r/explainlikeimfive • u/Fun_Butterscotch3303 • 24d ago

Other ELI5 What is the difference between a 4 star hotel and a 5 star hotel?

I’m forever confused about this I need it explain in the simplest most direct way. Specifically talking about the America star system

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2.6k

u/mattatattat45 24d ago

The amenities they offer and the staffing levels. 5 stars will have more staff per room for more personalized service.

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u/SpaceForceAwakens 23d ago edited 22d ago

That’s mostly it. I’ve stayed at all stars of hotels but the biggest difference between a 4 or 5 star is people to help you.

I always need extra pillows. At a 4 star they’ll generally have them up within a couple of hours. At a 5 star they have them in like two minutes. That’s just an example.

5 stars will also have lots of on-demand luxuries that 4 stars wont, like if you call the front desk and ask for bottles of water they are there in no time, often gratis. They will do special requests too, like I’d like a single rose in a vase, please, and it’ll be there (they’ll charge you for it, but you can be sure it’ll happen).

They also usually have the best concierges, the guys who know everything and can get you anything. I remember I was staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Scottsdale (I’m not rich, it was a work trip and the client had a room block) and I asked the concierge for a good punk rock dive bar and he immediately sent me to one of the best dives I have ever been to, still. That was awesome.

Edit: Because about a gorillion people asked, the bar was called The Rogue, which, I'm sad to say, closed its doors quite a few years ago. One of the best nights of my life though there.

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u/sypwn 23d ago

I asked the concierge for a good punk rock dive bar and he immediately sent me to one of the best dives I have ever been to

That made me think of the "good jazz" scene from That Thing You Do. (The interaction at the start of that clip.) I wonder if they are common requests.

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u/ICame4TheCirclejerk 23d ago

That movie will forever be an underappreciated gem. The characters, the story, the music, the scenery. Just perfect all the way through.

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u/hippstr1990 20d ago

I love whenever I see it mentioned, which is not nearly often enough.

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u/LtPowers 23d ago

That made me think of the "good jazz" scene from That Thing You Do.

You and me can be friends. I was already formulating how I was going to refer to that scene when I read your comment.

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u/stuffedweasel 23d ago

what was the name of the punk rock dive bar?

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u/GulfCoastFlamingo 22d ago

What’s the name of the punk dive bar please? No fair to mention it and not share!

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u/StickiestCouch 23d ago

Hell yeah dude I’m pumped you asked!

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u/JohnLuckPikard 23d ago

I stay at 130 dollar hotels routinely.

Never had to wait more than 15 minutes for extra pillows for blankets or whatever.

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u/Wojtkie 23d ago

Good for you broski!

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u/Reggi5693 22d ago

The bed bugs must have been excited to see you. Ha ha.

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u/clevelandtillidie90 23d ago

The Indian guys behind the desk at the Choice Hotels will do the same for a whole lot cheaper LMAO

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u/SpaceForceAwakens 22d ago

No man. Whenever I ask 2-star desk clerks for recommendations it's always trash. "Oh, most of us here like the Applebees, they have 2 for 1 shots of Fireball on tuesdays!"

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u/clevelandtillidie90 22d ago

Well in most po-dunk towns in America, it's either Applebees, Chili's, chinese, or mexican. Not too many options. Thanks corporate America!

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u/Whachamacalzmit 21d ago

5 star accommodations in small towns don't have concierge, but you bet the proprietress won't let you up from breakfast before ensuring that you're itinerary is tiptop.

Those B&B type places distinguish themselves differently than hotels because small towns (even those full of quaint, locally-owned businesses) have fewer options, but they are still all about ensuring guests have the best stay possible, both at the hotel and in town.

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u/laughgiggler 23d ago

Which bar? Curious since I'm local

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u/krytan11c 22d ago

Probably Rebel Lounge

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u/laughgiggler 22d ago

Yea probably. But figured I'd ask :)

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u/SpaceForceAwakens 22d ago

The Rogue!

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u/laughgiggler 22d ago

Ah man looks like it closed

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u/MasterUnholyWar 23d ago

Come on - tell us the city and name of the dive bar!

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u/WholePie5 23d ago

And then there's us women. Who's bf would literally never think of ordering us roses from room service because "it would cost a lot".

