Yeah, I totally get that the tier system is pretty subjective, there’s no perfect way to rank these places and everyone’s got their own take. I’m just trying to give the list some structure so it’s not a free-for-all.

Here’s what I look at:

Location: How close it is to the city and how discreet it is.

Exposure: Whether they have a website or ML photos out there.

Amenities: Things like showers, parking, and operating hours.

Number and quality of MLs: Based on what people are saying in forums and reviews.

The main reason I’m sticking with some kind of tier system is to make sure places like Ai Li Massage don’t end up at the top by accident. I’m open to tweaking things and making it more flexible as I go. The idea about tracking how long a shop’s been under the same management is actually useful, so I’ll keep that in mind for future updates.

I know the “15 x Tier 1” cap is a bit arbitrary, it does feel like trying to pick which exes to invite to a wedding. There are always going to be a few deserving places that just miss out. Maybe I’ll loosen it up and let Tier 1 be more of a Hall of Fame, or even rotate the top spots every so often to give more shops a chance to shine.

Cheers for the feedback on the Google Maps integration. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get some live traffic cams outside each shop.