Why the number of stars in a hotel does not matter anymore

Let the traveler raise his hand if he has not felt scammed in any hotel in the world. Establishments of four stars that look like two, others of three that resemble pensions ... Did you think that all luxury accommodations are the same all over the world? Well, no. The hotel classification system is a party, because it does not follow the same criteria in Austria as in the United States or in Spain, for example. Moreover, it does not even follow the same pattern in Burgos as in Huelva.

Because of their obsolescence, and because the rules that apply in each country do not converge, the stars are on the way to crashing. Imagine the chaos: since the powers in tourism were transferred to the Spanish Autonomous Communities, there are 17 different hotel classifications in the skin of bulls. Hence, there is no consensus when ordering a hotel, because although in practice the differences are minimal, the legislation in this respect is different in each region. 

This leads to surreal situations in which a hotel in Navarra very similar to another in Aragon can look a star more or less than its competitor even though they are barely three kilometers apart. And this without the foreign customer, who in Spain accounts for more than half of all hotel clients, know that both belong to different administrative regions.

"The star system has been very useful so far. It was necessary to look for an objective method of comparison and, for a hotel, it was necessary to meet a minimum to enter into this or that category ", explains Ramón Estalella, general secretary of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation ( CEHAT ), which represents 14,000 independent hotels, hotel chains, spas, campsites and tourist apartments. "But, once the category has been obtained, nobody reviews the stars of a hotel with the passage of time. It can be very outdated and still have four. "

In the rest of Europe, the same thing happened here: nobody agreed. Even some countries lacked a hotel classification system. But the European Industry Association ( HOTREC ), which integrates the Spanish CEHAT, proposed a project to modify the model of stars. On June 12, 2007, the European parliamentarian Paolo Costa generated a debate in the European Union about the convenience of harmonizing the classification systems in the different states for the sake of greater market transparency. And in 2009 Hotelstars Union was born ,a single hotel management system for seven countries: Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Hungary. Today, Hotelstars Union represents a market of 300,000 hotels classified in 15 European states. Among them is not Spain or France or Italy.

QUESTION OF POINTS

The HOTREC is a point system: it requires a minimum score to obtain one of the categories. For example, by having a "spacious reception, with several seats and drinks service", an establishment will receive 10 points. By enabling a mirror in the bathroom, one. Some requirements, out of a total of 640, are optional. Others, totally obligatory. It is the sum of these points that leads to include hotels in the star categories, from one to five. Those of the highest rank, five stars, must offer a multilingual 24-hour reception service, bellhops, valet parking, lobby with drinks and room service with a 24-hour menu.

"The star system has been very useful so far. It was necessary to look for an objective method of comparison and, for a hotel, it was necessary to meet a minimum to enter into this or that category ", explains Ramón Estalella, general secretary of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation ( CEHAT ), which represents 14,000 independent hotels, hotel chains, spas, campsites and tourist apartments. "But, once the category has been obtained, nobody reviews the stars of a hotel with the passage of time. It can be very outdated and still have four. "

Returning to Spain: a high-end urban hotel can take the decision not to open a restaurant in its premises because several are located in its area. But, according to some of the 17 legislations, it is mandatory to offer it from the four stars. "The system in Spain takes into account the square meters, not the services", explains Ramón Estalella. However, in the structure devised by HOTREC, a hotel may decide not to open a restaurant and the system will not demand it.

"The European Commission has said that Hotelstars Union is the best procedure. If Spain enters the competition, not only would it not lose, but it would continue to be the country with the best relationship between quality and price in the world, "says Estalella, who advocates for Spanish hoteliers to join Hotelstars Union. "It's about adapting it to our needs. Here we would give more points to the pools than to the saunas, and also more to the languages, "he says. Of course, the client who goes out to the United States or England, where there are no stars, will continue to find that they are governed by other parameters.

In any case, in a globalized world in which millions of consumers consult the Internet before embarking on a trip, the star system seems prehistoric, according to some hoteliers. "They force us to put the stars, but we've always run away from them. A hotel with two or three stars in many countries is a horror. Sometimes you get to one of five and it's not renewed. Our hotels are always between three and four stars, and what we offer is exactly the same in a hotel that by law has given us four than in one for which they have given us two, " says Kike Sarasola, president of the Spanish chain Room Mate.

CUSTOMERS SCORE

Technology and social networks are transforming the landscape. One of the reasons why the star system is not in tune with consumers is because they increasingly access the pages of user experiences such as TripAdvisor. And there the names of the best accommodations do not always coincide with those of five stars. On the other hand, in Spain there is not much consideration for services related to technology, such as the fact that there is free WiFi in the rooms.

And there is still another reason why the star rating system would have the days counted: the large hotel chains prefer that the customer is guided by the name of their brands. Thus, the guests of the Spanish Meliá, for example, should know that an ME by Meliá is a young and friendly hotel, and that Sol Hotels & Resorts is a low-end signature of holiday establishments.

There are still other questions about the star rating method. What about the subcategories that have been emerging in recent years? Is a boutique hotel the same as a four star but decorated with better taste? And what about those who call themselves seven stars? And this without getting into rural tourism, where there are up to 40 different denominations: farmhouses, inns, rural houses ... I said: a mess.

So that you do not suffer disappointment once you arrive at your destination, here we summarize the minimum requirements by category in Spain. But insist, remember that there is no single system and that these are only the most relevant characteristics:

1 STAR

Double room of 12 square meters, single room of seven m2, bathroom with bath or shower of 3.5 m2, heating and elevator.

2 STARS

Double room of 14 m2, single room of seven m2, bathroom with bath or shower of 3.5 m2, telephone in room, heating, elevator and safe service.

3 STAR

Double room of 15 m2, single room of eight m2, bathroom with bath or shower of four m2, telephone in room, heating, air conditioning in common areas, elevator, bar and safe service.

4 STARS

Double room of 16 m2, single room of 9 m2, bathroom with bath and shower of 4.5 m2, telephone in room, heating, air conditioning in room, elevator, bar and safe in room.

5 STARS

Double room of 17 m2, single room of 10 m2, bathroom with bath and shower of five m2, telephone in room, heating, air conditioning in room, elevator, bar and safe in room.

7 STARS

They do not exist in any system, they are pure marketing.