What hotel stars represent
The Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants in synergy with its European organisation HOTREC have for several years been working towards supporting the system of an OFFICIAL STANDARD CLASSIFICATION OF THE ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, which has been functioning on a voluntary basis in the Czech Republic already since the year 2004. The Official standard classification document has been created through mutual cooperation of AHR ČR and UNIHOST, with the kind support of the Czech Ministry for Regional Development (MMR ČR) and the agency Czech Tourism.
The beginning of the year 2010 saw a rise of an entirely new system of the stars assignment. Hotel associations from 7 EU countries created HOTELSTARS UNION, a union determined in the first place to harmonise the classification of hotel services with the help of a standard methodology and the use of synergistic marketing activities in promoting the certified facilities.
Launching in 2010, a common system will so be introduced by the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Sweden, to be followed by Hungary later, with Switzerland and Netherlands joining the system in the course of the year 2011.
What this means to you, the customers, is quite obvious.
A portfolio of unambiguously transparent services and equipment, the certainty and possibility at any time to acquaint yourselves with the conditions and the system of stars, i.e. to find out about just what exactly the particular class of an accommodation facility will guarantee to you as a customer. The hotel stars system will provide you with a reliable multinational overview of the information that is crucial in deciding on the target hotel, be it for a family holiday or a business trip.
The hotel classification consists of altogether 270 assessment criteria, which were defined following a number of surveys mapping up the expectations of hotel guests and the needs of the market. The system is devised around a set of mandatory criteria and voluntary optional requirements. It also introduces a number of novelties in our hotel market, namely the possibility of being included in the SUPERIOR category. Superior stands for such hotels, whose portfolio of services far exceeds the standards prescribed for their class.
NOT ALL THE STARS MEAN THE SAME
It is high time we start differentiating those hotels that have applied for this voluntary certification, from all those others that, though boasting of a certain number of stars on their facades and in their presentations, do not provide guarantees of the system according to which they have been so identified and therefore do not guarantee their services are of a clear and transparent nature.
Doubts and uncertainty in selecting the right accommodation may arise also with regard to those categories, which can sometimes be encountered, but which are not recognized by the Czech legal framework /e.g.: residence, hotel home, inn, accommodation centre, etc./.
At present, we are focusing on cooperation with the internet portals that sell accommodation products. We have created an Official standard classification sign for this purpose, which is used to identify the officially certified establishments. A list of our partners who support this system will be made public via these sites shortly.
So if you are looking for accommodation in the Czech Republic, we recommend you should choose from among such hotels that are identified at the entrance by an official label declaring the appropriate number of stars and displaying the logos of CzechTourism and the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants.
