I had a poor enough experience that I posted a review to Booking.com for the first time.

It turns out that the lowest rating you can give a hotel is 2.5. Out of 5.

This is highly misleading. Enough that I would not trust a Booking.com rating at all. The worst possible score is average.

So, tell us the "star" you rented--and what did the reviews of it say.

What was the score of the hotel that you stayed at?

Also - I'm confused since the ratings as made by the guests range up to 10, not up to 5. Many of the better hotels have ratings over 9 or at least in the upper 8s.

I think the number of * is how the hotel reports itself in terms of amenities, etc - and has nothing to do with the guests evaluations.

Every hotel listing service I am aware of allows the hotel to pick it's own rating based on a list of services and amenities - and my assumption is that many hotels are actually a full * below how they rate themselves. (The discount sites do NOT visit and review the hotels.)

To add to nytraveler's observation - I've also noticed that Hotwire generally rates hotels 1/2 star higher than Priceline (e.g., a 2-1/2 star on Priceline might be a 3 star on Hotwire). Neither site's rating might correspond to the AAA rating. In addition, there seems to be a wide quality variation within categories, especially 2 and 2-1/2 star properties.

On our way back from Ohio to Florida last week, I got a Priceline Express Deal that turned out to be a Quality Inn at 2 stars that was so run down it should have been condemned. No refunds, of course - so we continued down the road and paid for another room at a slightly better place. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

But on non-opaque sites like booking.com, it's possible to do some research before you commit.

I don't understand this comment, either, as the ratings are 1-10. I thought booking gave the star ratings, but if they don't carry any less than 2.5 on their website, it wouldn't really surprise me.

however, I just checked Paris and they have properties on booking.com at all star levels, even 1*. The worst rating on that page was a 3.8 overall, which is pretty low given 6 is very mediocre on booking.

Maybe the OP means you can't score below a 2.5 on the 10 pt scale? COuld be, I don't know, never had a place that bad and I don't recall what my options were.

Not enough info to understand the facts. Does Booking.com do the ratings themselves or depend on the hotel or an outside source? Were those stars or numbers? Were they guest ratings, etc? Which country? Makes a huge difference.

In some countries, stars relate to quality. In others, they relate to amenities. Stars are usually 1-5. Number ratings are usually 1-10.

Some rating boards require proof the person posting actually stayed in the property. Others do not check.

Would like to read your review and know the property you are referencing.

Keith was talking about the score, not the number of stars. Other posters threw in that word and some people got confused.

I try to book only hotels that are in the 9s if possible, or the mid 8's. This is based on my experiences with hotels that were in the 7s, I quickly realized that this is equal to a "not great" rating. The scores may be over inflated but that's really a function of the guest reviews (you can only review if you've stayed there via booking.com). I also know from personal experience that if there is a very bad review the hotel owners can block it.