Hotel star ratings explained

A luxurious-looking UK spa resort is listed as four stars on Booking.com, but it's a five-star hotel on Hotels.com. So which is it?

According to the official rating from AA Hotel and Hospitality Services, the hotel is rated four stars.

It’s equally confusing with hotels abroad. A luxurious beachfront resort in Greece on Booking.com and Loveholidays is listed as five stars. But the exact same hotel is listed as four star by On the Beach, Jet2 and Tui. 

Some hotel booking sites let hotels upload their own star ratings, while tour operators often use completely different scoring systems to decide which star rating to give a property.

Even official or widely used systems like the AA in the UK are not standardised internationally. A five-star hotel in the UK will differ significantly from its equivalent in Europe or across the pond.

Confused? You're not alone. We look behind the stars to find out what you’ll really get for your money.

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UK hotel star ratings system

The UK's rating system is pretty robust and has common standards. Hotels must annually undergo a secret overnight inspection by AA or the relevant national tourism board and pay a fee.

Inspections are carried out by the AA Hotel and Hospitality Services, Visit England, Visit Wales and other partner bodies. Since 2006, these bodies have shared Common Quality Standards, meaning they all award the same ratings to the same hotels.

Previously, under this scheme, hotels were given a rating from one to five stars. The difficulty was that one and two-star hotel ratings could be misconstrued as being of poor quality. However, to achieve even one star, a hotel had to offer certain amenities such as a TV in every bedroom, which not all hotels provide. This has now changed. 

Now, the AA Hotel and Hospitality Services has removed one and two-star ratings. Hotels that sign up to the scheme will be quality rated from three to five stars or simply awarded a Quality Assessed accreditation (provided it meets all required standards). This costs to join and involves a full inspection, testing all services to ensure minimum quality standards are met, but no star rating is awarded.  

The only issue is that not all hotels participate in the scheme, which could be down to cost, so some may not have a rating.

To try to address this and make it more accessible, a free entry-level alternative, called Visitor Ready was added. Hotels (and other hospitality businesses) can display a Visitor Ready digital badge to verify that all mandatory legal requirements are being met and that it's a safe and trusted venue to visit.  

This recent overhaul is similar to the US equivalent of the AA, which provides an ‘approved’ stamp if a property meets minimum standards to prevent a nice, no-frills property from being stigmatised by a low score.

Official AA Hotel and Hospitality Services star ratings

3 star hotel

• Good guest social skills and service, with ample number of staff to provide a prompt, courteous and efficient service
• A simple and efficient booking service, both digitally and via telephone
• Guests clearly directed to their room and given a brief explanation of the location of hotel facilities
• Assistance with luggage available on request throughout the day and evening
• Iron and ironing board available
• Guests informed when they book if dinner is not available
• Provision made for a variety of dietary requirements
• Sufficient restaurant staff to ensure prompt service at all meals served
• Restaurant staff demonstrate good levels of food, beverage and wine product knowledge and service skills
• A self-service buffet-style breakfast is acceptable, but should be replenished regularly
• A choice of substantial hot and cold dishes (self-service is acceptable)
• Room service is optional (except in the case of illness)
• A minimum of five bedrooms available for letting
• All bedrooms should have sufficient space for guests to move easily around the room
• Good access to both sides of beds for double occupancy
• Individually controlled thermostatic heating

4 star hotel (all of the above, plus...)

• Very good social skills and anticipation of individual guests' needs evident
• Booking confirmation provided by email/text or letter from hotel (not only from third -party booking site)
• Assistance with luggage offered on arrival and advertised as available for departure
• Laundry and possibly dry cleaning service provided and advertised with prices
• Courteous, unobtrusive and polite restaurant staff demonstrate very good levels of food, beverage and wine product knowledge and service skills
• Restaurant staff demonstrate proactive service, anticipating customer requirements
• Table service advertised and available on request at breakfast
• Room service should be provided and delivered to the room where there is a market need
• All bedrooms have a higher degree of spaciousness
• Individually controlled thermostatic heating operable 24-hours

5 star hotel (all of the above, plus...)

• Staff should anticipate individual guests' needs to create unique and memorable experiences
• Staff impeccably presented
• Multilingual staff, if there is a market need
• Ability to make a prompt and effective booking, 24 hours a day
• Guests are shown to their room and given a full orientation of hotel and bedroom facilities
• Hotel staff taking control of luggage from guest’s arrival outside to prompt delivery in bedroom. The same quality of service repeated on departure
• 24-hour return laundry service
• At least one restaurant/outlet open to residents for all meals during hotel opening hours seven days a week
• Restaurant tables should have sufficient space around them to allow a high degree of privacy and freedom of movement
• Highly trained, professional and proactive restaurant staff who escort guests to their tables
• Restaurant staff demonstrate excellent levels of food, beverage and wine product knowledge and service skills
• Table service proactively offered at breakfast
• Full table service of all dinner courses served to the guest at their table
• A broad range of dishes at dinner of outstanding quality
• Staff demonstrate excellent drinks knowledge and service skills. Likely to involve a dedicated wine team (sommelier)
• 24-hour room service of hot and cold snacks and drinks including alcoholic drinks, where there is a market need
• Majority of bedrooms very spacious
• A minimum of one permanent luxury suite (with at least three separate rooms)
• Beds for double occupancy to be at least 153cm (5ft) in width
• Air conditioning, mechanical ventilation or ability to cool the room with fresh air that doesn’t allow noise or pollutants in the room

Inspectors will assess service and physical facilities, with a particular emphasis on six key areas: hospitality, service, bedrooms, bathrooms, cleanliness and food.

A detailed breakdown of the various criteria is on the AA Hotel and Hospitality Services website

UK hotel reviews by Which?

