Quick and easy hotel reviews

Keep your eye on Raveable, a new hotel review collection website that considers itself the “Cliffs-Notes for hotel reviews.”

What’s hot: I like that Raveable (www.raveable.com) isn’t trying to be the end-all, be-all travel planner, social networker, DIY guidebook and more -- it’s just trying to simplify your online hotel research. Founders Philip Vaughn and Rafik Robeal are ex-Microsoft employees who have come up with an intricate way to analyze hotels and calculate rankings by pulling information from all over the Web. Their green check marks and red X icons stand out because they’re telling you what’s notable -- “previous guests would stay here again,” “convenient location,” “rooms are too small for many guests.” And when they quote a review, they tell you exactly where it came from -- TripAdvisor, MyTravelGuide, TravelPost, etc. The average yearly room price they list is different from other sites, which typically list only the average for a particular stay, and the ability to link directly to the hotel’s website is key, but I’d love a section about recent deals or special offers.

What’s not: I don’t agree with many of their Top 10 picks. For example, Homewood Suites San Diego Airport was rated No. 1 out of 155 hotels in the San Diego area. Best Western Lamplighter Inn & Suites was No. 4. At least the Lodge at Torrey Pines made the Top 10, but this acclaimed resort was ranked No. 5, after Homewood and Best Western. When I searched Las Vegas, the South Point, which I agree is a good value for a three-star hotel, was ranked as the No. 5 hotel out of 137 listed. Sorry, Bellagio - you’re No. 11. Note: Raveable is in beta and didn’t make a big splash about its launch, but it is taking feedback via Twitter (@raveable). Now, if only it would combine efforts with TripKick, we’d really have something useful.

-- Jen Leo