrests yes; 180–240 mm above the compressed seat; back angle 100–110° (with headrest up to 125°); seat 380–430 mm; foot support; ≥ 2 cushions; a throw | Tape, a hardback, a phone as inclinometer; photographs |
| Light | Task lamp with a closed shade; 300–500 lx on the page; CRI ≥ 90; 2700–3000 K | Phone or lux meter; K and CRI from the bulb; night photo |
| Quiet | ≤ 35 dB(A) in the primary corner (knock-out); speakers do not cover all outdoor zones | Phone app, 10 minutes, screenshot |
| Side surface | Table ≥ 0.09 m²; armrest height ± 5 cm; reach 25–45 cm; no wobble | Tape; photo with book, glasses, glass |
| Placement | Not on the door–bathroom–bed path; at least one public or outdoor reading place | Yes / no; photos of outdoor zones at 11 am and 4 pm |
| Service | Read-Ready Room on request; list of reading places; “do not disturb” in the SOP | Yes / no; attachments |
Certified · Bookmark thresholds
Sixty. Seventy-five. Ninety.
Awarded only by a visit: announced, never staged. The body is assessed, not taste: neck, shoulders, elbows, lower back, knees; the time of the first involuntary shift. An interrupted test means no Bookmark.
| Pillar | One Bookmark · ≥ 60 | Two Bookmarks · ≥ 75 | Three Bookmarks · ≥ 90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat | Corner in ≥ 1 room category; test without discomfort | Corners in most categories; head support in some | A corner in every room; head support |
| Quiet | ≤ 35 dB(A) primary corner; music outdoors ≤ 45 | ≤ 35 dB(A) all indoor corners; ≤ 40 outdoors; Quiet ≥ 11 of 15 | ≤ 30 dB(A); speakers do not cover reading zones; a quiet hour |
| Light | 300–500 lx; CRI ≥ 90; dimming | The same, in all corners | Up to 750–1000 lx available; Light ≥ 16 of 20 |
| Placement | One quiet public place | Outdoor corners in real shade; a library | Zones for morning, afternoon, evening |
| Service | “Do not disturb” respected; Read-Ready on request | Without exception; silent service; list of reading places; Read-Ready at booking | Contractual quiet; a book concierge (a person); Read-Ready by default; a Readaway programme |
The test
Sixty minutes, one book.
Own booking, own money, no announcement. The hotel learns of the visit from the report.
Digital inclinometer, lux meter, class 2 sound level meter (ten minutes, twice: at the peak and in the evening), anemometer outdoors.
Sixty minutes with the standardised test book in every corner declared primary, and in at least one outdoor corner.
0–100 as the sum of corners: how many room categories have one, how many zones for morning, afternoon, evening. Thresholds 60 / 75 / 90.
The board of BYBOOKMARK INSTITUTE decides on the report. The selector's name appears nowhere.
bybookmark · five levels for hotels · a licence for every piece
Levels.
A hotel does not become a reading destination overnight. It grows into one: a chair moved to the window, a lamp brought closer to the page, a speaker in the garden switched off for the afternoon.
Through these levels we notice hotels with promise, recognise those that have arrived, and reward those that have made reading part of who they are. And at every step we show them the next one, so that they keep growing, room by room, with readers in mind.
For hotels
Hotel Certification
Price list 2027 · hotels · excl. VAT
Procedure in advance. Annual fee voluntary.
A certificate cannot be bought: the procedure is paid in advance, the same for everyone, independent of the outcome. The annual fee is voluntary: without it the certificate is valid and may be quoted in words, without the logo. The kit is sold at production cost plus 30 % and logistics, only with the fee. Price list of 31 October 2026.
| Stars in Sight | Verified | Certified · One · Two · Three Bookmarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procedure | Registration and screening free of charge | Application 460 € | Entry 950 € + 45 € per unit; processing 3,500 € after the visit |
| Annual fee | 800 € | 1,800 € | 4,800 €, two-year subscription |
| Validity | 12 months | 12 months | 24 months |
| What the guest sees | Worth a look. | Reading welcome. | Bring a book. · Bring a few books. · Bring a suitcase of books. |
| If not yet | A short note; reapply free after 6 months | Two months to correct and re-submit | Report with every value; Verified if its criteria were met |
For makers
Product Certification
Collection · and every piece on its own
A Collection for the whole nook. A licence for every piece.
