You’re sitting on your couch scouring through hotel options in the city that you’ve selected for your next trip. You bounce back-and-forth from site-to-site as you look for the hotel that speaks to you. You see a beautifully designed little boutique hotel you get excited about and then…wait…it’s only a 3-star hotel? But it's reviews show it has 4.6 stars. 

Confused? You’re not alone.

There are numerous articles that you can find online chronicling the history of the hotel star rating system, what those stars mean, and what services are needed to obtain another star. Not dissimilar to the internationally renowned Michelin Guide for Restaurants originating as a marketing scheme by the tire company to encourage people to hit the French roads and wear down those tires, the 5-star hotel rating system was allegedly started by Mobil Oil. The difference? The Michelin Guide is the owner of the most recognizable restaurant rating system, while hotel ratings quickly became splintered with no single system leading the way as the front-runner. This has created ambiguity across the industry, allowed hotels to misrepresent themselves, and ultimately has hurt both tremendous hotels and well-intentioned travelers.

Today, we find ourselves in a world where hotels are generally self-reporting how many stars their product warrants - sometimes adding a star if they believe that their service should elevate them higher than their tangible amenities would typically have them land. Sometimes, however, there are hotels that rate themselves strictly according to whatever set of rules they’ve found online and you can truly get a remarkable experience at a two- or three-star hotel.

What should you do with this information? 

Don’t put too much stock into the star rating of the hotel. Reading reviews is always a good place to start a deeper dive if you aren’t sold after spending some quality time on the hotel’s website. You can always call the hotel directly and simply ask a few questions to the receptionist or front desk agent that answers if you appreciate the importance of a first impression.

Just for fun, here’s a boiled-down breakdown of the star system hotels are using for their self-rating.

• One-Star: You get a bed. It may be a shared room and/or a shared bathroom.

• Two-Stars: This is probably what you expected you’d see at the one-star level - your own room (that’s not shared), with a bed, and your own bathroom. No real amenities, just things you would “expect.”

• Three-Stars: Add in some amenities like available Wi-Fi (maybe free…maybe not), somewhere to sit in the room that isn’t the bed, and likely either a convenience store or minibar food or snack option, though some might have a full restaurant. This is probably the base level for most people that might find themselves reading a blog like this one.

• Four-Stars: Attention to the hotel’s design and architecture is part of why you would choose these hotels; they’re charming, elegant, and stylish. Some (or more) of those three-star amenities are now complimentary and there are more on-site offerings as well, e.g. a pool, fitness center, and/or on-site bar and restaurant.

• Five-Stars: You don’t need to do anything here if you don’t want to. Five-star hotels should be luxury at its finest.