Two national assessing tourism bodies Visit Britain and The AA assess hotels, guest accommodation self catering apartments and holiday cottages in England using the same criteria and award from one upto five stars. The amount of stars is supposed to reflect the overall quality of the customer experience.
Be Aware
A few guesthouse establishments still call themselves hotels, but have in fact chosen to be assessed under a diffrent classisifcation - guesthouses. They may well be a hotel, but they opted to be assessed as a guesthouse, both types of accommodation with have a diffrent tick box scoring criteria.
It's a total mess, which sooner or later will need changing or the growing demand for online reviews will replace inspection bodies, to the detriment of Britain's Tourism Industry.
To be sure
look for the tiny words below the star symbol Hotel or Guesthouse on the blue Visit Britain Logo or yellow AA tourism Logo to identify exactly which is which.
To confuse you further -
A 3 star Hotel is a very good grade, a 3 star guesthouse or 3 star holiday cottage will not be of the same standard, offer the same services or facilities.
A 4 star hotel is a rare beast, and should be of excellent standard, provide superb service and have lots of facilities. However,
the vast majority of assessed accommodation possibly 80% of inspected and graded guesthouse and self catering holiday cottages also confusingly achieve the same bog standard 4 star rating.
The top rating of 5 stars are the best of the best in all types of accommodation classifications.
So our advice is ... alway read the accommodation's written classsifaction under the stars on the logo before you book or check out or Google the establishments online reviews.
Another issue is location and tranquility, both of which are so important when buying property or taking a holiday, but neither are taken into account when the amount of stars are allocated.
Money Saving Expert
Sums up the current star mess, found under the title "Dont Trust The Star System"
Accommodation Types
Hotels
Hotels have to be licensed, offer dinner at least 5 nights a week and have all rooms en-suite or with a private bathroom. A three star hotel will have rooms en-suite, room service and a permanently staffed reception. Five stars will have spacious rooms, some luxury suites, a lift to all floors and enhanced services such as a concierge.
Guest Accommodation/Guest House
Guest accommodation are often family owned and managed, they have to provide certain additional facilities and services to gain a higher level of star rating. Three star accommodation will offer a bathroom not shared and a sink in the room (if not en suite). Five star accommodation will have all rooms en suite and will offer excellent customer service and a degree of luxury in the room.
Self Catering
The layout and the design of the accommodation and the range and quality of the kitchen equipment is assessed as well as the quality and comfort of the bedrooms and bathrooms and most importantly the cleanliness
Holiday, Touring and Camping Parks
The star rating reflects the overall quality of a holiday park from one to five stars, five stars being reserved for parks of exceptional quality.
Gold and Silver Awards
For guest accommodation or hotels that go the extra mile with good service to make your holiday a really special one, Gold or Silver Awards may be achieved and displayed alongside the official rating.
Online Reviews
Google or check out the establishment of your choice written online reviews from previous guests.
Please read several to get a general overview.
