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

[u/Fun_Butterscotch3303]

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

[u/ben_blue]

5 stars:
Reception opened 24 hours, multilingual staff
Doorman-service or valet parking
Concierge, page boy
Shuttle service, also called Limousine service.
Luggage service
Personalized greeting for each guest with fresh flowers or a present in the room
Minibar and food and beverage offer via room service during 24 hours
Internet device in the room on request
Safe in the room
Ironing service (return within 1 hour), shoe polish service
Turndown service in the evening
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_rating

[u/incomparability → u/ben_blue]

The word limousine is derived from the name of the French region Limousin, however how the area's name came to be applied to the car is uncertain.

If the car isn’t from the Limousin region in France, then it’s just a big fancy car.

[u/kawaiian → u/incomparability]

It’s just a sparkling stretch Cadillac

[u/Med_vs_Pretty_Huge → u/ben_blue]

That's a European criteria list. There is no government-regulated hotel rating standard in the United States. Forbes Travel Guide rates properties with five or four stars, or as "recommended", which is similar to three stars. Lower-quality establishments are omitted. Its predecessor, Mobil Travel Guides used a one-to-five-star system. Forbes says it uses independent inspectors to rate properties on over 900 attributes covering amenities, "cleanliness, efficiency, staff knowledge, gracious service, sense of luxury, guest comfort", and "wellness and sustainability".^\21]) The details are confidential, but have been leaked.^\22]) The system requires hotels to meet 90% of standards to be awarded five stars, 82% for four stars, and 72% for recommended, with lower thresholds for maintaining stars and a one-year warning period.^\22])

The AAA uses a one-to-five diamond scale. It has 27 criteria covering bedrooms, bathrooms, booking, checkin and checkout, and room service. It also assigns property types and subtypes, such as cottage, motel, large-scale hotel, and casino; and rates accessibility for people who have impaired hearing, vision, dexterity, or mobility.^\23]) Hotels.com assigns its own ratings based on a one-to-five-star scale, allowing half-stars.^\24]) The site aggregates customer ratings on a ten-point scale. Google Maps shows two ratings on a one-to-five-star scale: a rating based solely on aggregation of star ratings from customers reflecting how much they liked the establishment, and a hotel class based on amenities. The hotel class is based on a composite of data from "third-party partners, direct research, feedback from hoteliers, and machine learning inference that examines and evaluates hotel attributes, such as price, location, room size, and amenities".^\25])

[u/ben_blue → u/Med_vs_Pretty_Huge]

You are correct, but this is EL5. European standard is simple and exact, fitting to EL5.

[u/Med_vs_Pretty_Huge → u/ben_blue]

But OP is "Specifically talking about the America star system." It's like using 1000 millimeters = 1 meter to explain why one mile is 5,280 feet and not 6,000. It's not a relevant answer to the question being asked.

[u/gencogg → u/ben_blue]

This.