Small Inn and Bed and Breakfast Industry Articles

2/20/2008 4:32:30 PM
By Glenn Haussman

While as a business the hotel industry has been through a radical transformation during the past two decades, it appears as if conventional rating systems are languishing in the 1970s. Outmoded, outdated, and out of touch with today’s traveler, these traditional Star and Diamond systems are not accurately reflecting the true nature of the 21st century hotel experience.

Last month I posted a piece expressing my frustration regarding the lack of consistency at the Four Star/Diamond level. Seems to me hotels on either end of the Four Star/Diamond spectrum are so far apart it’s not fair to both the operator and consumer to have these properties rated the same.  (see article here)

That piece seems to have set off a tempest and my inbox has been flooded with both hoteliers and guests who have had enough with the way hotels are rated. While my original piece focused solely on the Four Star/Diamond level, it’s become apparent to me this is a pervasive problem at the Three Star/Diamond level as well. With such a widespread disparity it’s time to reevaluate exactly what makes a hotel fall into a particular Star/Diamond level.

The dirty truth is there are many great Three Star/Diamond hotels that I have stayed in. But they’re prevented from being Four Star/Diamond properties because they are select service properties. Truth is there has been so much compression between the various midscale and upscale properties the variations between many of them is so slim. A recently renovated or opened select service property is often times a much better stay experience than a traditional full service property that hasn’t been refreshed in years. As a traveler many of these select service properties are Four Star/Diamond caliber in my mind, but cannot ever achieve that status because they do not meet anachronistic requirements to be called a Four Star/Diamond property.

James Simkins of MTM Management wrote in, crystallizing this point. “Many of the standards are archaic and asinine in today's world.  Why for example is there still as insistence on a third phone in the bathroom, when as a guest we can equally embarrass ourselves talking from the john on a hotel supplied cordless phone or our own cell phones??  There are many such examples of yesterday's priorities for today's hotels,” wrote Simkins.

That’s exactly right: It’s essentially irrelevant to today’s traveler and adds an onerous cost to a construction budget for no good reason. But the problem is even more pervasive when Three Star/Diamond hotels are giving consumers what they demand but are still being penalized by a rating system that ignores the basic necessities of today’s travelers.

According to Albert Salvatico at Jaral Properties he is seeing this first hand. “We have a local Four Diamond property where the guest rooms haven't been updated in 30 years and wireless internet is an unheard of concept,” writes Salvatico.

At this point not having high speed internet access is anathema to having a Four Star/Diamond experience.  The irony is not lost on me that a select service hotel providing what the customer truly wants is relegated to Three Star/Diamond status because owners haven’t filled the property with elements its customers could care less about. For example, now that wheels on luggage are ubiquitous, do I really need a guy offering to carry my bag to make my stay a Four Star/Diamond? Personally, I’d rather be left alone.

To me a Four Star/Diamond experience is about great bedding, the size of television set and the cable stations offered. Not an extra phone in the bathroom.  Sure, service plays a part, but it’s the infrastructure and FF&E that affect my stay the most. Not a supposedly doting staff.

Consumer Lori Alter believes that traditional rating systems simply can’t be trusted anymore. “My husband and I have shared the same experience in recent years, both with respect to business and personal travel.  The rating system is very unreliable, particularly once you get below five stars.  And you're right, totally unfair to the better hotels.  From a consumer standpoint, I just don't think that you can rely on it anymore.  The Four [Star/Diamond] category seems to be incredibly diverse so instead I try to peruse all of the internet travel sites like tripadvisor.com to get customer feedback before we travel (Not that those are always reliable either!).  One area where I think there are issues is when rating different hotel locations under the same name brand.  They are inclined, for e.g., to give all of a certain name brand the same rating, just based on their name recognition.  But I can tell you from experience they are not always the same quality, even at the five star level.  We've had some horrible experiences at very well-recognized hotel chains that were given a Four or five star rating,” wrote Alter.

It’s time for these once esteemed organizations to make a change or risk irrelevancy. The Internet age is upon us and guests are getting access to far more reliable ways to gauge what a hotel experience will really be like.

Unless these systems want to go the way of the buggy whip they need to completely rethink how they rate hotels. Consumers and hoteliers are speaking up and it won’t be long before confidence is permanently shaken in these stalwart organizations. I’ve rejiggered my personal rating system for hotels and I think will be fine going forward. But the real question is when will AAA and Mobil make realistic change?

We’d love to hear your opinions on this issue. Please drop us a line and let us know your thoughts. In a few weeks we’ll do another article on this firecracker issue.

Glenn Haussman, Hotel Interactive's Editor In Chief, has been specializing in the hospitality industry for more than 10 years. He often speaks at lodging industry events, is quoted frequently as an expert source by newspapers and is an adjunct professor at New York University.