Hotels & Resorts

How To Find Reliable Hotel Ratings

A common problem travelers face is how to rate a hotel. Unfortunately, since the U.S. has no official rating system, hotel websites can put as many stars as they want on any hotel they list. Fortunately, you can usually find some unbiased information if you know where to look.

All three of the big online travel sites – Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity – have some criteria for rating hotels. Most websites generate their own ratings from a variety of sources: Travelocity uses AAA diamond ratings if they are available. Most sites will also provide some customers reviews and these should be carefully read as it is the customers themselves that can provide unbiased opinions. TripAdvisor is another site that features and extensive list of customer-based reviews.

In general, you will probably find that on most major sites the ratings will be pretty consistent and are a guide to base your decisions on.

Each big hotel chain has well segmented its total marketplace into a handful of tiers based on relative price and quality, and each chain strives to maintain consistent quality standards. Once you know an individual brand, you can rely on what to expect.

For unbiased or third-party hotel reviews you have several sources. The most comprehensive standard of ratings is from the Hotel & Travel Index, with covers almost 80,000 hotels worldwide. International ratings are based on a 10-level system. From top to bottom the categories are: superior deluxe, deluxe, moderate deluxe, superior first class, first class, limited-service first class, moderate first class, superior tourist, tourist, and moderate tourist. Please note that first class in the middle of the scale, unlike airlines where first class is really first class.

If you prefer reviews written by real-world travelers then several website have emerged to offer such reports. Check out Hotel Shark and Hotel Motel Reviews.

Overall, you have plenty of reliable sources to check. But no matter how much research you do, you are going to find hotels where the reviewers missed the mark. If that happens then share your experiences by placing your own review on one of the web sites.