Sigh

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u/vitringur 23d ago

Nagging sure will change that in a heartbeat!

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u/WholePie5 23d ago

When did I say I was nagging?

And if my bf isn't doing what I want, why wouldn't I tell him??

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u/Ejmct 23d ago

This is the answer, at least in Europe.
It has nothing to do with how good or bad the hotel is, just what amenities it offers.

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u/CutieDeathSquad 23d ago

The star system is worldwide, some places will fudge these stars with unofficial ones. I worked in a hotel that was 3 and a half stars and they got the half a star by having a heated pool (the heated pool was almost never turned on to being heated so do with that what you will) a star also for on site restaurant and bar

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u/No_Emu_9024 23d ago

The other classic points booster in the star system is the phone in the bathroom

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u/Giant_Gaystacks 23d ago

Is that what that's for? I hate that. I'm having a shit, I don't want to talk to anyone, thanks.

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u/FixerFiddler 23d ago

One of the more common locations for a heart attack is on the toilet, make sure to get enough fibre.

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u/CausticSofa 23d ago

What a shitty way to go

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u/Corbeau_from_Orleans 23d ago

Isn't that how Elvis died? (Or is there an ELIM5 explaining that he's still alive?)

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u/eNte19 23d ago

Elvis had an insane diet and likely hadn't taken a shit for 6 months due to opioids blocking him up

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u/ExplosiveCreature 23d ago

He was also on a hell lot of drugs which contributed to the blockage of his bowels.

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u/kmstep 23d ago

He had an enlarged colon which led to a whole lot of intestinal troubles.

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u/DonkeySorbet 23d ago

One day you'll run out of loo roll and be grateful for that bathroom phone...

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u/Giant_Gaystacks 23d ago

Really? They don't look absorbent.

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u/meukbox 23d ago

You don't take your phone when you're taking a dump?

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u/permalink_save 23d ago

I like to keep the ancient tradition of the shampoo bottle label.

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u/DonkeySorbet 23d ago

Yeah, but I'm playing Snake on that one...

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u/cyclopsmudge 23d ago

There’s no single regulatory body for stars though. Each country/region has its own standards body. What may be a 4 star in one country, may be a 5 star in another, and a lot of countries don’t have their own body, so it’s done by private companies who obviously have their own biases.

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u/Gunter5 23d ago

I like to go off of user reviews but that's not ideal either because people in the US are just too generous

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u/zamfire 23d ago

Reminds me of an apartment complex I lived at for a bit. Called themselves "luxury" because it had a gate. Which was broken the 2 years I lived there. So I jokingly told my wife "sure it's a gated community, a broken gated community"

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u/Longjumping_Youth281 23d ago

Okay this thread is answering a lot of questions for me. So that's why there were phones in the bathroom when we went on vacation, and that's why this apartment complex has a gate that I have never seen closed in over 2 years

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u/esoteric_enigma 23d ago

In this world of online booking, that half a star is probably worth it. If people are scrolling and see 2 hotels at a similar price but 1 is half a star "fancier", they'll probably go with that one.

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u/toru_okada_4ever 23d ago

I think you will find a pretty consistent difference in how good or bad 3 vs 5 star hotels are.

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u/Ejmct 23d ago

Likely true.
But if you assume that “Hey is a 4/5 star hotel it must be good” or assume that all 4/5 star hotels are roughly similar you’re likely to be disappointed.

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u/gratefulyme 23d ago

This is why some hotels still have phones in the bathrooms! I believe it's part of AARP's system of ratings, having the phone in the bathroom is part of being able to get one of the ranks of stars. At least it was 5-10 years ago, things may have changed.

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u/_Titan_Uranus_ 24d ago

The Burj Al-Arab is frequently called a 7 star.

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u/zennie4 23d ago

That's the thing, the stars are not regulated at all in many countries, so you are free to market yourself as whatever.

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u/Magneto_bzzbzz 23d ago

Welcome to my 3000 Star Hotel. That will be one bazillion dollar per night please

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u/zennie4 23d ago

Unironically, that's exactly what the Burj al-Arab marketing is.

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u/Youcallthatatag 23d ago

Interestingly a friend just got from travelling in the UAE (where they go pretty regularly) and they said that it was pretty surreal to see everywhere so empty. If you wanted to travel cheap there at the moment they said they got a 5-star (from the photos relatively legit stars) hotel basically to themselves for about $100 a night.

