FAQ
Your questions – our answers
Everything you always wanted to know about hotel stars: Our FAQ provides comprehensive information on European hotel classification. From the basics to the finer points – find out how we ensure transparency and comparability for hotels in the member countries.
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Hotelstars Union AISBL
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The Hotelstars Union is an association of European countries that have introduced a standardised classification system for hotels. The aim is to offer guests a transparent and comparable assessment of hotel standards.
Members of the Hotelstars Union are currently 21 countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Hungary as founding countries.
A complete overview of the countries can be found here:
There are five star categories in the Hotelstars Union, ranging from 1 star to 5 stars:
| a | Basic accommodation with basic services. |
| a | Mid-range accommodation with added comfort. |
| c | Good quality with enhanced services and amenities. |
| d | First-class accommodation with superior comfort and comprehensive services. |
| e | Luxury accommodation with the highest level of comfort and a wide range of services and amenities. |
The Hotelstars Union evaluates criteria such as room and bathroom facilities, service quality, leisure facilities and catering.
The criteria are set out in an extensive catalogue.
The criteria in the Hotelstars Union association are reviewed every 5 years at the latest to ensure their market relevance.
Guest surveys, market research and data analyses serve as the basis for updating.
Credibility and trust
The star rating is a widely recognised and trusted quality feature. It gives guests a reliable guide to the standard and facilities of a hotel.
Competitive advantage
A star rating can help a hotel to stand out from its competitors. Especially in a competitive market, a higher star rating can attract potential guests who are specifically looking for certain standards.
Addressing specific target groups
With a clear star classification, hotels can address specific target groups. For example, guests looking for an upscale luxury stay are more likely to choose a 4- or 5-star hotel.
Marketing benefits
Classified hotels can highlight their star rating prominently in all marketing materials and on booking platforms. The stars act as a strong sales argument and can have a positive influence on guests' booking decisions.
Quality assurance
The classification process itself helps hotels to regularly review and improve their internal processes, service and facilities. This contributes to the continuous improvement of service quality.
Increasing the likelihood of bookings
Studies show that many guests consider a star rating to be an important decision-making factor when booking a hotel. A star rating can therefore lead directly to a higher booking rate.
Transparency and comparability
The uniform classification according to defined standards makes it easier for guests to compare different hotels and helps them to make an informed choice.
Overall, star classification helps to increase the visibility of and trust in a hotel, thereby promoting business success.
The relevance of star classifications for hotels is often questioned in today's world, where online ratings play a central role. However, both systems have their own advantages and fulfil different needs:
Advantages of star classification
Standardisation: star classification is based on objective, transparent criteria that are assessed by experts. These standards are standardised and offer guests a reliable guide to what they can expect from a hotel.
Trustworthiness: As the classification is carried out by recognised organisations such as DEHOGA, stars enjoy a high level of trust, especially among international travellers who cannot rely on country-specific ratings.
Contractual significance: In many travel contracts and catalogues, the hotel category is indicated in stars. This provides legal certainty for travellers and tour operators.
Accessibility and sustainability: Classification systems are increasingly taking into account aspects such as accessibility and sustainable management, which are often given less attention in online ratings.
Advantages of online reviews
Subjective impressions: Online reviews offer insights into the personal experiences of other guests. These opinions can be very detailed and specific, which can help in the decision-making process.
Timeliness: Reviews on platforms such as TripAdvisor, Google or Booking.com are often more up-to-date than a star rating, which may only be reviewed every few years. This means that current trends or changes in the hotel can become visible more quickly.
Diversity of perspectives: As many reviews come from different guests, they offer a broad perspective on the hotel. Positive and negative experiences are equally represented.
Combination of both systems
In practice, many travellers use both sources of information. The star classification provides a general orientation, while online reviews provide specific information on current experiences. It therefore makes sense for hotels to have both a good star rating and to pay attention to their online reputation.
Conclusion
Although online ratings have become more important, star ratings are still relevant as they provide a standardised and trustworthy basis. Both systems complement each other and provide guests with comprehensive information when deciding which hotel to stay at.
In 21 European countries there is a common hotel classification system to rate hotels with stars. Hotels are assessed on the basis of 247 criteria, which are divided into five categories. From 2025, however, a modernised set of 239 criteria will be used.
Points are assigned to each criterion according to its importance, ranging from 1 to 20.
For each category, there is a list of mandatory criteria as well as additional criteria that can be used to score more points. Fulfilment of the minimum criteria alone is not enough to achieve a star category. Hotels that fulfil all the obligatory criteria in their category and offer an exceptional level of service are awarded the addition ‘Superior’.
Hotels up to four stars can also be operated without a restaurant. In this case, they are advertised as ‘’Hotel without restaurant‘’ or ‘’Breakfast-only establishment''.
The 21 member countries of the Hotelstars Union classify their hotels on the basis of the same criteria. In addition, the classification procedures follow the ‘’21 HOTREC principles‘’ for the establishment and/or review of national/regional hotel classification systems in Europe to ensure transparency and comparability of the stars awarded.
The systems outside the Hotelstars Union are mostly national systems such as in France or Portugal. In some countries there is no star classification at all, for example in Finland or Norway. In Spain there are 17 very different regional classifications and in Italy there are as many as 21 - and each of them is legally binding.
We are in close contact with these countries, but each of them has its own reasons for not (yet) participating in the Hotelstars Union. These are in particular structural policy reasons, the institutions involved or specific market conditions.