What Does a Five-star Hotel Rating Actually Mean?

"However, a five-star booking doesn't necessarily mean the same level of quality in every country, and the standards may even vary from hotel to hotel in the same city. Due to the uncertainty of what exactly a "five-star" rating means, several organizations have stepped in to measure and verify that a hotel meets five-star luxury status. Surprisingly, many of the reasons a hotel becomes designated as a five-star hotel may have nothing to do with the actual room itself."

"The five-star rating system originally debuted in 1960 when the Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as ExxonMobil, published a guide to different hotels and ranked them with stars to show the different tiers of amenities. The original Mobil Travel Guides were sold at Mobil gas stations for $1.95 and were divided by regions. In 2009, Mobil Travel Guide became Forbes Travel Guide."

Booking a five-star hotel commonly evokes luxury amenities such as room service and high-end linens, but star ratings do not ensure consistent quality. The five-star rating system began in 1960 with the Mobil Travel Guides, which later became Forbes Travel Guide in 2009. Multiple organizations and regional systems now administer star classifications, meaning criteria differ widely by country. Some five-star designations are based on factors unrelated to room quality. Popular markets for five-star hotels include Las Vegas, New York, London, Dubai, and Bangkok, while not all five-star properties share identical features like pools or spas.

Read at Travel + Leisure