A lack of unified standards around the world makes working out hotel star ratings a real puzzle, says Sara Turner
Navigating global hotel star ratings can prove surprisingly tricky. A one- to five-star measure seems simple enough, but many will testify that standards of service can vary a considerable amount, especially when travelling outside Europe.
In some countries the rating system is run by governments, in some by voluntary bodies, while in others there are multiple schemes. So how can you know what to expect?
In the UK, official star ratings have for the past three years been run jointly by the AA and government-funded tourist boards Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales. Before 2007, the boards ran their own schemes separately, so the criteria for a five-star hotel in Scotland would have been different to that in England.
Under today’s scheme, hotels in England, Scotland and Wales can pay to be star rated. A 64-page document outlines exactly what it takes to win each star, and it is pretty complicated. To achieve one star, the hotel must have a dining room or restaurant serving a cooked breakfast every day of the week and an evening meal five days – unless it’s a “metro hotel” (a sub-category reserved for properties in towns or cities), in which case it doesn’t have to provide dinner.
In the UK scheme, a lot of emphasis is placed on eating. Take breakfast – at a two-star hotel, it must be served for at least an hour, while at a five-star a three-hour service is mandatory. A three-star must provide at least one meal via room service and a seven-day restaurant or dining room offering breakfast and dinner. Four-star properties must offer lunch and 24-hour room service, while a five-star needs added extras, such as afternoon tea or a second restaurant.
Bear in mind, though, that the rating doesn’t tell you anything about the décor. Hotels with decades-old wallpaper and carpets can achieve five stars with the right facilities, but an immaculately turned out boutique property might barely be able to muster three if its facilities are limited.
Higher ratings don’t necessarily mean larger bedrooms, either. To achieve one star in the UK, single rooms must be at least 5.6 sqm, doubles 8.4 sqm, and twin rooms 10.2 sqm. But for higher ratings, no mention is made of room size – instead, it’s about variety. To be a four-star you need at least one suite, and a five-star “a number of permanent luxury suites”.
Go across to mainland Europe and it’s a different story – what makes a hotel five star can be very different. In Germany, for example, a double room in a one-star hotel must measure at least 12 sqm, while a four-star double room needs to be at least 22 sqm.
So is there any chance of a regional system being brought in? It’s unlikely, says Jeremy Brinkworth, head of industry services at Visit England. “The various organisations across Europe do get together to discuss these things, but there is no pan-European rating at the moment primarily because, although we all use stars, the type of scheme varies,” he says. “We look more at facilities and service in hospitality, but some other countries, such as Italy, are purely facilities-based.”
And while it might be difficult to gauge a hotel by its star rating, it can be even harder to work out on price, with lower rated properties often more expensive than higher ones. Trevor Elswood, chief executive of hotel booking agency BSI, says: “It’s horribly subjective. There will be times when a four-star is more expensive than a five-star, or a three-star more expensive than a four. It’s not reflective of the end product.”
Things have got even more confusing as the line of luxury has become blurred. While not so long ago five-star properties were once the height of opulence, there is now a “seven-star” hotel in Milan, and a few in the Middle East. But who gets to decide if a hotel has six or seven stars? Apparently, as no official rating goes that high, it’s up to the hotel, which is somewhat less than objective. At the Townhouse Seven Stars Galleria hotel in Milan, it is based on factors such as being able to request gym equipment for your room and having a personal butler on call.
For James Berresford, chief executive of Visit England, such ratings are merely a promotional tool. “Personally I’m not a fan of six- and seven-star hotels, because where do you stop?” he says. “There’s no room for that in our system. For a system to be credible, it has to have strong ground rules.”
According to Margaret Bowler, director of global hotel relations at travel management company HRG, one of the problems is that anyone can publicise themselves with a star rating, as the stars carry no trademark. “I could put a website up tomorrow for Margaret Bowler’s hotel and list it as five-star,” she says. “Then, when somebody looked at it, they would [take it as read].” Star ratings will give you an indication of what to expect but it won’t necessarily be what you imagine.” To combat this, in England you should look out for the patented Quality Rose mark, which all officially accredited properties have.
