Name: Is your hotel 4- or 5-stars? Here’s how to tell them apart
Uploaded: 2022-10-15T17:35:31.000Z
Duration: 9 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

A grand lobby, Michelin-starred food  and a spectacular pool.

Modal verbs - B1

These are things travelers may think of when they hear the term – five-star hotel.

But Marina Bay Sands — one of the most iconic landmarks here in Singapore

has all those things yet is rated only four stars.

On Booking.com, MBS is a five-star hotel.

And guests on Tripadvisor think  it deserves even more.

But travel guide Frommers only gives it three stars.

How can one hotel have so many different star ratings?

To find out, we've got to go back to 1958.

Five-star hotel ratings in the United States are said to have roots — not with a travel company

— but with the oil and gas corporation Mobil, now part of ExxonMobil.

Employees traveling around the U.S. devised a system to rate hotels while on the road.

The ratings became a guidebook, which  through time would become what is now

Fast forward to today, and there are  countless magazines, guidebooks

And in places like Australia, India and Dubai, stars are awarded by governments

The problem is, each has its own rating system.

Remember Frommer's three-star rating  for Marina Bay Sands?

That's because the company only rates  hotels from one to three stars.

And if that wasn't confusing enough, there's  the American Automobile Association,

There was a lot of buzz about a project called “World Hotel Rating,” which was set to unify

But that was more than a decade ago,  and nothing has materialized yet.

Confusion over hotel stars has led to some bad press.

Some say they are useless, while  others simply want to know:

Do hotel star ratings mean anything anymore?

Yes, says Tim Hentschel, CEO of the travel technology company HotelPlanner.

We actually find that star ratings are  quite valuable to our customers.

When you go to pick your dates and  your destination city within a hotel search,

typically the first filter set is the star rating.

In the United Kingdom, the two main  organizations that award hotels stars —

the AA motoring association and the tourism board Visit England — award stars using the same criteria.

They also display their ratings on one website.

The non-profit organization Hotelstars Union has gone a step further.

It uses common criteria to unify  star ratings across Europe.

So far, 20 countries have signed on, and more than 22,000 hotels have been classified.

But Europe's most popular countries to visit have not.

France, Spain and Italy each have  their own rating systems,

which are run by national or regional governments.

But despite all the hotel star rating  variations, Tim assured me there are

some commonalities between them  that people can rely on.

At a one-star hotel, Triple A says travelers can expect a bed, pillow and a bargain.

but they usually have private bathrooms,  phones, televisions

Hotels with three stars are a noticeable step up in comfort, often with restaurants,

Youth sports team travelers want a three star and because they love the free breakfast,

they know that these three stars come  with a pool that's family friendly,

and they don't need something  like 24/7 room service

because you put the kids to sleep by nine o'clock.

At the four-star level, everything from rooms to lobbies to pools is bigger.

There are often bellhops, valet parking attendants

and a concierge team to help guests enjoy their stay.

Research shows about a third of travelers won't consider hotels

At the top of the list is the five-star hotel, the ultimate luxury stay with plush bedding,

fine dining restaurants and opulent spas.

But Yngvar Stray, the general manager  of Capella Singapore,

If you want to be a true,  high-end luxury five-star hotel,

your physical product needs to be immaculate.

The people that have to have a passion  for coming here.

But Yngvar says the biggest difference  between a 4- and 5-star hotel is a feeling.

That extra feeling that says Wow, that was special because the emotional connection

is what people will remember in the long term.

Capella Singapore is one of only  three hotels in the country

to be awarded five stars by Forbes Travel Guide.

It's a quiet escape built inside 30 acres of rainforest on the island of Sentosa,

Guests check into the hotel in a restored colonial-era house built in the 1880s,

while the 112 rooms and suites and  cascading trio of pools

In London, a five-star hotel looks like this: The Langham, which was named London's

“Best Hotel for Business Travelers” by CNBC in 2022.

Its marble columns and paneled walls  lead to one-bedroom suites,

which come with separate lounge areas  and a bottle of Champagne.

The Langham is famous for its afternoon tea, which is said to have been served

Over in Dubai, five stars looks like the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach.

It has a beautifully decorated lobby, wide corridors, temperature-controlled pools,

and a luxurious spa with separate areas  for men and women,

all which are on Dubai's 41-page  five-star hotel checklist.

The list also requires rooms to come with hangers that are not affixed to the rail,

and bathrobes made of at least  90% natural fibers.

And what about Dubai's Burj Al Arab, and other hotels that have been dubbed

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Is your hotel 4- or 5-stars? Here’s how to tell them apart

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