one could argue that you’re being unrealistic.

in fact, in the modern world of user generated content, the hotel star classification scheme will become redundant as it will be consumers that rate hotels and accommodation online, giving a truer picture of what a hotel is like.

perhaps.

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Yahsu,

I completely agree with you. However, in my experience, the validity of the rating depends on the dependability of the source and the city that you happen to be visiting.

In my experience, the ratings at http://www.hotelpronto.com, http://www.expedia.com, http://www.hotwire.com and http://www.hotels.com have been quite reasonable. The addition of user ratings at expedia and hotels.com is espeically useful.

That said, I have learned that these ratings tend to be far less reliable in major destination cities. When I booked a 4-star hotel in San Sebastian, Spain, through hotelpronto.com, I really got a fantastic 4-star hotel. When I booked a 3-star hotel in Paris through expedia.com, I got what I thought was barely a 2-star hotel. Same thing with the hotel I booked in Brussels through Expedia. When I used the service to get a 3-star Hotel in Duesseldorf, I got a nearly 4-star hotel.

Now, in these two cases, the locations were phenomenal. In Paris, I was next to the opera house, and in Brussels, I was literally on Grand Place (or Grote Markt, if you prefer Flemish/Dutch). So, I don’t know if location factors into these things or not. My location in Duesseldorf was good.

In general, however, ratings were far more consistent in Germany, Spain, and Netherlands. The UK is earning a reputation for inconsistency in everything these days. And, it might be a British phenomenon that you are experiencing, rather than a travel industry phenomenon.

Payam

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Hi Darren,

You are not the only one lost in all of those different star rating classifications. The hotel and tourism industries have been talking about this issue for years and haven’t much progressed since then. In France, the star rating is something very much regulated by the French Tourism Board and adopts a similar system like you mention. For example, if your hotel doesn’t have 24hours room service, you can’t be a 4 star hotel…Another question raised on Hotel Blogs is how can I qualify to call my property a Hotel ? What is the minimum of rooms to be called a Hotel? A work in progress…

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Darren,

Sorry. I have no idea why I addressed my post to Yahtsu. A moment of distraction.

If you click on the star rating at hotels.com, you get a popup that explains the ratings. It’s fairly vague, not of much help. I booked a 3-star hotel room at SF Airport recently through hotels.com. I would rate the Travelodge closer to 2-star, but it was a good room.

I booked a 4-star Union Square hotel 5 years ago in SF through hotwire.com (only $80 a night, what I paid for the SFO room two weeks ago!), and it was nearly a 5-star room.

In short, I have no idea. If the French government is regulating the star system, I did not see the effects of that regulation during my last stay in Paris. I suppose the question of whether international sites like Expedia follow French regulations in their ratings is still open. Perhaps the Michelin guides follow French laws, but Expedia Deutschland need not follow them.

Perhaps we should start a movement. Everybody should rate their hotels at the booking agency if the booking site accepts user ratings. I use user ratings as the tie-breaker. It’s the best I can do under the circumstances.

Payam

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interesting development>>>

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[...] Time to Standardise Hotel classifications – Sobre la necesidad de crear un standard en la clasificación de hoteles [...]

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Just booked a hotel, 4 star in Prague for £31 a night. Not sure what standard of hotels are in Prague.

Has anyone been to Prague?

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Are B&Bs the same classifcation as Hotels in France?

We’ve been told our B&B is 3 star, but not sure if this is the same standard as the 3 star hotel we stayed in last year.

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I stayed at an apartment operated by a bed and breakfast agency in Boston recently. After thinking about the consistency that I have experienced with B&Bs in Mendocino, CA, Toronto, Boston and Barcelona, I think I much prefer staying at B&Bs than at hotels, these days.

This, of course, begs the question: why can’t hotels just be as consistent as B&Bs? After all, some B&Bs offer 5-star service for the price of a 3-star hotel.

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