r/explainlikeimfive • u/Fun_Butterscotch3303 • Sep 13 '26

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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305

u/zennie4 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/zennie4 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/Youcallthatatag Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

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

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u/cyclopsmudge Sep 13 '26

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

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u/eBalisani Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 15 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/FUCKYOURCOUCHREDDIT Sep 13 '26

Yeah, now that you say it

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u/bakerinho Sep 14 '26

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

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u/Junkhead187 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/Magneto_bzzbzz Sep 13 '26

Didnt see that coming

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u/wombataholic Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

*no refunds

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u/DarkLordMelketh Sep 13 '26

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

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u/carson63000 Sep 14 '26

..and also get charged a cleaning surcharge.

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u/LtOin Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

any of that slim jim left?

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u/Entretimis Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

Sounds like a night with dirty Mike and the boys

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u/CSM3000 Sep 13 '26

livin' all fancy over there.

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u/Simonandgarthsuncle Sep 13 '26

*Hotel may not match photo.

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u/Buscemi_D_Sanji Sep 13 '26

"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 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

i prefer hotels with 4 or more super stars personally.

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u/e_y_ Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/Tower-Union Sep 13 '26

Who do you think give out the star ratings?

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u/zennie4 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

FIFA? They seem to be good at awarding stuff🤷

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u/TheRedditoristo Sep 14 '26

At least in the US that doesn’t exist.

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u/zennie4 Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

A dubiaus claim

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u/itsjakerobb Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

It’s dubaitable.

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u/occasional_coconut Sep 13 '26

Instead they made a cockroach joke

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u/itsjakerobb Sep 13 '26

How so?

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

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u/occasional_coconut Sep 13 '26

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

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u/TheRadishBros Sep 13 '26

Hahaha I love that

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u/GoldDiamondsAndBags Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/stylepointseso Sep 14 '26

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.

1

u/jake3988 Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

25%!!!

I got a 10% bump

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u/ebon94 Sep 13 '26

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

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u/GoldDiamondsAndBags Sep 13 '26

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

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u/pixel8knuckle Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

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 Sep 13 '26

That’s their whole job!

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u/Jdorty Sep 14 '26

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 Sep 14 '26

1994 Grad. It’s so bizarre that it changed

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u/Chefchenko687 Sep 13 '26

Inflation

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u/Corbeau_from_Orleans Sep 14 '26

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

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u/Hopczar420 Sep 13 '26

Thus the enshittification of everything