The following article will explain how the star-based hotel rating system evolve. Mapping out the details of a trip can be tricky, especially when going somewhere you been before. Once you’ve decided on the destination, it’s time to start selecting hotels. With so much to consider, selecting the perfect place can be difficult.
You might seek recommendations from business colleagues, friends, or even family members but the chances are you’ll get mixed opinions. After all, different people have different reasons for what constitutes a “good” hotel and what makes a hotel less appealing.
Your next step might be the internet. Travel sites, often user-generated, including TripAdvisor, Expedia, Kayak, Travelocity, and Orbitz all offer rating systems. But do you know precisely what their ratings mean or where their stars (or whatever icons they use) came from? A little history on the hotel star system might come in handy.
In 1958, Mobil, the international oil and gas corporation, began funding a project that paid anonymous assessors to review restaurants, hotels, and spas. Thus, the five-star rating system and the Mobil Travel Guide were born. The guide devised the five-star system to help travelers objectively determine where to eat and stay while traveling in the US.
Marion and Alden Stevens, authors of The Stevens America, a Traveler’s Guide to the United States, published in 1950, contacted publishers Simon & Schuster about doing another travel book. Max L Schuster, a fan of France’s Guide Michelin, offered the Stevenses an opportunity to create a Michelin-style guide for the US. After much negotiation, Magnolia Oil (later incorporated into Mobil, which became ExxonMobil) agreed to finance the project. Since Magnolia’s territory covered Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, the first pocket-sized 1958-59 Mobil Travel Guide covered that region.
Once the Stevenses signed on to produce the Mobil Travel Guide, they hired and trained nine people, paying them USD1.75 per inspection. As the operation grew, field inspectors—generally teachers and graduate students during their summer break—got a three-day crash course and were sent out to work.
In 2009, the original Mobil Travel Guide was relaunched as the Forbes Travel Guide and now it’s entirely online. Unlike user-generated review sites with inconsistent standards, the Forbes incognito inspectors have checked into thousands of hotels, dined at just as many restaurants, and experienced scores of spa treatments, using up to 900 standards to determine the ratings. The ratings are:
• Five-Star: These are outstanding, often iconic properties with virtually flawless service and amazing facilities.
• Four-Star: These are exceptional properties, offering high levels of service and quality of facility to match.
• Recommended: These are excellent properties with consistently good service and facilities.
In addition to the Forbes Travel Guide, the other top rating system in the US is the AAA Five Diamond Awards, which uses diamonds to denote what rating a hotel or restaurant may receive.
In most countries around the world, the hotel rating system comes under the authority of the government; in Qatar, it comes under Qatar Tourism (QT).
In 2004, HOTREC, an umbrella association of hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafes and similar establishments in Europe, and its associations have been working on bringing the hotel classification systems in the various European countries closer to one another. In 2009, seven members committed to apply almost identical criteria for their hotel classification and created the Hotelstars Union under the patronage of HOTREC. Since its creation, 11 additional European countries joined the initiative. Today Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland are members of the star family.
The UK, France and Spain also have a five-star system, but their system is reassessed every five years.
Star ratings generally run from one through to five. A greater number of stars corresponds with an increasing sense of luxury (and often a bigger price tag). It’s a graded system, with steps up between the bottom and top ratings. In many countries, they are follows:
- One-Star: Budget facilities that are clean and secure. Guests may be able to access fee-based services or facilities.
- Two-Star: Appealing to price conscious travellers, services and facilities are typically limited.
- Three-Star: A broad range of amenities are available, exceeding above-average accommodation needs. Service and design are of good quality.
- Four-Star: With a wide range of facilities, superior design qualities and excellent service, these hotels offer a deluxe guest experience
- Five-Star: Guests enjoy an extensive range of facilities and comprehensive services. Properties are well designed with attention to detail. Luxury is apparent across all areas of hotel operations.
Most of the hotels in Qatar are Five-Star hotels with well-known hotel brands such as Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental, and many more.
Officially, Six-Star and Seven-Star ratings do not exist – they are not offered by a formal or official body. According to international hotel classification systems, the maximum rating a hotel can achieve across the world is officially Five-Stars. However, experienced journalists, reviewers and guests created a coveted, unofficial Six-Star and Seven-Star categories in online and public discourse. These hotels exceed the luxury and premium service required to attain a Five-Star rating from an official body. To the public, these hotels include Burj Al Arab in Dubai, Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Pangu 7 Star Hotel in Beijing and Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. Properities of Raffles Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, and many others are usually considered Six-Star and Seven-Star properities for their ultra-luxury accommodation, facilities and services.
Author: Terry Sutcliffe
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