I'm a fan of TripAdvisor, which is made up of 'real' people's reviews, and which I've found to be an invaluable source for reasonable hotels. It's not infallible, though, and I think I might well become addicted to its blog. As they put it:

[W]hat do we really talk about over lunch at TripAdvisor? The stuff we can’t publish. Whether it’s funny, rude, bizarre, potentially libelous, incomprehensible, or all of the above, we love it, and we think you will too.

Some people have, ahem, different standards to the rest of us:

Subject: Columbus Studios Hostel
Title: Got what I paid for..
Rating: 2

For the price I paid to stay on New York's Upper West Side, I was surprised it wasn't worse. The room smelled like armpits and years of filth, but there weren't any creepy-crawlies, and I found the staff to be most gracious and helpful.

I could have done without the blood-stained mattress and the (actual) chunk of poop on my bedspread, but I didn't expect the Hilton.

Overall, in a pinch (or if I couldn't afford better, as was the case this time) I would stay there again. They were quite happy to give me new bedspreads when I reported the poop.