A Collection is a reading nook certified as a whole: chair, foot support, lamp, side table and textiles, arranged to the standard. Each piece can also be certified on its own, under its own name and code. A photograph and a drawing can exclude a product. Only a person who has read in it for sixty minutes can award it.
| Procedure · one model | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Maker registration | 160 € | once |
| Model entry and test | 950 € | at entry, whatever the outcome |
| Showroom test (instead of shipping) | + 3,500 € | at entry |
| Licence A / B / C | 7,300 / 2,900 / 1,500 € | after the decision, once |
| Retest (change of model, batch control) | 475 € | when needed |
For hotels and makers
The certificate
One sheet, signed by the director of BYBOOKMARK INSTITUTE and the head of verification. It names the level, the hotel or the model, and what the selector found. Certificates are issued in English. Choose a sample.
bybookmark · public register · season 2027 demo data
Register.
Every certificate, with its level, year and version of the standard. The mark on a door carries a code; the code leads here. Open a hotel to read what the selector found, or open the map to see where the reading is.
For hotels · Hotel Certification
Three ways in.
Stars in Sight from photographs, free of charge. Verified from your own measurements. Certified from a visit: announced, never staged. Every fee is paid in advance and is independent of the outcome.
Step 1
Stars in Sight
Remote assessment from your website and photographs, within ten working days. A selector confirms, the board approves. Valid 12 months, once renewable.
Free
RegisterStep 2
Verified
You measure the seat, the light, the quiet and the table with a tape, a hardback and your phone camera. We check; 15 % receive a control visit. Valid 12 months.
460 €
Open the S4-Q formStep 3
Certified
An announced visit, never staged: the institute's instruments, sixty minutes of reading in every primary corner. Score 0–100; One, Two or Three Bookmarks. Valid 24 months.
950 € + 45 €/unit
EnterChains, collections and tourism organisations
One programme for the whole portfolio.
A hotel chain, a villa collection, a portal or a national tourism organisation enters the BYBOOKMARK Corporate Programme: the whole portfolio is screened, verified and certified at once, at the public price list, paid in advance. The client buys the scope, never the outcome, and uses the content and marketing of the reading community. Every programme is published with two numbers: reviewed and certified.
Stars in Sight · registration · free of charge
Register your hotel.
Ten minutes. Six photographs of the corner you are proudest of. We reply within ten working days. Registering a group or chain? Write to corporate@bybookmark.org and we prepare one joint registration.
No invoice: screening is free. The assessment starts now; you will hear within ten working days.
For destinations, chains and collections · Corporate Programme
The client buys the scope. Never the outcome.
A BYBOOKMARK Corporate Programme is a contract by which a hotel chain, a villa collection, a portal or a national tourism organisation pays in advance, at the public price list, for the screening, the Verified checks and the announced Certified visits of a set number of hotels. The institute alone decides which hotels from the portfolio go to a check or a visit, and what they receive.
The client sets the portfolio and the number of paid checks and visits. Which hotels the screening sends forward, the institute decides alone.
Every programme is published with the client's name, the number of hotels reviewed and the number certified. A public share of failure is the strongest proof that the outcome is not for sale.
Prices in a programme are the public prices. The only discount is the institute's logistics discount on the procedure for a cluster of visits, never on the annual fee.
The date is announced, the selector is not. The night is paid at the public rate; upgrades, meals on the house and gifts are refused.
Open registration stays open and free for screening. The Magazine and its lists are edited without sight of the programmes.
The company sells programmes and invoices. The institute receives only the portfolio and the budget in visits, and the selector takes orders from the institute alone.
| Programme register · season 2027 demo data | Client | Reviewed | Certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia, Edition 2027 | Slovenian Tourist Board | 412 | 14 |
| Greek Islands, Edition 2027 | Five Star Greece | 80 | 19 |
| Scotland, Edition 2027 | VisitScotland | 260 | 11 |
A hotel in a programme registers like every other hotel, accepts the same terms and receives the same diploma. The programme calculator, the registration for clients and the full rules are at corporate.bybookmark.org.
For hotels · Step 3
Enter for Certified.
