What a Five-star Hotel Rating Really Means—and How to Tell If It’s Worth the Price

From delicious room service to luxury linens, booking a five-star hotel conjures feelings of rest and relaxation. However, a five-star booking doesn’t necessarily mean the same level of quality in every country, and the standards may even vary from hotel to hotel in the same city.

Due to the uncertainty of what exactly a “five-star” rating means, several organizations have stepped in to measure and verify that a hotel meets five-star luxury status. Surprisingly, many of the reasons a property becomes designated as a five-star hotel may have nothing to do with the actual rooms. Here’s what travelers should know about the origin and meaning of hotel star ratings.

Origin of Star Rating Systems

The five-star rating system originally debuted in 1960 when the Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as ExxonMobil, published a guide to hotels, ranking them with stars to show the different tiers of amenities. The original Mobil Travel Guides were divided into regions and sold at Mobil gas stations for $1.95. In 2009, the Mobil Travel Guide became the Forbes Travel Guide.

Travelers still depend on star rankings for insights before they book a hotel, but other international organizations have joined in on setting their own rules and designations for five-star classifications. “There’s no single global checklist of amenities that determines a star level, which means criteria can vary widely by country,” Hotels.com travel expert Melanie Fish told Travel + Leisure. “For example, not every five-star hotel has to have a pool, and many four-star hotels might offer spas or luxury touches.”

Fish added that five-star hotels are most popular in travel markets that attract a luxury audience, with Las Vegas, New York, London, Dubai, and Bangkok ranking as some of the destinations with the most five-star hotels.

Types of Hotel Ratings

Due to the lack of standardization globally for hotel ratings, several regional and industry organizations aim to bring some level of procedure to give travelers peace of mind and make the comparison easier.

Throughout Europe, the Hotelstars Union regulates star rankings for hotels and manages a specific set of criteria for hotels to abide by. It requires that five-star hotels have a 24-hour reception, lounge area, and valet service. In the rooms, hotels are required to offer evening turndown service, full blackout shades, a safe, a bathrobe, slippers, and other amenities. The standards for the lowest rung, one star, include providing a towel change on demand and a television with a remote. Services and amenities increase with each star.

Star Ratings, based in Australia, uses 200 different criteria to evaluate hotels in more than 70 countries and determine their one- to five-star ranking. Budget facilities get one star, while “properties that typify luxury across all areas of operation” get five. Travelers may see “Quality Tourism Accredited Business” next to the rating, which confirms it was assessed by Star Ratings. The organization monitors thousands of hotels and actually has a way for travelers to submit complaints if their experience does not match an advertised star ranking.

In addition to stars, travelers may hear of other ranking systems. For example, AAA has its Five Diamond list, which is updated by independent inspectors who conduct secret stays to monitor hotels for service. “AAA is the only travel brand that uses a Diamond designation scale with published guidelines, offering a consistent and objective standard that travelers can trust,” AAA Diamond program director Chris Anderson told T+L.