To determine a hostel's BPP rating we ask the experts - people like YOU who have used our hostels as everyday customers. EVERY guest staying at a BBH hostel on survey night (chosen to be a busy night in the height of the busy season) is invited to participate.
A hostel's BPP% rating is the combined opinion of a minimum of 30 guests who have usually stayed there at least one night (the average is 2.3 nights). The stay may have been at any time - quite beyond anyone's control, so that facilities are seen under practical working conditions. Ratings for a hostel are counted only from guests who have moved on to other hostels where they are free from the influence of the hostel they are rating. The survey is conducted on one night and guests are asked how much they have enjoyed every hostel they have used. It's a rare guest who enjoys dirty run-down facilities, tired bad tempered management, cold showers, poorly equipped kitchens or noisy overcrowded dormitories, and ratings reflect this peculiarity. Survey forms (listing 500+ purveyors of "backpacker accommodation") are returned directly to an independent market research company which processes the data and provides results to BBH. Guests are also invited to make comments about hostels. Those comments too are processed and returned to the hostel concerned.
The BBP rating is a very good relative indication of the TOTAL quality of a hostel. But do remember that it is much easier to achieve a high rating in a small personal hostel in an idyllic rural setting than in a city location where a hostel is necessarily much bigger and busier.
The system has been finely tuned over a decade to produce reliable, repeatable results. At BBH we are satisfied that our BPP rating system is responsible in no small part for encouraging New Zealand Backpacker Hostels' high standards and reputation. The BPP rating system IS the most appropriate for travelers' hostel accommodation. We believe that our results will always be more relevant to travelers than conventional star ratings such as the NZ Qualmark system based on facilities, fixed formulae, and an inspection of a pre-selected part of a hostel on a pre-arranged day.
It can be confusing when there is more than one grading system in operation - especially if the results don't agree with each other
Just how different the systems
are can be seen by comparing some results.
Qualmark lists 3 five star
Backpackers. The corresponding BPP% ratings are 94%, 79% and 72% for an average
BPP of 83%
Qualmark's 6 four star+
backpackers had BPP% ratings ranging from 82% to 65% for an average of
74%.
16 four star backpackers
averaged 77% and ranged from 90% to 67%
11 three star+ backpackers
averaged 72% (81% to 59%)
8 three star backpackers
averaged 76% (85% to 62%)
and 5 Qualmark two star+
backpackers averaged 71% (79% to 56%)
(The Qualmark
ratings shown are quoted from the Qualmark website on 14 July 2002)
Because of the conflicting
results, BBH does not include individual Qualmark ratings in its publications.
We would like to hear your views on the relative merits of the
two systems.
A BBH rating survey is now available on-line at
You will need to log
in with a BBH Club Card
in order to register your own ratings and to view other guests' comments.
