The Limits of User Reviews: A Study of TripAdvisor and Yelp
tripexpert.comAlmost half of 1-star reviews of luxury hotels complain about service... Of course, hotels should be penalized for stuffy, unpleasant, and brusque service. But by how much? Is service really more important than the comfort of the rooms or the convenience of the location?
Such an interesting point, especially paired with the additional survey point (24% of people care about it as their #1 reason). It is one of the things that I do miss about Zagat being a top user guide - you could prioritize the things you cared about most (food, service, decor -- or cost), whereas a simple 1-5 rating does not give you that level of granularity unless you want to sift through reviews individually.
However, unfortunately that's a problem that TripExpert doesn't seem to solve with their new TripExpert Score (http://www.tripexpert.com/about#score)
Good point about Zagat. True, there's no granularity in the TripExpert Score. But at least you know that some factors aren't being weighted in an overwhelmingly disproportionate way like service (for example) is on TripAdvisor.