I know something similar has been talked about and I know everyone is different in their thoughts and how they look at things but... I was just reading a review of a place that I have been to and have rated low. When I see a higher rating, I like to look at it to see if they place has improved or whatever. Anyway, the review rated the campground as an 8 so I am thinking they had a good experience but when I read the review it stated bathrooms are dirty and the sites are old and messy, this to mean spells a 5 or lower. Granted it had a nice view and if you looked outside the campground it was pretty but an 8? Maybe I am too hard on some places and easy on others but if you think something is bad how do they get an 8?
Gary WT: A numerical rating is highly subjective. What is a 5 to me may be an 8 to you, or a 3 to someone else. I find that the comments made by people rating the parks are far, far more telling than the numerical rating. If a person says a place has dirty restrooms, or tight spaces, or poor maintenance, I simply won't stay there no matter what the numerical rating is. You and I had a discussion earlier this year about the poor quality and high cost of campgrounds in the northeastern US as you may recall. I rated most of the campgrounds there with a low numerical rating, while you felt some should be higher. The comments on some of the campgrounds I rated lowly are far, far more telling than the number itself.
I would tend to agree with the above statement. To me, that's what makes this site much more beneficial than something put out by one of the major companies. The major directories just list amenities and give a 3 number score. I have disagreed with the ratings on many trips. At least with this site, you can read individual comments to see why the score was given, even if you don't agree with it. Still, any sort of evaluation is somewhat subjective.
I too can say that the writen response is the best information we have. The numbers are subjective in most cases. I just reveiwed a CG wheere there was one good and one bad review. I gave it a good review and the reasons for it were the exact reasons the other reveiwer did not like it. It was the National Riding Stable at Artillery ridge in Gettysburg, PA. I will say that the sites were tight and the bath houses were a bit old but they were clean. The horse poop on the ground in a few places were not a big deal and looking close up at the horses in the corrals was very nice. I will say that we usually dislike the older CG that have not upgraded. Usually it is the narrow sites and roads to enter and exit. I will say that the northeastern CG are usually more expensive too.
I've rated a campground in the past as a seven, despite the dirty bathrooms. We only use the bathroom in our travel trailer so a dirty public one doesn't spoil thnigs for us. I simply check for the purposes of giving a review. Note that I probably wouldn't give a higher rating than a seven for any place with dirty bathrooms.
I also have the same question..I rated one as a 3 and the camper before me rated it as 9...the area was so dusty going in that it looked like a heavy smoke coming up behinde the RV...we didn't stay there, but turned around and left...I had to wash the toad when I got out of there... :lol:
