See also Perishable Content
All POI types other than Information and Transport always include a review.
Transport and Information POIs contain reviews only where there is something of value to say.
Reviews are the key building blocks for LP content – they provide the information and recommendations that travellers come to LP for. As such, they are as accessible and helpful as possible. Text is clear and succinct.
The review answers the following questions.
Why should I go?
What’s it like?
Why is this attraction worth visiting?
Is this the place for me?
Reviews can include sentence fragments (eg ‘The best tacos in town.’), but are generally composed of full sentences. Shorter reviews can comprise a single sentence fragment.
Where a place has several similar POIs (eg a few beaches, a few tour operators offering similar services), reviews should not be repetitive, even if the POIs are very similar. Readers of any product are likely to see these POIs together, and repeated text just makes us look lazy – we don’t do it. It is also of limited use to the traveller trying to discern between the similar options. Reviews of similar POIs within the same place should pick out points of difference where possible.
Two-part reviews enable us to store one review in the CMS, which can be automatically cut into a shorter version as required by products, without the need for re-editing.
The two parts (fields) of the review are referred to as the Essential Review and the Review Extension. The Essential Review is able to stand alone as a review. The Review Extension is an extension of the Essential Review – it cannot be used in isolation.
The essential review includes the headline info; it answers the question ‘Why should I go?’ Regardless of the product, an essential review will be adequate to cover most POIs and can used in isolation (ie without a Review Extension) in products that favour shorter reviews (eg Pocket guidebooks).
Essential reviews can be up to 80 words for Sights, and up to 60 words for non-Sights. Note these are maximum counts: the Essential Review can be significantly shorter, even where a Review Extension is included.
Essential Review
Some of the best-value udon (handmade Japanese noodles) is what this buzzing address in Paris’ eat-rich Japantown is all about. Arrive well before 1pm (or 8pm for dinner); no credit cards and no advance reservations.
The review extension contains additional information to add context or help travellers get the most from their visit. It might go into more detail about aspects of the Sight, details of the restaurant’s menu, historical context, etc.
The review extension is only ever used in conjunction with the Essential Review – it does not make sense in isolation. They are never compulsory; essential reviews are only included where there is useful extra information.
Essential Review
Some of the best-value udon (handmade Japanese noodles) is what this buzzing address in Paris’ eat-rich Japantown is all about. Arrive well before 1pm (or 8pm for dinner); no credit cards and no advance reservations.
Review Extension
When you arrive, grab a stool at the kitchen bar and watch the hip young chefs strut their stuff over steaming bowls of soup grand bois de riz (big bowls of rice) laced with battered prawns, sweet duck or beef, and other meal-in-one dishes. In summer, go for one of the cold noodle dishes served on bamboo.
When creating two-part reviews, consider which elements are best suited to the essential review. Keep in mind the product needs for both the more comprehensive coverage (essential review and extension) and the less comprehensive (essential review only).
Most valuable information The golden rule is that the essential review must have enough info for the traveller to make an informed decision: ‘why should I go’?
Active reorganising Ensuring the essential review gets the most appropriate info will often require more than just moving the second half of a review into the extension field.
Valuable doesn’t mean boring The most valuable info doesn’t mean it has to be dull. Important colour can be just as valuable as practical information.
60/80 words is a maximum, not a requirement Whether or not the extension is being used, there is no requirement that the essential review be stretched out to 60/80 words. Depending on the content you want to include – ie what is essential and what is additional – a 100-word Sight review might best be split into a 40-word essential review and a 60 word extension.
Make a smooth transition Ensure that the review extension reads like a smooth and natural continuation from the essential review – avoid jarring transitions.
Overall review length (Essential + Extension) reflects the importance of the POI: more preferred venues get more coverage; less-preferred venues will have shorter reviews (just the basics).
As with all content, reviews deliver information as concisely as possible – a longer review is not necessarily a better review. For products with extent limitations (eg guidebooks), longer reviews mean fewer reviews. Writers and editors always consider the value of the information provided, and the concision with which that information is delivered.
Word counts given for Essential Reviews are maximums, not desired counts.
The majority of POIs will not require a Review Extension and will be perfectly served by a review that sits comfortably within the Essential Review.
Review Extensions are not a dumping ground for any information gathered; they judiciously provide coverage important to travellers that do not fit the Essential Review section.
For Sights POIs, where a Review Extension is also used, the total review (Essential + Extension) would generally not exceed 300 words, though some sights may warrant longer.
For other POI types, where a Review Extension is used, the total review would generally not exceed 120 words, though some POIs may warrant longer.
Where updating an existing review, its current length is a good guide to the expected coverage; review lengths should not be increased or reduced unless there is good call to do so.
POI review content defaults to plain text; it can take the following special formats as required:
bold (character style)
italic (character style).
Bold formatting may be used to call out/highlight items of interest that are not linked to POIs.
Where punctuation (eg a comma) follows a word in Bold, it does not take bold formatting (unless it is part of a phrase or proper noun being formatted as a whole). This differs to the approach taken with punctuation following italicised words.
Directions and transport information are typically only included in reviews where a POI is particularly hard to find, and the traveller could not be expected to find it using just the address or other accessible information on the ground.
When a POI filed within a place in the CMS is physically located outside that place (eg an outlying temple usually visited as a side trip from the city), this should be made clear in the review text, eg with reference to distance from the city and/or a brief explanation of how to get there.
It is usually the case that if directions are being included they are inherently ‘essential’ – and should therefore be included in the Essential Review – but judgement is used when the word-count limits of Essential Reviews make it difficult to include directions and other important information.