Standards of hotel classification

Food services, entertainment, view, room variations such as size and additional amenities, spas and fitness centers, ease of access and location may be considered in establishing a standard.

The more common classification systems include 'star' rating, letter grading, from 'A' to 'F', diamond or simply a 'satisfactory' or 'unsatisfactory' footnote to accommodation such as hostels and motels. Systems using terms such as Deluxe/ Luxury, First Class/ Superior, Tourist Class/ Standard, and Budget Class/ Economy are more widely accepted as hotel types, rather than hotel standards.

Some countries have rating by a single public standard - Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Hungary have laws defining the hotel rating. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the rating is defined by the respective hotel industry association using a 5-star system - the German classifications are Tourist (*), Standard (**), Comfort (***), First Class (****) and Luxus (*****) with the mark Superior to flag extras beyond the minimum defined in the standard. This system has influenced the European Hotelstars rating system.

In France, the rating is defined by the public tourist board of the department using a four star system (plus "L" for Luxus) which has changed to a 5-star system from 2009 on. In South Africa and Namibia the Tourism Grading Council has strict rules for a hotel types granting up to 5 stars.