Comments on: 7 star hotel ratings are now official? Nonsense!

By: A Luxury Travel Blog » An 8 star hotel experience?

A Luxury Travel Blog » An 8 star hotel experience? — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:51:13 +0000

[...] stated on this blog previously that some hotel star ratings are a bit of a nonsense, as new 6 and 7 hotels continued to spring up. [...]

By: jeremy

jeremy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:11:22 +0000

I agree the Town House Galleria proclaimed to be a 7 star hotel before even opening..I think thats absurd you need to be officialy given the stars not give it to yourself…the Italian tourist board does not have 6 or 7 stars but 5 stars and max 5 star deluxe

By: Stephen Dunk

Stephen Dunk — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:44:54 +0000

I don’t disagree Paul, but you still are at the mercy of a subjective opinion somewhere along the line. The real issue is how does anyone not “in the industry” really understand – and even those that are may not know about different ratings in different countries. It is probably why “brands” do so well, you know what you get with Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton etc wherever you are in the world!

By: Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:43:13 +0000

You are right in everything you say, Stephen, and raise another interesting point. Official ratings vary from country to country too, of course, as well as them changing over time. In England alone, in a relatively short time we’ve had hotels classified by stars, red stars, crowns and more. And then there’s the additional classification systems for hotel food (Michelin stars, AA rosettes, etc.), accessibility, green-ness and so on. It really is a minefield for the layperson!

I actually preferred the old system employed by what was the English Tourist Board at the time. They used to differentiate between facilities (which were denoted by one to five crowns) and quality (denoted by words such as ‘approved’, ‘commended’, ‘highly commended’ and ‘de luxe’). As a rule of thumb, you were better off – in my opinion, at least – in a one crown de luxe hotel than you were in a five crown approved hotel, simply because you knew that the quality was there.

Paul

By: Stephen Dunk

Stephen Dunk — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:28:38 +0000

Star ratings have always been open to a degree of interpretation – and how and who rates hotels means that there is always going to be a difference of opinion. If the rating is purely “objective” it can’t take into account ambience, style or service. For instance, I know of a hotel, that in my view is easily “5 star” but because it doesn’t have a lift can’t get the rating – it’s all on one floor! Likewise there are some fabulous country house hotels that are like staying in private homes, but without 24 hour room service can’t get the rating either.

In my experience of 5 star rated hotels, more often than not it is the service that differentiates them – sometimes the rooms can be almost shabby and the bathrooms not as good as you may get in a 3 or 4 star, however the overall experience is sublime – I think of places like The Carlyle in New York, which is understated, glamorous (and where the Royal Family stay) or Claridges in London.

As for 6 or 7 star – what more can they really offer? The Burj in Dubai is fantastic – but hideous and somewhat soul-less. However, as the cliche goes – one man’s meat is another man’s poison. It really is down to personal taste. Even official ratings can’t always get it right for you.