Certified · entry
Open directly or after Verified. Declare your primary corners; the selector will read in every one of them. The visit is announced at least 14 days ahead and nothing is staged. The on-site fee of 3,500 € is invoiced after the visit, whatever the result; the result is One, Two or Three Bookmarks.
The visit will take place within the declared season. You will not be told when.
For makers and showrooms · Product Certification
You made it for people. We tell the readers.
Most of the pieces we test have already won everything a design can win. They were drawn by great designers, refined over years, photographed in the best light, and many of them have become icons that need no one's word to sell. We know that. We do not come to judge them.
We come with one small licence of a different kind. It does not speak to juries or collectors; it speaks to a person in the evening, with a book on their knees and an hour in front of them. Most often it simply confirms what you designed the piece for: to hold a body kindly, to light a page softly, to keep someone company. Our small part is to say it out loud, so that a reader can hear it before they sit down.
Somewhere a reader is choosing the chair for the window where they will read for the next twenty years. Let them know it was made for them.
How a certified piece is named
A name, a code, one line.
A whole reading nook is certified as a Collection. A single piece is certified under its own name: Armchair, Outdoor, Lamp, Ottoman, Side Table, Textile or Accessory. Each carries the bybookmark mark, its code and the line of its class; the code is printed on the label and leads to the register.
160 €, once. A maker code for all your models.
950 € per model at entry. Drawings and published measures; the armrest height decides whether we test at all.
The piece comes to the Certification Centre BYBOOKMARK, or a selector comes to your showroom (3,500 €). Measurement, then sixty minutes of reading; a collection is read as a whole.
Class A 7,300 €, B 2,900 €, C 1,500 €. Once, for the life of the model. The mark and the code go on the product.
Maker registration and first model
Enter a model.
We confirm the test date by email after payment.
BYBOOKMARK, Institute for Reading Culture and Reading Standards
The institute.
measures what a photograph cannot show: support for the body, light to read by, quiet, and the comfort of one well-resolved square metre. It awards its mark to the hotels and products that achieve this, and gives readers the certainty that they will be able to read in comfort.
BYBOOKMARK INSTITUTE is a private, non-profit institute. It holds the reading standard, the certification mark and the public register, and decides on every certificate. It sells nothing it certifies.
How the system works
One standard. Two brands. Clear roles.
The institute decides, the company operates, never the other way round. That is why a certificate cannot be bought.
Diagram 1 · System architecture
Commercial operator · WITHREADERSINMIND d.o.o.withreadersinmind.com · Portal · Magazine · KitsTable 1 · Two brands, two roles
| BYBOOKMARK | WITH READERS IN MIND | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Institute and certification mark | Platform, guide and the company that operates the scheme |
| What it says | This hotel or product meets the standard. A guarantee. | This is a place worth reading in. Guide, Magazine, origin of the service. |
| Voice | Third person: BYBOOKMARK measures, awards | First person plural: we read, we select |
| Where it appears | Plaques, door signs, certificates, register, product labels | Portal, Magazine, communication, invoices, events |
Diagram 2 · Interdependence
The founder sets direction and rules and appoints people, and does not intervene in any individual assessment. The company does not assess, does not decide and does not change the rules. The institute does not sell goods or services it certifies.
Diagram 3 · From standard to mark
Every report from a visit calibrates the screening, every discrepancy improves the questionnaire, and every finding goes into the next version of the standard.
Independence
Six rules.
A discount code is issued only with the institute's approval and never on the annual fee.
Without it the certificate is valid and the mark is not shown.
The date is announced, the selector is not. The night is paid at the public rate; no upgrades, no gifts. Their name is nowhere.
Nobody buys a place on a list, a position in it, or an advantage at the visit.
Partners that are not assessed may support the programme, never the selection.
Every certificate records the version it was assessed under. Revisions are public.
Diagram 4 · Who speaks to whom
Certification Centre BYBOOKMARK
Where products are tested.
A measuring room and a reading room, with controlled light and background noise below 30 dB(A). Makers' pieces and collections are measured and read here in a standard corner; selectors are calibrated here once a year; the new season is announced here. Products are on view; nothing is for sale.
Contact
Write to us.
BYBOOKMARK, Institute for Reading Culture and Reading Standards
Kolovec 36, 1235 Radomlje, Slovenia
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