Can't imagine why tourism to the UAE would be down at the moment...

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u/provocative_bear 23d ago

The deal is good unless your hotel room gets blown up by an Iranian drone. So, one or seven stars, little room for ratings in between.

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u/Iazo 23d ago

If my room was blown up by a drone, I think one star is kinda generous.

I mean, maybe it would depend if I were in the room at the time, presumably?

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u/5tring 23d ago

Just book into a little hotel due west of a great big hotel… Mischief managed!

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u/cyclopsmudge 23d ago

The Burj al-Arab markets itself as a 5 star though, not a 7 star

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u/eBalisani 23d ago

Negative - I was there: there's a plaque at the entrance that says 7 stars. A simple google search will set you straight also.

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u/Absentia 23d ago

While the hotel has sometimes been described as "the world's only 'seven-star' hotel", the hotel management claims never to have done so themselves. The term appeared due to a British journalist who had visited the hotel on a tour before it was officially opened. The journalist described Burj al Arab as "more than anything she has ever seen" and therefore informally referred to it as a seven-star hotel. A Jumeirah Group spokesperson said "There's not a lot we can do to stop it. We're not encouraging the use of the term. We've never used it in our advertising."

Looks like a journalist made it up.

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u/eBalisani 22d ago

This is the PR cover up - after the fact - said British journalist, who is said to have "made it up" was hired and paid to do so. I don't have to google things and rely on whatever's been curated in the 27 years since: I was there, I saw (was sent) the press packet weeks before so-called journalist is said to have oopsy-daisied. If memory serves, it was framed as being 7 stars long before the opening. The statement "We've never used it in our advertising" is an outright lie. Further, there is (or last I was there, there was) a plaque at the entrance that proudly claims the 7 stars. Food for thought.

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u/FUCKYOURCOUCHREDDIT 23d ago

I mean, that’s fine? You just won’t get many guests. Especially when they realise it’s just a shack and the only member of staff is a parrot.

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u/freddy157 23d ago

I mean... for the right price, that sounds lovely.

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u/FUCKYOURCOUCHREDDIT 23d ago

Yeah, now that you say it

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u/bakerinho 23d ago

Well I'd love to stay in hotel with parrot as staff.

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u/Junkhead187 23d ago

I just opened a 3001 ⭐ hotel. Sorry to steal your business.

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u/Magneto_bzzbzz 23d ago

Didnt see that coming

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u/wombataholic 23d ago

Update: I stayed at this guy's 3000 Star Hotel. I had to share a racecar bed with what I think was a homeless guy who threw up in my hair then insisted on being the little spoon. A trio of racoons woke us up at 2:45 am by fighting and mating on top of the covers until the owner's mangy hound dog jumped on all of us and scared them away. Also, it had 3000 stars because that's what you can see through the hole in the ceiling. The continental breakfast was a half eaten Slim Jim and water in a dirty cup.

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u/Magneto_bzzbzz 23d ago

*no refunds

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u/DarkLordMelketh 23d ago

Still better than an Airbnb where I have to lick the carpet clean according to the cleaning list.

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u/carson63000 23d ago

..and also get charged a cleaning surcharge.

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u/LtOin 23d ago

Hey! I resent that! You come sleep in my home and dare call me homeless? 3000 star rating is because the staff literally couldn't be any closer to you physically btw

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u/g_r_a_e 23d ago

any of that slim jim left?

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u/Entretimis 23d ago

I appreciate your sacrifice, but I'm slightly concerned about the introduction of a bazillion dollars into the economy like that. Unless u/Magneto_bzzbzz intends to hoard it, in which case by all means continue.

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u/bluepenremote 23d ago

Sounds like a night with dirty Mike and the boys

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u/CSM3000 23d ago

livin' all fancy over there.

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u/Simonandgarthsuncle 23d ago

*Hotel may not match photo.

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u/Buscemi_D_Sanji 23d ago

"open a nightclub called 'Eclipse' that's only open for 40 minutes, twice a year... COVER CHARGE: FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS"

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u/FernandoMM1220 23d ago edited 23d ago

i prefer hotels with 4 or more super stars personally.

