The economics of hotel star ratings!!

I (Lana) was thinking this morning about the entire hotel industry and how as a tourist, you don't really know what you're getting when you book online--which the majority of us do these days!!  Even with a tour package, they can tell you that you're getting three (3) star accommodations, but do you really know what three stars will get you in a foreign country?

One of the questions everyone always asks when planning a holiday is "where did you stay? " and "would you recommend that place?"  It's been our experience that the number of stars varied greatly country to country and until you know what the barometer is for each country--it's almost a shot in the dark.  But unless you've been there before, you don't know the barometer and by then it's too late for that trip.  You're already booked/committed.

In China for example, research tells us that a hotel receives its star rating shortly after it opens--this rating never changes after this point.  Let me repeat that--this rating NEVER changes after this point.  This means that a hotel might have been granted three stars in 1985 and continues to hold this rating even today.  I think you can quickly see the flaw in this system?  We did as well during our 2004 trip there.  And to be honest, I'm not sure how frequently other countries update their hotel star ratings either???!!!??

So far were finding a real hodge-podge on this trip.  Here's quick run down of our accommodation choices which we research via reviews of Trip Advisor, Hotel Bookings and Yelp:

--Frankfurt Airport--Hilton Garden:  Great place, new, clean, quiet and quickly accessible in the airport.  Rates are reasonable usually around $100 Euro/night. (4 star)
--Vienna--Stanys Apartment hotel:  Ok, relatively good location, but not as close as they report to be to the Innere Stadt.  The room was spacious but sparsely furnished.  The bathroom had the smallest shower that even a Smurf would have problems fitting into.  Noisey in the morning with the central stairway and cleaning staff talking loudly. (3 star but barely IMHO)
--Salzburg--NH Hotel:  great location, love this hotel chain as I stay at here in Heidelburg.  Staff are always friendly and the room, though nothing fancy are always clean and well maintained. Also, bathtubs are pretty standard. (4 star)
--Innsbruck--Basic Hotel:  was anything but.  Great room on the top floor, clean, spacious.  One small window but didn't lack for sunlight.  Bathroom was all marble with huge shower (no tub).  No AC but there was a fan in the room.  Very modern furnishings and great location.  Friendly front desk staff. (3 star)
--Milan--Art Hotel Navigli:  mostly "underwhelmed" based on what we are paying--but room includes a decent breakfast buffet and is in a great location with lots of bars/restaurants close by. (4 stars)

Some prices include breakfast, some don't.  Overall we look for places that are well located, close to what we want to see and do.  Also, if it's new or recently renovated that's a good sign.  We do rely on online reviews and Randy always adds his as well.  Pictures are good, but they can show only what they want to show and it would be their best room, not their "standard" room.

Funny thing is--once you've checked in--you're usually past the point of no return.  You've likely already paid a deposit or even paid for the room in full in advance.  It's difficult but not impossible to check out early if you don't like the accommodations and if there's anything you're unhappy about, your only option is to lodge a complaint and ask the hotel to make things better.  Or you're too tired/exhausted to want to do anything about it anyway.  Which leads to my blog title--someone should do a study on the economics of hotel star ratings and how effective they really are given the variations that occur across levels of quality and customer service.  I'd be curious :)