Hotel Luxury All In The Stars?

There is no unified definition of a four-star hotel across Europe and most ratings are provided by the government. The ratings on the outside of the building are based on an objective facilities and services assessment and do not take into consideration ambiance, charm or other subjective criteria. The ratings are quantitative, not qualitative, measuring how many, not how well.

Several countries use different systems, leading to further confusion: in Switzerland, ratings are provided by a volunteer organisation, in Greece there is the A to Erating, and in France, where hotels cannot even achieve five stars as the highest rating is 4 star deluxe, hoteliers may opt for a lesser star rating because they pay less tax, but you are in fact getting more for your money. Therefore, don't entirely rely upon hotel ratings.

It is wise to do a little digging around before selecting a hotel based on star ratings. The Michelin Red Guides are a reliable source of consistent information for accommodation across Europe. Michelin's inspectors test establishments in every country. Their latest editions offer their own three star system, the new Bib Hotel rating, offering 'good accommodations at reasonable prices'.

For UK hotels, the AA and RAC have teamed up with Visit Britain to adopt a standardised rating system with a 1 to 5 classification that is based on an overnight mystery guest visit by their inspectors, ensuring you get what you expect. A publication called the Good Hotel Guide is also available giving unbiased assessments of UK hotels, it's not funded by hotel advertising and claims to review hotels warts 'n all.

A particularly useful rating system is the Official Hotel Guide (OHG), which covers the world. It's extremely expensive, but any high-street travel agent will have a copy in his or her office. It uses common definitions for hotels around the world.

Remember that travel guides are useful but should not be relied upon religiously as hotels put their prices up, management changes, good places go down-hill and travel guides become out-dated. Always obtain the latest print of travel guides.

The Routard Guides (published by Hachette in the UK) are excellent for choosing accommodation if you are visiting Southern Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Southern France or Italy. They give detailed descriptions of accommodation. Both Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide series give a brief account of accommodation, with price codes.

The secret is to browse a wide selection of these books at your local library, to see what different books say about one particular hotel and reach a general consensus by combining their views.

Lonely Planet's online forum,?the Thorn Tree, www.thorntree.lonelyplanet.com is the place to read hotel reviews from tourists and pose your own questions, although it tends to be aimed at backpackers.

One of the best resources is Holiday Truths, www.holidaytruths.co.uk. The website covers a wide European destination list on its online forum, where you can cut through the travel agent brochure waffle and get the truth from people who have actually stayed in a hotel. The comments are written by tourists and best of all, tell the truth. It's wise if you are thinking of booking a hotel, to post a query under the relevant section and await feedback.

Word of mouth recommendation can be second to none. If you are already in a country, ask a local to recommend a hotel. Remember too that certain names are synonymous with high standards, such as the Paradores in Spain, www.parador.es but they are fairly expensive. The fact that a large part of Europe now has the Euro currency means you can compare price for price across different destinations.

If you are environmentally conscious, hotels are also graded by their contribution to protecting the environment at www.greenstop.net.

The key to exploiting the hotel star rating systems, and staying in a hotel you will be happy with, is research. If you do your research carefully, using different sources, then you should be able to obtain a general consensus about a hotel's quality.

Tip: It is your right to view a room before you commit to staying in it. Always ask to do so.

HOW HOTELS ARE RATED ELSEWHERE

America
The American AA'ss diamond system is stricter than most countries' ratings. An American 3 diamond property is usually equal to 4 stars elsewhere.

France
Hotels range from 0-41delux. Key factors are room size -double rooms must measure 125 sqft, number of lifts, telephones in bedrooms and the number of languages staff speak. Simple places with fewer rooms are classed HT and together with the one-star hotels tend to be modest.

Germany
Five categories are: tourist, standard, comfort, first class and luxury indicated by up to 5 stars. The rating is based on bedroom size, ensuite facilities, mini bar, restaurant and room service.

Austria
Most hotels are graded 1-5 stars but this is not compulsory. Big issues are noise levels so doors are expected to be solid and sound proof.

Greece
A-E with L for luxury ratings considers bathrooms size, number of public rooms and width of corridor. Hotels graded D and E do not have to provide private bathrooms and below E covers inns or pandokia but these sometimes offer better accommodation than their higher graded cousins.

Italy
A 1-5 star system is used based on cleanliness, number of staff and facilities such as mini-bar, telephones, and television. A 5 star hotel will have rooms cleaned twice a day. Pensioni are usually basic one-star inns. But no matter how beautiful, if the reception is in a different building to the rooms it will stay one star.

Spain
A 1-5 star scheme takes into account air conditioning. A 'P' is used to indicate a 'pension', which usually have 1 or 2 stars and often have shared bathrooms. 'Hs' denotes 'hostales' which are rated up to 2 stars. These can be larger than pensions. Hoteles are denoted with a simple 'H' with a 1-5 star rating. Those denoted with 'HR' will only serve breakfast

19 June 2005