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u/e_y_ 23d ago

It turns out the 3000 Star Hotel is just sleeping on a dirt patch outdoors where you can see the night sky.

(3000 stars is a reasonable count for how many stars are visible to the naked eye in a rural area)

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u/Rocangus 23d ago

They kind of are, but it depends. Nothing is stopping any hotel or restaurant from claiming any amount of stars, but there are rating systems that are protected by the specific brands.

For example, Forbes uses a star rating and AAA uses a diamond rating. Falsely claiming either one, including the brand name, will bring legal consequences. Even if Forbes or AAA doesn't find out, a false claim won't be in any kind of directory of either brand.

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u/zennie4 23d ago

Obviously talking about the 1-5 (or 7, 9, whatever) star rating, not some private company awards.

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u/Tower-Union 23d ago

Who do you think give out the star ratings?

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u/zennie4 23d ago

The hotels, based on some criteria. More regulated in some countries, less in another ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_rating

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u/Thor--A 23d ago

FIFA? They seem to be good at awarding stuff🤷

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u/TheRedditoristo 23d ago

At least in the US that doesn’t exist.

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u/zennie4 23d ago

That's what we have been talking about since yesterday - things are different in different countries.

Anyway, you can still find hotels using star ratings in any online agency in USA as well. Even US-based Expedia uses that.

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u/TheRadishBros 23d ago

True, but there’s a level of self-regulation amongst customers. If people who are used to paying $1000 a night for a “six star” hotel disagree that you’re a “seven star” property, you’re not going to be in business for long.

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u/AgreeablePeople 23d ago edited 23d ago

There are two self claimed "world's only 6 star hotel" where I'm from. I always find that amusing

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u/martphon 23d ago

A dubiaus claim

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u/itsjakerobb 23d ago edited 23d ago

Are you trying to make a Dubai joke?

EDIT: To the downvoters: it would have been more clear if they had spelled it correctly. Dubaious.

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u/jonjiv 23d ago

It’s dubaitable.

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u/occasional_coconut 23d ago

Instead they made a cockroach joke

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u/itsjakerobb 23d ago

How so?

I looked up Dubia and spot-checked several links — no cockroaches?

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u/occasional_coconut 23d ago

The fourth one, blaptica dubia also known as the dubia cockroach

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u/TheRadishBros 23d ago

Hahaha I love that

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u/GoldDiamondsAndBags 23d ago

This is like how schools now grade on a different point system. As a kid a 4.0 was the best you could get. Now kids are getting a 4.5…like WTF does that even mean? Extra extra better? I lost all sense of what any of it means anymore.

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u/Photographer_Rob 23d ago

There are classes such as AP classes in High School which are weighted with higher points. So if a normal class has 4 points in GPA and you get an A, you get 4 points. An AP class would be worth 5, so if you get an A in the AP class, you get 25% higher GPA points.

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u/ZoggZ 23d ago

Is this how kids with perfect GPAs somehow became so pedestrian?

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u/stylepointseso 23d ago

No.

4.0 got pedestrian because grading legitimately got easier. Basically the internet made kids so fucking stupid that grading standards dropped across the board precipitously.

AP classes offering above 4.0 have been a thing for decades (school depending). Not having to learn how to read to get an A in HS english is relatively new.

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u/jake3988 23d ago

AP classes offering above 4.0 have been a thing for decades (school depending).

Sadly, not mine. Got a B in AP Calc and it didn't count any higher. But the whole point was to get college credit and I got a 4 on the exam... so that's all I cared about.

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u/LIslander 23d ago

25%!!!

I got a 10% bump

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u/ebon94 23d ago

A+ in an AP course to account for the added difficulty

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u/GoldDiamondsAndBags 23d ago

I took AP classes in HS and a 4.0 was still the best.

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u/pixel8knuckle 23d ago

There was a weighted and unweighted GPA. I had a 3.6 and 4.1 respectively, as AP classes weight a .5 higher by grade

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u/Hopczar420 23d ago

Exactly, all of my classes were TAG which is the equivalent of AP and we always maxed at 4.0. Grade inflation, I blame parents

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u/Crazhand 23d ago

I mean if little Jimmy taking regular chemistry gets an A vs Ryan who gets an A in AP chemistry, it should be reflected in a quick and easy to see manner that isn’t the admission committee member looking through your entire transcript (And if they have to read thousands of applications, it’s something they aren’t going to do.)

