What the Star Rating of Hotels Means

Hotels are typically rated based on quality, this quality is measured by the facilities and amenities that are provided by the hotel. When classifying the hotel’s star rate the following elements are taken into consideration:

• Room size
• Amenities
• View
• Ease of access
• Food
• Entertainment
• Spas
• Fitness centers (gym)
• Location
• All these elements play a pivotal role in the rating of the hotel.

Unfortunately, there is no global system in place used to classify or rate hotels. However, there are a variety of classification schemes around the world that undertake hotel ratings and each country has their own rating system in place. Some examples of hotel classifiers are:

• Travel organizations
• Travel and tourism websites
• Government organs or agencies

That being said, it is important to note that the rating given to a hotel may imply the reviewer’s opinion of the hotel and may not necessarily be a reflection of the quality or level of the luxury of the hotel. This is common in the case of travel and tourism websites as they allow travelers to give ratings of hotels based on their liking or experience at the hotel. Therefore, it is important to find out who has rated the hotel; for example a travel blogger may give a hotel a five star rating while another blogger may give it a one star rating. Hence the need to be aware of who is rating the hotel.

There are different rating systems in different countries, however, most of them are similar in ranking. Most systems used involve a star rating with the larger number of stars indicating the higher the quality of luxury. Some examples of ranking systems across the globe are:

• U. K. – the Automobile Association (AA) and Tourist Boards of Britain, Wales and Scotland; these are the main organizations which rank hotels using the star system

• Australia – Australia Motoring Services uses the one to five star rating system
• U. S. A. – the U. S uses the diamond rating system which is similar to the star system of using one to five diamonds; one diamond indicating the lowest level of luxury and the five diamonds indicating the highest level of luxury. The American Automobile Association (AAA) ranks hotels in America.

Star ratings represent the following:

1 Star Hotels – are suited for budget travelers and provide clean and simple accommodation. The rooms are small and may not have private bathrooms, in room phones or other facilities. Such hotels are normally located near major attractions or transportation centers.

2 Star Hotels – have more amenities and services than 1 Star hotels, they too provide clean basic and simple accommodation. Rooms are small to medium sized and have private bathrooms, telephone and television, and serve continental breakfast.

3 Star Hotels – more spacious rooms with quality amenities and services, well laid out lobbies and have meeting and conference facilities.

4 Star Hotels – is upscale accommodation, complete room service, personalized services, valet parking, high quality bedding and linen.

5 Star Hotels – most luxurious and expensive hotels and provide personalized services.

To find accommodation in any of the above star rated hotels start looking for hotel booking website.

For more information on hotel booking, the author recommends Jafeti.Com.