At Which?, we carry out undercover inspections of UK hotels and rate them from one to five. We pay for our hotel stays. That means no special treatment, no reviewer upgrades and no opportunity for the hotel to influence our verdict.  And no matter how badly the hotel fares, we always publish the review, warts and all.

Our ratings range from zero, for a dreadful hotel we don't think you should stay at, to five, for an exceptional hotel we think is among the best of its type.

Read about when we awarded our first five-star rating in seven years to the Marcliffe.

Discover hotels with varying ratings and budgets from our Which? Recommended Provider package holiday companies.

Hotel star ratings in Europe

Member hotels in 21 countries adopted a harmonised rating system called Hotelstars. You can see all countries signed up for the scheme on Hotelstars. 

These standards broadly mirror the British system, with some differences. 

For example, two-star hotels are required to provide sewing and shoe polishing kits. Three-star hotels must offer laundry and ironing services, while four-star hotels must furnish their guests with a ‘bathrobe and slippers on demand’. 

Hotels should offer personalised greetings for each guest, fresh flowers or a gift in the room, and a turndown service, among other criteria, to earn five stars.

However, there are notable absentees from the scheme. France has its own rating criteria based on the size of the hotel’s rooms and reception areas: double bedrooms, for instance, must be a minimum of nine square metres for a one-star hotel and 24 square metres for a five-star room.

In Italy, the authorities have set the bar at a more generous 14 square metres, but private bathrooms aren’t a requirement, so you could end up brushing your teeth with a neighbour. Meanwhile, benchmarks vary from region to region in Spain – another country that isn't a member of the Hotelstars scheme.

US hotels are ranked using a system of diamonds instead of stars distributed by the American Automobile Association. A property is either 'approved' or awarded a three to five-diamond rating.

Holiday company and booking site hotel star rating systems

It's not uncommon to see different rating systems, even across holiday companies. For instance, Tui uses 'T' ratings instead of stars.

On the Beach told us it uses a local authority’s star rating – but adjusts it where it feels it doesn’t match reality.

Meanwhile, Booking.com lets properties upload their own ratings and doesn't vet these, though it says it'll ask a hotel to adjust its rating if it becomes aware that it's inaccurate.

Booking.com

Rating system: 1 to 5 stars

How are ratings determined? Booking.com doesn't assign star ratings. Depending on local regulations, star ratings are provided by the hotels themselves and are assigned either by the hotels themselves or by independent third parties (eg organisations that rate hotels). Booking.com does not verify star ratings for accuracy, but states on its website that if it becomes aware of an inaccurate rating, it will ask the service provider to either prove they deserve it or adjust it.

British Airways Holidays

Rating system: Own system of 2 to 5 stars.

How are ratings determined? They’re set and reviewed by British Airways Holidays to ensure facilities and standards match the rating. It takes into account official ratings and customer feedback. 

See how British Airways Holidays fared in our package holiday provider survey

Hotels.com

Rating system:  Rating of 1 to 5 stars. 

How are ratings determined? It uses official ratings of local tourism authorities, received from the authority or the property. If there’s no official rating for a property, it uses industry standards to assign what it believes is fair or shows no rating.

Jet2holidays

Rating system: Own system of 2 to 5 stars.

How are ratings determined?  A Jet2 representative visits every hotel to determine the standard. Ratings are also based on the hotel’s facilities and services, ongoing quality monitoring (including customer feedback) and the nightly rate. 

Discover why Jet2holidays is a Which? Recommended Provider in our Jet2holidays review

On the Beach

Rating system: Local official ratings of 1 to 5 stars. 

How are ratings determined?  It uses official hotel star ratings. However, it will adapt a rating if it feels that it’s necessary, providing context in the hotel description. 

Find out how On the Beach fared in our package holiday survey results

Expedia

Rating system:  Rating of 1 to 5 stars. 

How are ratings determined? It uses official ratings of local tourism authorities, received from the authority or the property. If there’s no official rating for a property, it uses industry standards to assign what it believes is fair or shows no rating.

Read our Expedia package holiday provider review

Tui

Rating system: Own system of 1 to 5 Ts.

How are ratings determined? Based on facilities, location and customer feedback. T star + is available in each category. These may differ from the official rating given by the local tourist board, but the official ratings are also shown.

Read our review of package holiday provider Tui

Virgin Atlantic Holidays

Rating system: Own system of 3 to 5+ stars.

How are ratings determined? Ratings are based on quality and range of facilities. Virgin says it starts at three stars to reflect the quality of its offerings. Ratings are reviewed annually with a variety of checks, including property visits.

Check our Virgin Atlantic Holidays review to see how it performed in our survey

How to choose a hotel room

Look beyond star ratings

A low (or no) rating could simply reflect a hotel’s lack of facilities rather than its cleanliness. But if you want to check an official star rating in the UK, visit the AA's website.

Read independent reviews

Hotels will gift journalists the best rooms and wine and dine them to try to secure a glowing write-up. Which? Travel never accepts freebies and conducts all inspections undercover, so you can trust our impartial and independent reviews as outlined in our statement of editorial independence. Read independent reviews of the best hotels our undercover inspectors have stayed at. 

Check guest experiences

Recent guest reviews and ratings on websites such as TripAdvisor and Trustpilot are another handy insight. Just keep an eye out for fakes. If a hotel has a deluge of five-star write-ups from first-time posters, it’s a red flag. Equally, look for overly effusive or repetitive language, as this suggests a template may have been used. 

Find room sizes

Minimum sizes may be stipulated in other parts of Europe, but the UK has no such rules. Don’t rely on images; clever angles and a fish-eye lens can make rooms appear bigger than they are. Watch out for euphemisms such as ‘cosy’ and ‘snug’. Most descriptions will give the size in square metres (or square feet on Booking.com).