Travelers depend on reviews and ratings of hotels to decide where to stay and how much to spend. There is currently no international hotel standard that determines what qualifies a hotel to be a top-rated or luxury property. Individual countries and organizations have their own standards.
One common standard for hotels is the Mobil star rating: five stars is the highest rating a hotel can receive. AAA has a similar system, but uses diamonds. However, while these American organizations may classify some establishments outside North America, there is no one truly global standard.
While organizations have their own rating systems, many countries also have national hotel standards. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Quality Assessment system is run by independent assessors, much like Mobil and AAA. In Spain, by contrast, the government's tourism authority runs its star standard of ranking. Additionally, some countries use a variation of the star system. In France, the highest award a hotel can get is four stars, not five.
The hodgepodge of organizational and national ratings, as well as vast variation around the world, indicates a clear need for international standards for hotels. The World Hotel Rating Project is one possible solution, as it seeks to create one worldwide ranking system. However, as of 2010, the project was only in the trial phase.
