Janet, was just raving about a place I recommended to her in Albarese, Osteria Del Orco. I feel it is in a special class that deserves a mark,star whatever to identify that it is worth going out of the way.I posted on her thread it is on my list of top 10 ever in Italy.

I was thinking just going through the reviews that there are happy faces in most reviews which is OK, but no Immediate way to mark stellar places.If someone dosn't spend 2 hours reading every review they may miss an oportunity. RR

Yes but what do you do when one person considers a place stellar and another doesn't?

All reviews by there nature are subjective. More than 95% of the reviews here are smiles, which is OK but not ideal.In reality when you read the reviews they range from moderately Ok to fabulous/world class. The only way to destinguish places is to read every review. In some areas(Florence/Rome etc.) it is time consuming.

Adding several levels with a range would be even better than the two options of either a smile or a frown. I also think it's important to review bad places,so others can avoid them. On at least one occasion I would have avoided a place(when I returned 3-4 others also said they had a bad experiences there but had not posted. I suppose as they "Didn't want want to be negative")

Information is a good thing. All reviews would not have to be redone, but all reviews after a given date could be given ranges,stars,number/100 etc.
RR

Good thinking, RR, but IMHO too complicated!

I would not write a review if I had to give the restaurant a point rating. And I just like to read what people say.

Maybe I'm just too tired from my move, or just too, too old, but SIMPLER IS BETTER!

quote:

On at least one occasion I would have avoided a place(when I returned 3-4 others also said they had a bad experiences there but had not posted. I suppose as they "Didn't want want to be negative")

So, a 'star' system wouldn't have helped, because those people didn't even submit reviews.

As someone who regularly sends in restaurant and hotel reviews (and uses ST reviews to help plan trips), I honestly don't think a star system would be much better than the current "recommended, "neutral," and "not recommended" descriptions.

Two ideas, though:
1) We can encourage people (in the review form) to include something like "TOP TEN dining experience" in their short review so it's clear in a quick scan of the reviews that the restaurant is a step above the rest.

2) Some of the older reviews are still using the original smiley options of and before we added the neutral icon (which some deserved). I will co-opt another mod to help me review them and update the as appropriate to neutral.