About this directory

What this is

Malaysia Homestay Guide is an independent directory and comparison resource covering 960 homestay businesses across Kedah. It exists for travellers who want a straight, comparable read on homestays in the state before they book: which ones are well regarded, which are new, which have slipped, and why. We also generate enquiries for local providers: when you ask to be matched, we pass your enquiry to providers relevant to your request and may receive a referral fee for that introduction. Referral arrangements never affect scores or earned rankings.

How listings get here

Each listing starts from public business data: name, location, unit types, amenities, and similar basic facts. On top of that we synthesise recent Google reviews for that business into a short summary of what guests are actually saying. We do not republish review text and we do not host reviews ourselves; instead we link out to the business’s Google listing so you can read the original comments in full and in context.

How rankings work

Every ranking on this site is earned from a published rubric applied to that public data and review signal, nothing else. The method is laid out in full on our /methodology/ page, so you can see exactly what feeds a score and what doesn’t. No business can buy a higher position, and no arrangement with us moves a listing up the list.

Sponsorship, kept separate

Some pages include paid placements. When they appear, they are clearly labelled “Sponsored”, shown apart from the earned ranking rather than mixed into it, and they carry no weight in the scoring itself. A homestay can pay to be seen; it cannot pay to be ranked higher.

Correcting your own listing

If you run one of the homestays listed here and spot an error, wrong address, outdated amenity, closed status, you can ask us to correct it. What you can’t do is edit your own score, sentiment summary, or ranking. Those come only from the rubric and the underlying data, applied the same way to every listing.

Who’s behind it

This directory is published by Meridian Guides (meridianguides.my), which runs independent city and state directories for everyday services across Malaysia, starting with Kedah homestays in 2025. Rankings are maintained editorially by Janice, Editor, and the operator’s policy is that rankings are never sold and no payment changes a score. Listing data is refreshed on a monthly cycle, and each listing carries its own “last verified” date so you can see when it was last checked. Questions or corrections: hello@meridianguides.my.