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Hotel Terms Demystified
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Here's a digest of the not-untypical Swiss Hotel Association criteria, with most of the quantitative items missing:
Just as in the board game, the bigger the building, the better the rating ... and the more expensive. You'll feel like a king if you stay in a castle! In addition to the six classes there are two modifiers, "modern" and "agreeable". All three rating systems, like the country systems, are, more or less, internally consistent. Don't look to find agreement between systems, though. And all suffer from emphasis on quantitative measures rather than qualitative, as well as often stressing public spaces (bars, lounges, restaurants) even at the expense of sleeping room evaluation.
This system is of interest because many hotels and tour operators use it to describe properties since it has, at least in theory, common definitions around the world. The steps: Superior Deluxe, Deluxe, Moderate Deluxe, Superior First Class, First Class, Moderate First Class, Superior Tourist, Tourist and Moderate Tourist; plus Limited-Service First Class which means the guest rooms are good but the public spaces are limited. Superior Deluxe properties are limited; you'll find most of them only in very major cities (Rome, München, Zürich, Geneva, for example) or resorts. Most "deluxe"hotels fall into the Deluxe or Moderate Deluxe steps. Superior First Class or Moderate Deluxe usually describe most big-name downtown business hotels. In the US the midrange motel chains would mainly be categorized in the Moderate First Class or Superior Tourist categories. You'll see, if you look back up the page) that the Swiss (and many other European systems) call a hotel of the second rank, four-stars, "First Class", but the OHG system uses first class to describe the category only four steps up from the bottom of a nine-step scale ... nothing special in other words. In our opinion, so-called five-star hotels in Rome range from top-notch Superior Deluxe to marginally First Class. Four-stars likewise have a broad range in OHG terms, running from probably Moderate First Class to Moderate Deluxe or in fact Deluxe. And this, of course, is a partial explanation for why you can see in Rome and elsewhere a broad range of prices within in what might otherwise be thought of as a single classification like Deluxe or First Class.
Once you get to that point you can probably run through hotel listings in a new location more quickly. We'll focus on four-star hotels most often as an example, and tend not to look at threes or fives unless the fours don't pan out. Even then you can be fooled. We know a fine "two-star" hotel in Switzerland that has no room telephones. These are required for a three-star rating ... which the hotel doesn't want. In Switzerland, you see, there are strong social pressures to 'conform' to pricing 'norms'. (We call it price fixing in the US.) By retaining a two-star rating the hotel can keep prices lower than (equivalent-but-for-the-phone) three-star hotels to attract more business and hence make more money. Canny, eh? But just one more reason for you to seek personal recommendations and the opinions of respected guidebooks. Hotel Bathrooms ... Showers, Tubs, and Bidets
Showers in more or less the form most Americans would recognize, whether separate stall or integral to tub, have become more common. More and more have curtains or partial or full enclosure. Rooms with shower only are not uncommon, normally found in lower-priced properties, or smallish, relatively inexpensive rooms in otherwise more upscale hotels. The "bath down the hall" facilities are more commonly shower than tub.
If the question of shower or tub, and type, is particularly important to you it is best to ask the hotel directly exactly what kind of facilities they provide.
Most of us use a shower but once a day. The bidet, though, may easily and conveniently be used as often as desired. There are times when one might want to freshen up a bit. That's when the bidet comes in handy. Keep your eye on the faucets, as water adjustment requires some care. Temperature, of course, is an understandable concern. The force of the water is another reason for care. There are different types of bidets, but some will produce a jet approximately the height of Geneva's Jet d'Eau with only a partial turn of the faucet. Be sure you don't excavate the ceiling over you into the room above ... considered a definite no-no by savvy travelers. Perhaps you'll discover why the bidet is a popular European fixture. They're readily available in the US for those sold on the advantages. And then ...
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n some countries the
hotel will plaster its stars over everything: sign over the door, website, letterhead,
coasters, toilet paper ... you name it, it'll have stars on it. What do they mean?
any countries,
including the US, have no standard star system to rate hotels. Most European
countries do have some kind of rating system, though, whether stars, or terms like Deluxe,
First Class, Standard, Tourist, etc.
hether voluntary or
mandatory, all the systems are quantitative, not qualitative.
The systems measure 'how many', not how well.
he ratings will
give you an idea of what, relatively, you'll pay. Most five-star or top rank hotels charge
more than most four-star or second rank hotels. And from the ratings you can safely assume
that the top rank hotels, on the whole, have a bit more to offer than the second rank
hotels ... though what that difference is may be a bit hard to identify, and may or may
not be important to ... you.
ensions, the lodging
establishments, not meal plans or retirement plans, are also frequently rated. As a broad
generalization a pension of the first rank will compare to a hotel of the second or third
rank. Again, though, reputation and recommendation are more important than rating.
ou're perhaps familiar
in the US with Mobil's stars and the AAA's diamonds which mainly cover North
America. The Michelin Red series covers much of Europe with a similar rating system of six
steps which look like Monopoly houses and hotels.
specially on your
first trips to Europe it's wise to largely ignore hotel ratings. Depend on your budget and
recommendations from other travelers. After you have some experience under your belt
you're likely to note, for example, that you're most comfortable, most often, in four-star
hotels, with an occasional five-star or three-star being preferred.
athtubs are more
common than stall showers, and perhaps preferred by more Europeans. They often/almost
always have a spray head on a flexible hose attached near the faucets. In many spots there
is usually no curtain or full surround. Successful use requires a certain set of
learned skills to avoid swamping the bathroom. Although, it is not uncommon to find a
drain in the center of bathroom floors.
espite the above
generalizations, there are, honestly, few that can be safely made. We've stayed in many,
usually luxe, grand old hotels built in the 20s or 30s with showers as a part of the tub,
quite like those you would have found at a similar time in American luxe hotels.