How we measure walking times

Every number on this site is measured in code from OpenStreetMap, the free map anyone can improve. Nothing is typed by hand and no hotel pays to be listed or to rank higher.

• Where the walk ends: the nearest main entrance mapped on the hospital's grounds. Where no main entrance is mapped, the nearest edge of the hospital's grounds, and the page says so.
• Walking time: the straight-line distance plus a quarter for streets and crossings, at 80 meters a minute (about 3 miles an hour). Hills, construction, skybridges and slower walking change it, so pages say "about".
• Kitchens and free breakfast are brand standards (Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, Hampton and others), not checked hotel by hotel: confirm the room type with the hotel.
• Charity houses are the ones on the map with the name of a known program (Ronald McDonald House, Hope Lodge, Fisher House and others). The map misses some.
• Cancer centers come from the National Cancer Institute's list of designated centers.

How close are our times?

We checked 60 hotel and hospital pairs against real walking routes on the map (November 2026). Half our times were within about a minute of the route and 87% within 5 minutes. The big misses were suburban campuses where a highway or rail line forces a long way round: there, a short straight line can be a much longer walk, so open the walking directions before you book.

The map is refreshed monthly. Spotted a mistake? Tell us, and if you can, fix it on OpenStreetMap too: it helps everyone.