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Quality Assurance Hotel Category

Category: Hotels

When you are looking for a place to stay you need a rating system you can trust. VisitBritain and AA ratings are your clear guide to what to expect, in an easy to understand form. Properties are visited annually by trained, impartial assessors, so you can have confidence that your accommodation has been thoroughly checked and rated for quality before you make a booking.

Using a simple one to five rating, it puts great emphasis on quality and is based on research which showed exactly what consumers are looking for when choosing accommodation.

Within the Hotel category are designators that will give customers a further indication of the style that can be expected. These include:

Hotels - are likely to have a minimum of six bedrooms, but more likely to have 20+ rooms.
Small Hotels - are likely to have a maximum of 20 bedrooms and likely to be more personally run.
Country House Hotels - are likely to have ample grounds or gardens, in a rural or semi-rural location, with emphasis on peace and quiet.
Town House Hotels - are in a city/town centre location and are of high quality with a distinctive style. High ratio of staff to guests.
Metro Hotels - are found in city/town centres, offering full hotel services, but no dinner. Will be within easy walking distance of a range of places to eat.
Budget Hotels - are part of a chain of branded hotels offering clean and comfortable en suite facilities, 24-hour reservations and a consistent level of facilities. They are not awarded a star rating.

ONE Star:

Tend to be smaller properties, privately owned and open seven days a week during operating season.

Simple, practical style accommodation with limited range of facilities and services. All bedrooms will have en-suite or private bath/shower rooms. A dining room/restaurant or similar eating area serving a cooked breakfast seven days a week (except some designated Town House hotels) and evening meals at least five days a week (except some designated Town House hotels and Metro hotels). Licensed bar or lounge.

Friendly and courteous staff offering efficient if limited levels of service.

TWO Stars:

Tend to be smaller privately owned properties, resort and small commercial hotels.

Well presented accommodation offering a fair degree of space and convenience. Décor and furnishings may be simple but well maintained. Evening meals will be available seven days a week in a dining room/restaurant or similar eating area.

Services may be limited but efficient, provided by proprietor, management or well-trained staff.

THREE Stars:

A higher percentage of Group-style hotels will fall into this category, together with many high quality privately owned properties.

More formal style of hotel, likely to be larger with greater range of facilities and services. Bedroom accommodation will be more spacious and designed for comfort and convenient use, e.g. writing desk/dressing table.

Service will be relatively formal, with a staffed reception desk. Access will be available twenty-four hours. Lounge/Bar and Room Service serving hot and cold drinks and light snacks during daytime and evening. Provision of at least one room service meal, either continental breakfast or dinner.

FOUR Stars:

Usually larger, Group-style hotels where more formal levels of service would be expected.

Accommodation of a very high standard, offering a wide range of facilities and services, with quality to match. All bedrooms will be designed and furnished for comfort and ease of use with very good quality furniture, beds and soft furnishings. All rooms en-suite with at least half offering a bath in addition to shower facilities. At least one suite available.

Service will reflect the same quality and attention to detail. Access all day and night, facilitated by on-duty staff. Formal reception and porters desks with uniformed staff offering a proactive style of service. Catering standards will reflect a serious approach to food and drink, with table service provided in bar and/or lounge. At least one restaurant, open to residents and non-residents, for breakfast and dinner seven days a week. 24-hour Room Service including cooked breakfast, main meals and lighter snacks and beverages.

FIVE Stars:

Accommodation of a luxury quality with services to match. Spacious bedrooms, suites and public areas. Selection of catering options all offering cuisine and service of the highest international quality.

Open seven days a week, all year. All bedrooms with en-suite bathroom with bath and thermostatically controlled shower. A number of permanent luxury suites available. At least one restaurant open to residents and non-residents for all meals seven days a week.

Enhanced services offered, e.g. valet parking, 24-hour reception and Room Service, concierge service, proactive table service in bars, lounges and at breakfast, full afternoon tea. Additional facilities available, e.g. secondary dining, leisure, business centre, spa, retail etc.

Highly trained, professional staff providing exceptional levels of anticipatory service.

Of course, many lower star-rated hotels may offer some of the above, but just do not meet all of the expectations for the higher star ratings. Sometimes a hotel has exceptional bedrooms and bathrooms and offers its guests a very special welcome, but cannot achieve a higher star rating because, for example, it does not offer dinner every evening (two star), room service (three star) or does not have the minimum 50% of bathrooms with bath and shower (four star).