Recipients of the 2006 Pink Choice Awards will be announced within the coming weeks, and we thought it would be helpful to remind property owners and Pink Choice members of the criteria used to determine which properties receive the award.
HOW ARE PROPERTIES SELECTED FOR A PINK CHOICE AWARD?
Properties are selected solely on the scores submitted by gay and lesbian travelers who are Pink Choice members. Those scores are used to calculate and rate award winners.
HOW OFTEN ARE PINK CHOICE AWARDS PRESENTED?
Pink Choice awards are presented at the end of each calendar year. The award recognizes those hotels, guest houses and inns that have excelled in providing the very best in gay and lesbian accommodation, based on the reviews and ratings made by guests during that calendar year. Only those ratings posted over the previous 365 days are used to determine which properties receive an award, so each year the awards are based on current ratings. Previous years' results and awards are posted on the individual accommodation pages of the site so that a record of previous annual results can be seen.
Unique to this year, the awards are being presented to those properties who have received reviews and scores from the launch date of the site, August 12 and December 31, 2006.
WHO WINS A PINK CHOICE AWARD?
Pink Choice awards are presented to those accommodations, considered by reviewers to be the best in each of the four price bands for each destination. They must have achieved a credibility rating of 5 and an overall score of 95% or higher.
HOW ARE PINK CHOICE RATINGS CALCULATED?
The ratings shown on the site are generated directly from the reviews and scores that people like you have awarded gay hotels, guest houses and inns following your stay.
In each destination accommodations and their ratings are grouped into one of four bands based on their room rates:
$ - Budget
$$ - Inexpensive
$$$ - Moderate
$$$$ - Expensive
Price bands have been used because most travelers have a budget and need to be comfortable with the cost of their accommodation before making a choice. For any destination travelers can quickly pick the price band that best suits their needs, and then view the recommended properties within that band.
HOW DO THE RATINGS WORK?
Whenever a guest posts a review on the site, he or she is also asked to rate the property experience by giving a score of 1-5 (1= Unacceptable, 5= Exceptional) for the following criteria.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Rate the reservation process, either on-line or by phone. Were the staff helpful and welcoming?
CURB APPEAL AND LOCATION
Was the property well located and externally attractive?
CHECK-IN
Was it welcoming, informative and painless? Were the staff able to devote time to answer all your questions?
COMFORT AND CLEANLINESS
Was the bed comfortable, and the room and bathroom well appointed and clean?
STAFF
Were the staff friendly, helpful and efficient?
DINING
Did the quality of breakfast or other dining services meet your expectations?
DETAILS
How were the little personal touches that make all the difference?
VALUE FOR MONEY
Was your stay appropriately priced for what you received?
For each property, the rating score is standardized for room numbers, and safeguards are in place to prevent manipulation of the rating system by the posting of multiple reviews from a single source.
WHAT ARE THE 1 - 5 CREDIBILITY RATINGS?
As reviews for a particular property are posted, the average score, based on those reviews, is calculated. The more reviews a hotel receives, the greater the probability that the overall score is an accurate representation of what to expect at that hotel.
For example:
Property A has a rating of 100 and a credibility score of 1
A credibility rating of 1 means that the hotel has received just a small number of reviews. As a result its overall score may not be representative of what to expect.
Property B has a rating of 98 and a credibility score of 3
A credibility rating of 3 means that the hotel has received a number of reviews, so it's overall rating is more likely to be representative of what to expect.
Property C has a rating of 95 and a credibility score of 5
A credibility rating of 5 means that the hotel has received a large number of reviews, so it's overall rating is likely to be an accurate representation of what to expect.
So, the credibility rating that appears adjacent to a property review is a guide to the actual number of reviews posted for a particular property. The lower the credibility rating, the smaller the number of reviews. The higher the credibility rating, the larger the number of reviews.
HOW OFTEN DO PROPERTY RATINGS CHANGE?
Whenever a new review has been posted to the site, the score for that property is recalculated, and all the property rankings within its group are adjusted to reflect that result. This means that the ratings are continuously being updated to remain absolutely current.
