The Automobile Association, English Tourism Council and RAC have joined forces to create one overall rating scheme for serviced accommodation, using Stars to represent Hotels and Diamonds for Guest Accommodation (guest houses, inns, farmhouses, bed & breakfasts). The new scheme puts greater emphasis on quality in Hotels and Guest Accommodation - particularly in areas of cleanliness and guest care. The English Tourism Council's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service will help you find a place to visit which has been assessed for the quality of its visitor experience.

We hope you will find this a useful reference guide.

Star ratings.

Star ratings symbolise the level of service, range of facilities and quality of guest care that you can expect in a hotel. Hotels are required to meet progressively higher standards as they move up the scale from one to five stars.
 
One Star: Practical accommodation with a limited range of facilities and services but a high standard of cleanliness throughout. There will be a restaurant/eating area and 75% of bedrooms will have en-suite or private facilities.

Two Stars: Better equipped bedrooms, all with en-suite/private bathroom and a colour TV. A lift is normally available.

Three Stars: Higher standard of services and facilities including larger public areas and bedrooms, a receptionist, room service and laundry facilities.

Four Stars: Accommodation offering superior comfort and quality; all bedrooms with en-suite bath, fitted overhead shower and WC. Spacious and well-appointed public areas. More emphasis on food and drink. Room service of all meals and 24 hour drinks, refreshments and snacks. Dry cleaning service available. Excellent customer service.

Five Stars: A spacious, luxurious establishment offering the highest international quality of accommodation, facilities, services and cuisine. There will be a range of extra facilities. You will feel very well cared for by professional, attentive staff providing flawless guest services.

Diamond ratings.

Diamond ratings for Guest Accommodation reflect visitor expectations of this sector, where quality is seen as more important than facilities and services. As a result Guest Accommodation is required to meet progressively higher standards of quality and guest care as they move up the scale from one to five Diamonds.

One Diamond Guest Accommodation: clean and comfortable accommodation, providing breakfast and helpful service.

Two Diamond Guest Accommodation: An increased level of quality and comfort, with greater emphasis on guest care.

Three Diamond Guest Accommodation: Well maintained, practical decor, a good choice of breakfast dishes, a higher degree of customer care and at least 40% of the bedrooms will have private or en-suite bathrooms.

Four Diamond Guest Accommodation: An even higher level of quality and comfort. Good level of customer care.

Five Diamond Guest Accommodation: Excellent quality in furnishing and rooms. At least 80% of bedrooms will have en-suite/private bathrooms. Excellent levels of customer care.

A guide to self-catering accommodation.

The English Tourism Council's new star ratings will help you choose the accommodation that's right for you. Assessors have been visiting flats, houses, cottages and serviced apartments on your behalf assessing quality, including comfort, space, facilities and most important of all, cleanliness. The brand new quality rating system is easy to use and is based on extensive research. So when you choose a Star-rated property you can rest assured that your expectations will be met or even exceeded.

Quite simply, the more Stars, the higher the overall level of quality you can expect to find. Establishments at higher rating levels also have to meet some additional requirements for facilities. All properties have to meet an extensive list of minimum requirements before they can be considered for a Star rating. From there, increased levels of quality apply. For instance, you'll find acceptable quality at One Star, good to very good quality at Three Star and exceptional quality at Five Star.

One Star: acceptable overall level of quality. Adequate provision of furniture, furnishings and fittings.

Two Stars: good overall level of quality. All units self-contained - 2 bathrooms where there are eight or more guests.

Three Stars: good to very good level of quality. Good standard of maintenance and decoration. Ample space and good quality furniture. All double beds with access from both sides. Microwaves.

Four Stars: excellent overall level of quality. Very good care and attention to detail will be obvious throughout. Either access to washing machine and drier, if not provided in the unit, or a 24 hour laundry service.

Five Stars: exceptional overall level of quality. High levels of décor, fixtures and fittings, together with excellent standards of management efficiency and guest services. Excellent range of accessories and personal touches.

Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme.

Visitor attractions can range from pure fun to high culture including historic houses, zoos, farm attractions, country parks, museums and theme parks.

The English Tourism Council's Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme assesses participating attractions, sampling all aspects of the 'visitor experience', from initial telephone enquiries to departure.

This gives you the confidence that the attraction has been thoroughly checked before you plan your visit. Only those attractions which have been assessed by the English Tourism Council and meet the standard receive the quality marque. You will recognise them by the sign shown here.

Camping and caravanning.

The pennant rating scheme is operated by the AA. Parks are classified on a 5 point scale according to their style and the range of facilities they offer. As the Pennant rating increases, so the quality and variety of facilities and amenities must be greater.

The British Graded Holiday Parks Scheme is operated by the English Tourism Council. It uses stars to show the quality rating of holiday parks, touring parks and camping parks. A rating from one to five stars is awarded, based on the quality of service, cleanliness, environment and facilities provided.

ETC Gold and Silver Awards.

ETC Gold and Silver Awards are given to establishments that not only achieve the overall levels of quality within their Diamond or Star ratings, but also reach the highest levels of quality in specific areas identified by guests as being really important to them. Gold and Silver Awards reflect the quality of comfort and cleanliness found in bedrooms and bathrooms as well as the quality of service enjoyed by guests.

AA Rosette Awards for Food.

The AA makes annual rosette awards on a rising scale of one to five for the quality of food served in restaurants and hotel restaurants. Only those offering the highest international standards of cuisine and service will merit the AA's top awards of four or five rosettes.

Five Rosettes: Supreme accolade. Superlative standards of cuisine at an international level. Menus may be innovative or classical. 

Four Rosettes: Innovative cuisine, daring, highly accomplished and of a consistently high standard. 

Three Rosettes: Only cooking of the highest national standard receives three or more rosettes. Imaginative menus, using first-class ingredients. Most items - breads, pastries, pasta, petit fours - will be made in the kitchens, but if any are bought in, the quality will be excellent.

Two Rosettes: Cooking that displays a high degree of competence on the part of the chef. Some imaginative dishes as well as tried and tested favourites. 

One Rosette: Simple, carefully prepared food based on good quality fresh ingredients. Sauces and desserts will be homemade and the cooking will equate to first class home cooking.

RAC Dining Award.

This award is made to Hotels, Townhouses and Guest Accommodation alike, demonstrating that good food and dining atmosphere can be found at all styles of accommodation.

The RAC also consider room service (where available) so that a full impression of the standard of catering on offer can be formed.

There are 5 RAC Dining Awards available, with an RAC Grade 5 Dining Award representing a superb dining experience. However, the standards have been set to challenge the very best establishments. Attaining an RAC Grade 1 Dining Award is a success in itself.