Are Reviews or Stars More Reliable When it Comes to Booking Hotels?

Before we book a trip away, many of us scour around online. According to TripAdvisor’s recent Path to Purchase report 74% of us check TripAdvisor before booking into a hotel.

So are star ratings still relevant, or useful, if so many of us read and check online reviews instead? Do people still value them, or are they deemed less important than the words of a (purportedly) real guest experience? Belle explores the star standard for the hotel industry and debates whether we actually still need it…

A history of stars

The star rating of a hotel used to be the go-to check for travellers looking to book themselves a room. The star system used to be quite simple and, without the digital word of mouth, really the only information guests had to go on.

Nowadays, you can find a varied star system, with hotels claiming everything from five to 10 stars instead of the using the traditional rating. Plus, many have noted that a four-star hotel in Madrid might not feel the same as four-star hotels in Jesmond, Newcastle. This is down to the fact that there is no global star rating system.

In the UK, the star-rating system was originally introduced in 1912 by the AA. It was used as a means of classifying hotel standards. Back then, the maximum number of stars was three. It wasn’t until 2006 that the AA developed the Common Quality Standards with the help of a number of UK tourist boards, which increased the maximum rating to five stars. Plus, in 1956, the AA introduced an additional Rosette Award scheme to ‘assess the quality of food served in restaurants and hotels’.

The AA’s UK hotel star rating system

The basics

There is a basic level of entry requirements that must be fulfilled if you want to get recognised on The AA’s star system which include safety and security minimum requirements, telephone access 24-hours a day, and multilingual signs. As well as these basic requirements, hotels who want to enter the AA star system must abide by a minimum level of maintenance. There’s also a minimum requirement for cleanliness, with the AA stating that there must be ‘a high standard of cleanliness maintained throughout the property’ regardless of star level — cleanliness is not expected to vary between star level.

The differences between levels

The AA’s Common Quality Standards shows where the differences between star levels becomes more apparent. For example, where a one-star hotel is required to offer an iron and ironing board, a five-star hotel is expected to offer 24-hour return laundry service. A one-star hotel can verbally explain the breakfast menu, where a two-star hotel must have a clean, well-presented menu provided for breakfast items. But then for dinner provisions, both one and two-star hotels (as well as three and four) all need to serve dinner at a specific time advertised, communicate if no dinner is provided, and can provide a self-service buffet. The only difference in dinner requirements is for five-star hotels, which need to provide all courses, served to guests at their table.

The level of detail required for each level is huge. But just how relevant is it in this digital age?

The problem with stars

Unfortunately, the main problem is that there isn’t a global star standard. Other countries run their own systems, with some having multiple different boards with their own star systems. Some hotels give themselves their own ‘unofficial’ star rating. Then, there’s the matter of tour operators running their own star rating system, which can make four-star hotels look like five-star hotels to unsuspecting bookers.

Even within the UK, you might find a hotel has an AA two-star rating, but a tour operator advertises it as being a three-star rating based on their own rating system.

The rise in trusting reviews

It’s not surprising that because of this more people use review sites before booking a room. It also seems there is an increasing level of trust in those online reviews and ratings, with a reported 84% of people placing online reviews on the same level of trust as a recommendation from a friend.

One of the main ways potential guests scout out hotels is by searching TripAdvisor, meaning they are placing a lot of value in the ratings there compared to the star-rating of a hotel.

The risk of ratings and reviews

But can thes ereviews always be relied upon? Well no, of course not. We simply don’t know much about the person who rates or reviews a hotel on TripAdvisor, and there’s even a ‘fake review’ market that thrives if businesses pay enough money.

Which holds more value?

As long as you understand that you should look out specifically for AA stars, then the star rating system is useful to know what the minimum standard is that you will receive from a hotel. By checking the minimum requirements set out by the AA, you can see the standards the hotel had to achieve to be granted not only entry to the star system at all, but the star level they have achieved. For example, the AA has rated The Majestic Hotel as a four-star hotel. You can take this and check their Common Quality Standard to find out that this means the hotel must provide such things as televisions with a screen larger than 24 inches, and a high degree of spaciousness within the rooms.

This can help to form the right foundation of what you can expect of a hotel. From there, a look at guest reviews can help to cement an idea of the experience, but with caution for the above-mentioned flaws for the online review process.

All in all, there certainly appears to be a certain degree of balance required when you consider ratings, reviews, and stars. Approached the right way, they can provide a keen insight into your potential booking. Just remember to check which stars are being shown!

• Thanks to Corus Hotels for the expert advice provided and used within this article