The best way to find good or bad references about a hosting service, is always googling and foruns. I always look for a good support and how flexible it's service provider is. One that i have as a development and staging server is in the "A small orange" http://www.asmallorange.com/services/vps/. They have even a developer package, that, is what i use. But i started there getting a simple cheaper hosting plan (25 dollars/year) and I checked their support, their uptime and when i felt confident in their service, i've got a VPS. I recommend it.