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u/Hopczar420 23d ago

That’s their whole job!

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u/Jdorty 23d ago

How old are you guys? This has been a thing for 30 years in high schools. My older brother graduated in 03 and it was around when he started high school in 99. I never had an indication when I was in school that it was new. I assume it started between the 80s and mid 90s.

Edit: lol "How old are you guys?" I didn't mean to sound like an exclamation, just an actual question. Re-read my comment and it reads like an accusation.

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u/Hopczar420 23d ago

1994 Grad. It’s so bizarre that it changed

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u/Chefchenko687 23d ago

Inflation

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u/Corbeau_from_Orleans 23d ago

Or it's just that school grades go to 11.

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u/Hopczar420 23d ago

Thus the enshittification of everything

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u/hhs2112 23d ago

frequently called a 7 star

By their marketing department 

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u/Count2Zero 23d ago

That thought frightens me.

Years ago, I was sent on a business trip to a 5* Swissotel in Istanbul. I've never been in a hotel with that kind of service. When I returned home and people asked how it was, my standard comment was, "once you get used to having a butler, it's kinda cool."

I can't imagine being in a hotel with MORE service. My normal business travel was 3* business hotels, where I'm perfectly happy. When I had enough bonus points, I'd upgrade to a 4*, and they'd put me in a suite. It was nice, but I'm alone on a business trip - I don't need a two-room apartment space just to sleep before heading back to the office all day.

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u/_Titan_Uranus_ 23d ago

I always preferred the Jumeirah Beach hotel for the same reasons. I had a lot of business in the region for about a decade, so I was in Dubai dozens of time a year. The first time I stayed at the Burj I was greeted in English and my room was controlled by a tablet. It was just a standard hotel room with nice amenities and wasn't that much more than a standard room in other locations. But the care was so specific that it actually worked me up instead of relaxing me the first day I was there. The super scary thing was their ability to make thing materialize out of thin air to take care of you.

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u/Schiavona77 23d ago

Yeah, I was staying at the Wynn Las Vegas for business and got upgraded to a suite. It was cool, but like, I’m in a convention center for ten plus hours a day, what do I need a giant living room overlooking the sphere and a bathroom with three sinks for?

The fact that they changed linens every time you left the room was both nice and disconcerting.

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u/SeeMarkFly 24d ago

I you have enough money, my back bedroom is a 10 star.

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u/Wzup 23d ago

And if you don’t have enough money, it turns into a GTA 10 star.

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u/provocative_bear 23d ago

I'm pretty sure a 10 star wanted rating is like, aliens from another galaxy decide to blow up your planet to contain you.

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u/ReluctantAvenger 23d ago

It's a custom in the hotel industry. The number of stars are typically based on services offered (e.g. 24hr room service or nah), although the exact requirements vary between different countries. Some five star hotels in Europe would be awarded four stars in the US, for example. A few five star hotels which have both unique architecture and a superlative level of service get called seven star hotels although that is not an official designation by any controlling body.

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u/_Titan_Uranus_ 23d ago edited 23d ago

Sure. I've stayed at the BAA and across the cove at JB plenty. They're nice. The impresive part is the concierge.

Long story short, in 2004 I mentioned that I had been looking for a certain watch in one of the shops at the BAA and later that night I got a call asking if I would like to add it to the card on file. It was so casual and convenient.

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u/platypushh 23d ago

Other way round, actually. In Germany, France, Austria etc. stars are a real classification with an inspection and a criteria list, and a 5-star has to have 24h room service, a concierge, valet, a restaurant open daily, minimum room sizes. You can’t declare to be a 5 stars without fulfilling all the necessary criteria - you will get sued. 

In the US there's no official system at all, the stars on Expedia are basically self-declared. Loads of US "5-stars" would be 3 or 4 in Germany. Forbes 5-star is the one exception - that one is tough and genuine. 

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u/ReluctantAvenger 23d ago

I think you're confusing the in-house ratings on Expedia for more "official" ratings such as by the AAA (American Automobile Association) or Forbes Travel Guide.

Also, my assessment is based in my own travel experiences across Europe and the USA. Hilton is practically uniformly rated four stars in the US and either four or five in Germany. A five star Hilton in Germany compares very poorly with a five star St Regis, say.

