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Hostel review criteria

Hostel Reviews, Booking Engines, and Directories

footprints started this discussion 14 years 6 months ago

So I have read on here many think the review system of HW and HB could be tweaked to represent the hostels better.

So what do you think the review criteria should be?

One idea I did read and liked the look of was a historical graph showing the rating over a time line, this is something we have taken on board and will incorporate into our review functionality.

The HW review criteria

Character
Security
Location
Staff
Fun
Cleanliness

The HB review criteria

Atmosphere
Location
Facilities
Fun
Staff
Cleanliness
Safety
Value

As industry professionals and hostel owners how do you see the best value in a rating system, and how do you think it should function?

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Josh Hostels

14 years

See also:

Check out the book The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. He talks about filtering information in "the long tail" into niches through recommendations from similar people. The current review systems don't have much distinction between the types of people who are doing the reviews/recommendations. E.g., a hostel may be a 100% party hostel but a 60% hostel for people who don't want to party.

In cities with 60 to 100+ hostels there is no way to distinguish them in the booking engines. The lack of filtering ability by niche makes a lot of "noise".

An untapped area is recommendations based on personality. Sites like Pandora, Amazon, and OkCupid find out who you are and what you like and then show you things that people with similar tastes like.

User x is female, 47 and likes social drinking, easy listening music, local food, museums and is looking for friendship. Likes small hostels.
User y is male, 21, single, likes partying hard, ramen noodles, speed metal, and is looking for one-night-stand.
User z is female, 32, married, and is looking for private room in hostel where they can meet people.

They are going to give different ratings to the same place/hostel, but hostel review systems don't take that into account. I think next generation review systems will go beyond just a list of characteristics...

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footprints

14 years

It certainly is an interesting book, being heavily involved in marketing specifically business promotion on line I am forever speaking the benefits of the long tail.

I like your thinking in drilling down through characteristics, offering a more tailored approach.

Profiling is easy, if users are willing to register and allow a profiling process. You have to balance the person just wanting to search and book, with the person that is willing to take the extra time needed for a more personalised approach.

I defiantly think there is much merit in what you are saying, and it also goes towards user engagement which I think will become a major factor as well.

Cheers for your input, many ideas make for a more refined and scalable solution.

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Josh Hostels

14 years

Profiling is easy, if users are willing to register and allow a profiling process. You have to balance the person just wanting to search and book, with the person that is willing to take the extra time needed for a more personalised approach.

A site could just make it mandatory when leaving the review:

Age:
Nationality:
Style of travel: (party, culture, museums, food, etc.)
I am looking for: (relationship, friendship, etc.)
Education: (high school, college, grad school)
I prefer: (small hostels, large hostels, no preference)
Drinking: (no drinking, social drinker, party hard)
Food: (local cuisine, ramen noodles, beer)
I like: (to stay on the backpacker trail, to explore places off the beaten path, cities, remote locations)
etc.

It's more work, but the reward is that in cities with a huge number of hostels (like Buenos Aires), users could filter the hostels down to the niche of their choice.

Long tail niche: "I want a small party hostel in Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires that users under 25 from English-speaking countries rate highly." Suddenly, 100 hostels in a city isn't limited to just a simple "top 10" that may not appeal to everyone, especially when rating percentages are so similar. There would be a virtually infinite number of niches...

One would need a programmer who is very good with math. :)

For sites that have a membership (like MyHostelworld) info could be saved. LinkedIn is an example of a site that keeps asking for more info: "your profile 60% complete: add your resume to bring it up to 80%". OKCupid collects info about the users' personalities through online surveys...

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footprints

14 years

We have taken allot of this on board, as for profile nag we have that implemented, we have made the booking process as many do with an option to join or just book.

The profile in the social network, allows us to tailor it specifically to backpackers, it also allows us to group hostel according to profiles.

I like you idea with the likes, dislikes etc etc on the review form and we have already brought some of these ideas into the build scope.

No doubt we will not get everything 100% right but I think we are making a positive inroad into a better review system

The only issue with all this is now we are going to be back to square one with reviews, and will need a hell of a campaign to build up a review base again.

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