• 5 Innstars: 80 and above
• 4 Innstars: 65 to 79
• 3 Innstars: 50 to 64
• 2 Innstars: 35 to 49
• 1 Innstar: 20 to 34
• 0 Innstars: under 20

Methodology: Each guide is reviewed using Mozilla Firefox (primary)and WindowsXP; I may also verify using Opera and earlier versions of Netscape and MSIE 6 and Windows operating systems. Guides with search capabilities are evaluated using several amenity combinations. I now use a satellite connection, typically in the 500 Kbs range.

Recent Changes: For a summary of important changes, see change summary below.

Here are the Descriptions in each area:

A: Completeness of Coverage for Descriptive Listings (0-25) (a descriptive listing gives details about the Inn, more than contact info and may include links to independent pages) - rated for North America only and adjusted for regional or specialty guides. Note: To ensure a level of consistency, I established some general point ranges based on number of inns covered; I then look at the scale below to come up with the actual score in this area.

• 25 - Extremely thorough coverage throughout full coverage area, based on approximate inn density for various regions.
• 20-10 - a sliding scale based on number of listings, sampled. Numerous inns in much of area, remaining area has some inns.
•  5 - Limited number of listings.
•  0 - Listings are basic contact only.

• 15 - Descriptive listings have several pictures, details on rooms, amenities, rates, reservation policies, payment methods, local area info. Has weather and map links. Listings include contact info, innkeeper names, rates, payment methods. Most listings have highly visible links to independent Inn websites.
• 10 - Descriptive have at least 1 picture (often more), detailed description of inn & amenities. All listings have contact info, & rates; many also have links to independent Inn websites.
• 5 - Descriptive listing is text with moderately detailed description, rates, reservation info with few or no pictures. Max score for 'links only' guide without other descriptive data.
•  0 - List consists of basic contact information only or insufficient data.

• 30 - Has multiple effective ways of locating inns. Must be able to locate likely inns in a specific area without requiring detailed geographic knowledge. Detailed maps available to help guest find B&Bs. Also available by specific city or specific Inn. Includes ability to look or select for multiple amenities, features, restrictions or qualities.
• 25 - Adept at locating likely inns in a state or area of state without detailed geographic knowledge. General maps are expected. Also available by specific city. Includes ability to look for most popular amenities, features, restrictions or qualities.
• 20 - Has either good geographical location ability or thorough amenities/features search.
• 15 - May look by state, city or Inn with some knowledge of area needed. Includes either limited ability to look for features or to narrow area geographically.
• 10 - Listed by city. Must know cities to look for region within state.
•  5 - Inns listed alphabetically by Inn name, making it difficult to find Inns in a general area; or must look at all cities to find which have detailed listings.
•  2 - Inn and/or city lists, if available, are not logically organized for common use.
•  0 - Insufficient clients to determine usability of list.

• 10 - Extremely convenient, loading time quick even when loading all images. Excellent balance of scrolling vs multiple screens. Screens easy to use and logical. Search engine, if used, is fast.
•  7 - Convenient, quick loading. Screens logical but data not available as quickly (image quantity, size or format; number of pages required). However, 7 is max score for guide optimized for a specific browser.
•  5 - Moderately convenient. Some delays in getting to Inn info because of multiple screens or long scrolling. May not work properly using older browsers. Some design aspects may make you look for buttons.
• 3 - Fairly slow or inconvenient due to slow search engines or too many screens or graphics. Have to think about how to find inn lists.
•  1 - Inconvenient and slow. Typical browser would click off from frustration.
•  0 - Does not have enough Inns to properly evaluate

E: Quality Assurance (0-5) (does guide indicate inns that are inspected by guide writer or by recognized agencies, have a supervised system for providing guest feedback, or inns are recommended by guests for inclusion)

• 5 - All Inns listed are personally visited by guide author, or all Inns listed are inspected by nationally-recognized service. Has supervised system for guest feedback to author. Descriptions either written by author or, if Inn-provided, implicitly verified by inspecting agency.
•  3 - Clearly indicates which inns are inspected and identifies inspecting organization. May also have guest feedback system.
•  2 - Indicates inns that are inspected but does not indicate organization or has guest feedback system.
•  1 - Indicates affiliation or memberships.
•  0 - No obvious provision for quality asssurance.

• 10 - Has on-line availability for a substantial number of inns using widely-used programs.
• 6 - Has on-line availability using own proprietary system only.
• 2 - Has on-line reservation request form only.
• 0 - Option not available.

1. Promotes last minute specials.
2. Has information about B&Bs in general.
3. Newsletter, general bulletin boards or On-line magazine
4. Tourism links, additional regional information
5. Recipes, association lists, specialty market lists, etc.
• 1-5 - Subjective evaluation, based on number & value of extras.

Z1: Special Problems: Points may be deducted based on such problems as failure to correct errors timely, misleading data or description of the service, hard-to-read wallpaper, etc. These are progressive; if the same errors persist from year to year, the points deducted will increase.

Innkeeper Information: Does not affect basic rating, but provides additional information to innkeepers to help them decide among the guides. Among this information is my Inn's results over the past year.