In a bid to add to the official scale of luxury, Dubai, home to Jumeirah’s “seven-star” Burj Al Arab hotel, is in the process of adopting a new rating scheme. From the end of this year, five-star properties will have three categories – platinum, gold and silver. A spokesperson for the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing says: “Hospitality properties will continue to be rated on the scale of one to five stars, but new categories have been added to highlight their uniqueness. The new classification system has taken into consideration several factors to provide a system that matches international standards.”
The system will also categorise properties as beach, desert, heritage and business. The last will be helpful as Nigel Turner, director of UK public sector for travel management company Carlson Wagonlit, says business travellers have previously been neglected by rating schemes. “I think many people will have stayed in four- or five-star hotels that haven’t got wifi, or even broadband access in the room,” he says. “There are lots of things that business travellers see now not as luxuries but as basic requirements.”
What about in the US? Here there are several competing schemes, all independently run but, according to one hotelier, the travelling public pays little attention. Richard Millard, chief executive of Miami-based Desires Hotels, has been in the hospitality business for 45 years. He says that in America it’s all about branding. “Very few people use the term five-star,” he says. Instead, they plump for fuzzier descriptions. “It’s either the brand designation or the product type – whether boutique, lifestyle, limited service or full-service,” he explains. “They designate the quality level by either the brand or the affiliation it might have [to a group such as the Leading Hotels of the World].”
But to add to the complexity, globally, even brands can vary – for example, Park Inn properties in the Middle East would tend to be full service with a choice of restaurants and sometimes even pools. HRG’s Bowler says: “With some brands you will get a completely different product in Europe than in North America. I’ve spoken to a lot of the hotels and asked if it’s going to change, if they’re going to make it consistent, and the answer is ‘no’.”
This is why many people are looking to other sources to judge a property and find out the views of the honest punter. Websites such as tripadvisor.co.uk have hundreds of traveller reviews on individual properties, but these tend to be based on perceptions of quality and value rather than the luxe factor. For example, as we went to press, the Premier Inn London Victoria had more than 60 reviews on Tripadvisor giving it an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5, while the luxury Grosvenor House’s 275 reviews gave an average of only 4 out of 5. Also, business travellers should bear in mind that reviews are as likely to be from a holidaying family or couple who would be rating a hotel on different criteria.
Recognising the growing popularity of online reviews, Visit England is thinking about linking its star scheme with social media in some way. Berresford says: “The world is changing, and we are looking to consider how we can better promote the star system in the future by linking it to socially generated media content, because that has changed the way people make their decisions.”
All the same, Berresford maintains that there will always be a need for a concrete star system. “It’s hugely important that England can promote itself as a quality destination, and if we’re to give both domestic and international visitors the confidence that English accommodation is good, to have inspection schemes is vital,” he says. Just do your homework before you book to ensure you’re getting what you’re paying for.
ORIGINS OF THE STAR SYSTEM
Using stars to denote the quality of hotels can be traced back to the UK, and to the nation’s love of brandy. In 1908, three years after the Automobile Association (AA) was founded, members complained about how difficult it was to find reasonable meals and accommodation. So the AA stepped in by including “about 1,000 of the leading hotels” in its members’ handbook.
These were required to provide only lunch and overnight accommodation, and to show a bulletin board. By 1912, the AA realised a more critical approach was required to show the types of hotels included. The then AA secretary Stenson Cooke thought the star rating system used for brandy would work well, with three stars being the top standard (for brandy, this meant aged for three years in a wood barrel). Hotel inspectors would have to pay their own way and accept no favours –
a principle that still exists today, the AA says.
The RAC was also involved in running the scheme, having formed a hotel rating alliance with the AA in 1945, but cut its losses in 2005. Until 2003, the system rather confusingly involved diamonds as well as stars. Hotels were rated with one to five stars, while “guest accommodation”, referring to bed and breakfasts or campsites, was rated using diamonds. Now all accommodation is rated using stars.
