Does anyone know how the Trip Advisor web site assigns a relative ranking of a hotel against all other hotels in the same locale (i.e. #1 of 45 hotels in Anycity, USA)? Although I find this somewhat useful I always try and remember that there are as many opinions as there are people and not everyone likes the same thing.

I think it's based on posters' reviews, when you post there, they ask you to grade it on the scale 1 to 5: how clean, how comfortable, etc...

The average rating is part of it, but it also seems to be based on the number of reviews? I read the actual reviews when looking at hotels that have ratings within 1/2 star of each other.

NOTE: there is a difference between Popularity index (which is what Go4Fun is referring to: #1 of 45 hotels in X city) and TripAdvisor Traveler Rating which is other posters are talking about (# of "circles" out of a highest of 5 "circles")

Directly from the source, Tripadvisor.com:

Q: How does the Popularity Index work?

A: The TripAdvisor Popularity Index incorporates reviews, guidebook entries, newspaper articles and other web content to determine traveler satisfaction. In January 2006 we updated the Popularity Index to place more emphasis on recent information. For more information on the Popularity Index, visit: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/hot...ity_popup.html

Q: I don't understand your traveler ratings. How does it work?

A: The TripAdvisor traveler Rating (the circles) is based on a sophisticated proprietary algorithm based on the quality, quantity and age of submitted reviews.

Thanks for that info, it helps. So many hotels seem to be rated between 3.5 and 4.0 that I guess they need some way to sort them out.

You need to read the reviews to see what people like/dislike. Only you know why YOU pick one hotel over another - actually reading reviews will tell you pluses and minuses.

(Some people like only new places and complain about anything older, when in some cities, like NYC, many of the finer hotels are old. You can also see if someone complains about noise or ice machines - or something substantive - like lack of cleanliness.)

I appreciate the hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, but pay no attention to the rankings/ratings.

I pay particular attention to the negative reviews - whether they make sense and whether it's a one-time poster.