Whoever said a crap looking page converts better than a professional looking one, is wrong.
My guess is their "crap looking site" just got more targeted traffic than the other one, and they jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Having said that, I have one review site which is literally one page - a review of one of my own products. It converts 1 in 11 hops on average, with a 70% CTR. It looks awful to be honest, I made it in about an hour. However, looks-wise even though it's amateur, it probably gives a more "truthful" feel as it is long and covers everything the product is about - the key point that makes the ctr and sale ratio so high is the content, not what it "looks" like.
Basically, if you're going to review a product, review it. If someone goes to a site or page titled "xyz review" - they expect a review, warts and all. They will not trust a 300-word page which is obviously designed just to sell whatever it is talking about.