As you shop around for the perfect hotel, you may find yourself wondering, how does hotel classification work, exactly, and what should you pay attention to?
First thing’s first: you’re not the only one who has ever been confused by hotel classification systems. There’s more than one way to rank or assess a hotel, and you need to have in mind what exactly you are looking to have evaluated about a place before you let a rating system sway you toward or away from a particular hotel.
Not all hotels are created equal, and that’s actually fine with the hotels themselves. Different hotels target different markets, so you can expect to find some amenities widespread in some markets that aren’t typically offered in others. Each type of hotel is doing its best to appeal to a different segment of the population.
Some of the hotel types you might encounter include business hotels, extended stay/residential hotels, resort hotels, convention centre hotels and budget hotels.
With this in mind, you can focus your hotel search on the type or types of hotels that make sense for your travel needs.
This is probably the hotel classification and rating that most travellers have encountered, but it’s important that you understand exactly what the stars or letter grades for level of service are trying to express before you write off all one- and two-star hotels and look only at four- and five-star hotels.
Star ratings give you a sense of the level of service that hotel is intending to offer its guests, not necessarily its success in doing so. What does that mean? If a hotel is a one-star location, that doesn’t automatically mean the hotel is a poor place to stay. It means the hotel is offering an economy/basic service to consumers looking for low-cost lodging options.
On the other end of the spectrum, a five-star hotel isn’t necessarily always perfect in its execution of guest services. What five-stars indicates, instead, is that this hotel offers luxury or deluxe accommodations and amenity types, so if you are looking to be pampered while on your trip, this might be the type of hotel you are looking for.
Two- and three-star hotels are mid-range hotels, offering affordable rooms and yet providing a selection of appealing bonuses, like fitness rooms, pools and complimentary breakfasts, among other things.
Now that you understand a bit more about hotel classification and how it works, you’ll be sure to weigh the relevant factors about a location that you’re considering for your next overnight stay.
