How to tell a good hotel before you’ve stayed there
In Switzerland, five stars means at least 610 of 988 points in a catalogue of 239 criteria. What stars and reviews actually measure, what photos leave out, and a test that takes ten minutes.
What stars measure
In Switzerland, Germany, Austria and other countries, stars are awarded by Hotelstars Union, now across 22 member countries. The 2025 to 2030 catalogue has 239 criteria in seven areas. A hotel needs 270 points for three stars, 410 for four and 610 for five, out of a maximum of 988.
That means two five-star hotels can be more than three hundred points apart. Room size is an optional criterion that earns points, not a requirement for any category. Stars tell you what a hotel has. They say little about how it’s run.
And outside those countries
France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the USA are not members of Hotelstars Union. The USA has no official classification, only private systems such as AAA or the Forbes Travel Guide. France classifies through Atout France, Italy regionally.
Where there’s no official rating, booking platforms often assign their own stars and point out that they don’t guarantee particular features. The five stars next to a hotel in Miami and the five stars next to a hotel in Zurich don’t mean the same thing.
What reviews measure
In the EU, since the Omnibus Directive, platforms must disclose whether and how they ensure reviews come from real guests. In the USA, a Federal Trade Commission rule has banned fake and bought reviews, undisclosed reviews by employees and the suppression of negative reviews since 2024.
That makes reviews more honest, but not more useful for your question. An average score mixes business travellers, families and couples. Patterns are what help: if the same complaint recurs over months, such as noise from the bar below certain rooms, it’s a finding. Individual outliers up or down rarely are.
What photos leave out
Hotel photos almost always show the best category, in the best light, through a lens that makes rooms look bigger. So the key question isn’t whether the room looks nice, but which room is in the picture. If it doesn’t say, ask.
What’s missing is just as telling. A hotel with an impressive lobby but not a single photo of its cheapest category usually has a reason.
What the final price includes
In the USA, since 12 May 2025, hotels must show the total price including all mandatory fees as the most prominent figure. Taxes may be shown separately but must be disclosed before payment details are entered. Elsewhere such rules don’t always exist. Resort fees, mandatory half board over the holidays or transfer charges then only show up late.
The test that takes ten minutes
Email the hotel directly with three specific questions:
- Which room category is shown in the main image on the website?
- When was the category we’d like to book last renovated?
- What costs are added on site to the price we book?
The answers matter. How the hotel answers often matters more: how fast, how precisely, whether the questions are answered or sidestepped with a brochure. A hotel that dodges before the booking rarely behaves differently after it.
What I’d do in your place
Treat stars as a floor, not a ranking. Read reviews for recurring patterns, not the score. And ask the three questions above before any larger booking. That’s exactly what I do in the Hotel Check, just with the eye of someone who knows the answers from the operations side.