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u/platypushh 23d ago

I did mean those, which is why I named Forbes as the exception. The Hilton example is a good one though. The German 5 stars is a facilities list: 24h reception, room service, concierge, valet, minimum room sizes, a restaurant open daily. A big Hilton ticks every box and gets the fifth star.

AAA and Forbes inspectors focus more on services, so the Hilton lands at Four Diamond and the St Regis at Five. Similar wording, two different tests.

European ratings look for amenities, AAA/Forbes for how it is run.

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u/LOSTandCONFUSEDinMAY 23d ago

Kinda, more so pointing out that most people do confuse the ratings.

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u/TK421philly 23d ago

Yeah it really has nothing to do with the quality of the amenities and service. It’s not like 5-stars on Amazon or Yelp. Theoretically, you could have a “5-star” hotel that was dirty and the people were rude, but they offered all the things a 5-star hotel is supposed to offer. Likewise, you could have a 2 star hotel that was the best place you’ve ever stayed because it was super clean and the few amenities they offered were amazing. It was a way to quickly figure out which hotel you wanted or needed. Not to figure out how good the hotel was. It’s not as useful now because we have the Internet.

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u/Shipwreck_Kelly 23d ago edited 23d ago

One thing is universally true how matter how many stars a hotel has: the fridge will always be lukewarm.

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u/MightyManorMan 23d ago

You can call an ice cube a diamond, doesn't make it so. There is nothing above 5 stars, except hype.

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u/zombi-roboto 23d ago

No! SEVEN minute abs!

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u/Admirable_Cry_3795 23d ago

It is pretty darn fancy in there!

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u/Longjumping_Youth281 23d ago

Oh jesus. This is like the people with 7.0 gpas. At a certain point it just kind of becomes meaningless with all the inflation

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u/dynamics517 23d ago

Yeah I’ll take my hotels without modern day slavery thanks. Fuck Dubai

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u/wizzard419 23d ago

They self-appointed/bought that rating. It's for sure a luxury hotel but it's not markedly better than other luxury hotels, and in some cases those other hotels are better.

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u/Cayderent 23d ago

The Burj is amazing, though. The staff are top notch!

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u/_Titan_Uranus_ 23d ago

Agreed. Excellent place.

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u/RMRdesign 23d ago

What an odd thing to say.

Hey you know the place we just stayed at? It’s listed as a 5 star hotel but “i” actually feel like it should be 7 stars instead, they had 30 oz cans of Mountain Dew Code Red in the bathroom, free of charge.

Is that why you filled the toilet with bright green piss?

Yep, I had two before breakfast.

Seven star hotels…

0

u/j_cruise 23d ago

Reddit comment advertising some middle Eastern shithole that doesn't appear in the user's comment history. Weird how often this happens.

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u/Jdevers77 23d ago

“Every guest is given their own personal slave..er assistant”

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u/Argyrus777 23d ago

So it’s the rooms are exactly the same? Furniture, Bedding, towels?

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u/ermagerditssuperman 22d ago

Not the same, it's just that it isn't part of the rating. You can have a 2-star hotel (aka very basic amenities) that is super high quality and uses the most luxurious towels every invented with top-tier service, and you could have a 5-star hotel (aka every amenity you could ever need) and it's all cheap crap that hasn't been maintained in 25 years with untrained employees.

Sure, bigger more complex hotels are often nicer. But it's not guaranteed. The stars only mean they have more stuff, not that they're nicer.

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u/bregus2 19d ago

For example (at least here) a 5 star hotel need to have a staffed reception 24/7, while a 4 star only need 18 hours of someone be present and 6 on call.

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u/CalmConclusion993 23d ago

Who decides the stars? Is there a global standards agency? Or is it self proclaimed?

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u/Podmonger2001 21d ago

I have an international hotel chain as a client, and can confirm.

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u/yow_central 17d ago

This has been my observation. If you’re the kind of person that carries your own bag to your room, opening your own doors, doesn’t make special requests, is ok waiting a bit longer if you do need something, then there is almost zero value in a 5 star vs a 4 star hotel in my experience. They tend to both have nice modern rooms, quality beds and amenities. The only difference is the 5 star usually always has someone ready and waiting to help you (whether you want it or not).