Christian de Barrin
CEO
HOTREC
ABOUT THE HOTELSTARS UNION
15 members:
– Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland
180 million inhabitants
30.000 classified hotels until 2014
www.hotelstars.eu
MEMBERSHIP
★ HOTREC-membership = pre-requisite
★ only nation-wide membership,
no regions
★ current official observers:
France, Italy,
★ official requests from countries worldwide
GOVERNANCE AND STRUCTURE
Managing Board (two members per country), Secretariat
One country – one vote
Unanimous decisions
Common criteria (>99%)
270 harmonized criteria
21 HOTREC-principles
Marketing, brand, IT
high quality standards
under the patronage of HOTREC
HISTORY
1994
Opposition to any harmonised system
– Historical, cultural and geographical reasons
2004 - 2009 change of position, adoption of common principles
– Recognition of need for a harmonised system
– Avoid top-down approach – do it ourselves
– Work towards satisfying these needs of consumers, Tour operators and
Travel Agents as well as of the European institutions
2007
Corporation of Austria – Germany – Switzerland
Dec. 2009
Hotelstars Union under the patronage of HOTREC with 7
founding members
7 FOUNDING MEMBERS IN 2009
DEVELOPMENT OF HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
Jan. 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
New hotel classification system: first implentation
HSU-enlargement: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg
HSU-enlargement: Malta first South European country
joining the common star classification
HSU-enlargement: Belgium, Denmark, Greece
Update of criteria catalogue for 2015-2019
A RECOGNISED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
European institutions recognise the huge work
HOTREC and its members have undertaken to
harmonise hotel classification in Europe
HOTREC Members provide full support to this industry
driven approach
Together with the direct involvement of the guests and
consumers across Europe a classification system can
be developed to satisfy real market needs
HOW IT WORKS? FUNCTIONING AND RULES
Different types of systems in Hotelstars Union:
– Mandatory (e.g. Lithuania)
– Voluntary (e.g. Germany)
– Privately run (e.g. Sweden, Switzerland)
– State run (e.g. Malta, Belgium, Luxembourg)
Hotelstars Union classification system replaced the
existing national system
SOME OF THE 21 COMMON PRINCIPLES
Compliance with legal requirements
Cleanliness and proper maintenance
TOs and TAs to be encouraged to use official classification
Number of stars from 1 to 5
Regular and onsite controls
Possibility for hotels to appeal against classification decision
Official stars
vs.
Meaning of stars: what to
expect in the hotel
– Which infrastructure and services
– An objective and verified
evaluation of the offer
– Transparent comparability of the
offer across Europe under the
Hotelstars Union
non-official stars
• Different meaning of stars
– Not known which facilities
and services to expect
– Mix of objective and
subjective elements in one
– Criteria not transparent
A brand especially for smaller • Not always matching the
official star category hotels
confusion
Official objective hardware
evaluation + verified subjective
reviews – best solution
CRITERIA
Mix of mandatory and voluntary criteria
Avoiding mandatory architecture criteria
Criteria in relation to:
Rooms,
Services offered,
Gastronomy,
Event facilities,
Quality management (complaint handling, guest reviews,
etc.)
Structure of the steps in the system
• All
rooms with shower/ toilet in the
room
• Daily room cleaning
• Expanded breakfast
• A public telephone/ fax service
available
• Beverages available
• Non-smoking area in the breakfastroom
• Soap or body wash
• All rooms have colour -TV
• Deposit possibility
• Reception
• Breakfast
buffet
• Bath towels
• Bath essences or shower gel
• Seats according to number of
beds
• Reading light next to the bed
• Cashless payment
• Hygienic articles available
• Linen shelves
opened 18 hours; 24
hours within call
• Minibar or 24 hours room service
• Bath robe and slippers on demand
• Cosmetic mirror
• Systematic client inquiry
• Comfortable arm chair / couch
• Laundry and ironing services
• Hotel lobby, restaurant, hotel bar
• Sewing service
• “À la carte”-restaurant
• Reception opened 12 hours; 24
hours within call
• Luggage service
• Beverages offered in rooms
• Telephone in the room, internet
access
• Restaurant
• Systematic complaint handling
• Bilingual employees
• Hair dryer, additional pillow on
demand
• Reception opened 24 hours, multilingual staff,
concierge
• 24 hours meals and drinks with room service
• Suites
• Internet-PC in the room, qualified IT-support service
• Reception hall, hotel bar
• Mystery guesting
• Personalized guest welcome with flowers and/or
sweets in the room
• Laundry and ironing services within 12 hours, shoe
polish service
• Turndown service in the evening
• Luggage service
A COMMON IDENTITY / SIGNS
REVISION OF THE HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
Guest needs are continously changing
Market research 2013 new Approach
Let’s ask them directly
REVISED CRITERIA APPLICABLE FROM 2015
five-years-term (now valid from 2010-2014)
Revision process for new criteria 2015 started in 2013
With the help of Swiss University St. Gallen
– Open online survey among European citizens
– Study based on this survey
PROCESS
Revision process focused on following aspects:
–
–
–
–
–
Better sleeping comfort;
Better online visibility provided by hotel websites;
Better telecommunication opportunities also in lower category hotels;
Better food and beverages availability in all types of hotels;
Keeping with the pace of time
Test classifications in several countries
New criteria to be implemented contiuosly from 1 January 2015
MAKE YOUR OWN TEST
A free testing tool is available on www.hotelstars.eu
Check out how many stars you would get under the Hotelstars Union
system!
BENEFITS FOR CUSTOMERS
Guiding stars for guests in the universe of offers
– Possibility to know which infrastructure and services to be
expected from a hotel
– An objective and verified evaluation of the offer
– Comparability of the offer across Europe under the Hotelstars
Union
A brand especially for smaller hotels
For any further detailed questions, please contact the
Hotelstars Union Secretariat:
Contact:
Klára Hájková
AHR ČR
Revoluční 13, Prague 1
hajkova@ahrcr.cz
+420 773 236 890
Thank you for your attention!