A Look at Hostels in the USA

In theory a percentage rating should be a great way to compare hostels, but it just doesn't work that way.

Travellers reviewing a hostel should take the mid-point (50%) as a starting point and rate above or below that based on how it compares with other hostels, but they don't and most ratings are skewed towards the top end of the scale leaving very little room for the really exceptional hostels.

In contrast, star ratings have been around for much longer and people are more familiar with the system and are used to professional reviewers giving low ratings in magazines and newspapers so they don't feel so mean giving a 2 star rating (which would translate as 30% on a percentage scale). This makes a score out of five more accurate as different hostels are more evenly spaced along the scale rather than all grouped at one end.

I have written a blog post that goes into more detail about this.

Without a percentage -- all four star places are equal.

If I was choosing between five places that had four stars I'd want to know which one came in at 81% and which at 89% and that's where a percentage wins out over stars (unless you want to have 100 stars of course ;-)

In theory I would have thought that too, but I also think that the overall rating can be a little inaccurate when it is a percentage (for the reasons in my original post).

On BUG (and I assume other websites too) the ratings can be arranged from highest to lowest with weight given to which reviews others have found helpful so one four star hostel will be ranked higher than another.

Generally when looking for a hostel (on BUG) I would single out hostels with 3½ stars or higher and then read the reviews. The reviews usually say a lot more about a place than the rating ever will, but the rating is a good way to narrow down your selection.

One more point, I don't think that guests always rate a place with other places in mind. That's where the value of having a researcher comes in, as they review a place in the context of knowing what else is available.

I'd hazard a guess the majority of guests wouldn't be thinking in a comparative fashion when they rate a place, primarily because the majority won't have stayed anywhere else in the location in question.

That's true. A travellers' review that says "the best hostel in town" isn't as accurate as a review from a professional reviewer who has been to every single hostel.

A mix of both professional and travellers' reviews is the best option. The professional reviewer gives some consistency and is usually more trusted, but travellers' reviews are often very detailed and give a better feel for a place. As for ratings, a professional rating is a better indicator of objective categories such as facilities or security, but a travellers' rating is a better indicator of more subjective categories such as atmosphere, character, cleanliness or maintenance.

Boston

Boston has 2 hostels -- possibly 3 during the summer.

• 1 hostels in the 70s %
• 1 hostels in the 60s %

I wanted to add something about the Boston HI Hostel and hostel reviews in general.
(I finally got a chance to stay there.)

The HI Boston had a 78% or 79% rating. I wasn't sure what to expect but the hostel was great. The employees were friendly and inclusive, asking people to join whatever they were organizing. The hostel had food, activities, pub crawls, etc. The location was excellent.

If you're looking for a clean, safe hostel in Boston this hostel is a good place to go.

The only possible drawbacks of the hostel (in the eyes of guests) that I could picture might be:

• The price -- $40 is expensive for a dorm bed (there's no competition in Boston -- the other hostel charges $46 for a dorm)
• The building is old and a little worn, but not bad in any way. The actual facilities like showers and toilets were well maintained.
• No alcohol inside -- but there are organized pub crawls and 200,000 college students in the city. No need to sit in the hostel to drink...

I looked through the reviews to see if the negative reviewers were leaving comments:

• 70% -- "it was cold in the room!"
• 66% -- "there was a hole in the fenster of our room...so it was freezing cold at night."
• 80% -- "it was good but too cold"
• 66% -- "overheated"

It appears to be a simple problem that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with a hostel -- just go to the front desk and ask them to change the temperature :)

There were a couple of mentions of small dorm rooms, but I didn't think it was a real hardship :)

I don't think the booking engine rating was useful in this case at all. I've started a related thread about the question: Will there be a backlash against user-generated-content?