Hotel rating
Food services, entertainment, view, room variations such as size and additional amenities, spas and fitness centers, ease of access and location may be considered in establishing a standard.
Hotels are independently assessed in traditional systemsand rest heavily on the facilities provided[clarification needed].
Some consider this assessment method disadvantageous to smaller hotels, whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but whose lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization.
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the rating is defined by the respective hotel industry association using a five-star system.
[8] Star Ratings are awarded to hotels, motels, serviced apartments, self-catering, hosted accommodation and caravan-holiday parks.
It was first owned by the state based automobile clubs including NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAC, RAA and RACT.
The William Angliss Institute in Melbourne developed an independent benchmarking framework to show if a property has met or exceeded guest expectations.
At a conference in Bergen in 2004, the partners drafted a hotel classification system in order to harmonize their national standards.
In 2007 HOTREC launched the European Hospitality Quality scheme (EHQ) which has since accredited the existing national inspection bodies for hotel rating.
Under the patronage of HOTREC, the hotel associations of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland created the Hotelstars Union.
This system became effective in these countries in January 2010, with the exception of Hungary, Switzerland and the Netherlands, who have chosen later dates for the change.
Later more countries have joined the HOTREC hotelstars system: Estonia (2011), Latvia (2011), Lithuania (2011), Luxembourg (2011), Malta (2012), Belgium (2013), Denmark (2013), Greece (2013), Liechtenstein (2015), Slovenia (2017), Azerbaijan (2020) and Georgia (2021).
Instead of a strict minimum in room size and required shower facilities (e.g. a bath tub in a four-star hotel) there is a catalogue of criteria with 7 qualification areas encompassing 247 elements, where some are mandatory for a star and others optional.
The hotel says the label originates from an unnamed British journalist on a press visit and that they neither encourage the term's use nor do they use it in their advertising.
Overall, as no traditional organization or formal body awards or recognizes any rating over five-star deluxe;[22] such claims are predominantly used for advertising purposes.
In recent years, alternative hotel ratings are starting to appear in an effort to promote sustainability or cultural diversity in international tourism.
[23] Green Key International is a voluntary eco-classification awarded to around 2,900 hotels and other establishments in 57 countries by the Foundation for Environmental Education.
[29] Archipelago Hotels, Indonesia's biggest hospitality firm, is a prominent member of the Salam Standard system.
[31] "In today’s world, consumers rely heavily on online information when making purchasing decisions, be it for a new smartphone or the next holiday resort.
