Ever wondered about the significance of star ratings for the hospitality industry?
Join me in this article as we delve into the world of hospitality ratings and uncover what the AA's standards can tell us. I'll share insights that shed light on what these ratings truly signify.
In 1912, The AA revolutionised the hospitality industry by introducing a groundbreaking Star rating system. Over the years, this system has evolved and, in 2006, The AA took a monumental step forward by establishing uniform quality standards (working alongside the main tourist boards) for inspecting and rating accommodation. These meticulously crafted standards and rating categories have since become the benchmark across the entire British Isles.`
From luxurious hotels to cosy guest accommodations, self-catering retreats to top-notch serviced lodgings, each establishment now receives a well-deserved star rating. Meanwhile, for caravan parks, camping grounds, and glamping sites, The AA employs pennant ratings to ensure travellers make informed choices.
Beyond accommodations, The AA's culinary expertise shines through its recognition of exceptional dining establishments. Among the vast array of restaurants in the UK, The AA distinguishes over 2000 for their culinary excellence by bestowing upon them the prestigious Rosettes. These coveted awards, ranging from one to five, signify not just classification but an annual acknowledgement of gastronomic brilliance.
So what are these ratings?
Hotel star ratings
1 star:?Courteous staff provide an informal yet competent service.?All rooms are ensuite or have private facilities.?A designated eating area serves breakfast daily and dinner most evenings.
2 stars:?A restaurant or dining room serves breakfast daily and dinner most evenings.
3 stars:?Staff are smartly and professionally presented.?The restaurant or dining room is open to residents and non-residents.
4 stars:?Professional, uniformed staff respond to your needs or requests.?Well-appointed public areas.?The restaurant or dining room is open to residents and non-residents.?Lunch is available in a designated eating area.
5 stars:?Luxurious accommodation and public areas.?A range of extra facilities and a multilingual service available.?Guests are greeted at the hotel entrance.?High quality menu and wine list.
Guest accommodation star ratings
1 star:?Minimum quality requirements for cleanliness, maintenance, hospitality, facilities and services.?A cooked or substantial continental breakfast is served in a dining room or eating area, or bedroom only.
2 stars:?Courteous service, well-maintained beds.?Breakfast prepared with a good level of care.
3 stars:?Friendly welcome, and good-quality, well-presented beds and furniture.?A choice of good-quality, freshly cooked food is available at breakfast.
4 stars:?Attentive, more personalised service.?At least half of the bedrooms are en suite or have private bathrooms.?Very good beds and high quality furniture.?Breakfast offers a greater choice, and fresh ingredients are cooked and presented with a high level of care.
5 stars:?Awareness of each guest's needs with nothing being too much trouble.?All bedrooms are en suite or have a private bathroom.?Excellent quality beds and furnishings.?Breakfast includes specials/home-made items, high quality ingredients, and fresh local produce.
Self catering and serviced accommodation star ratings
1 star:?Minimum quality requirements for cleanliness, maintenance, fixtures, fittings, and furnishings.?Items provided are adequate and functional, all in working order, and are fit for the purpose intended.
2 stars:?A good standard of quality overall is required.?Improved coordination and use of space, and a wider range of items provided.
3 stars:?Detailed evidence of care and external maintenance.?A good provision of local information and additional recreational items.?Well-finished fittings and decor and a kitchen well-stocked with cookware, crockery, cutlery and utensils.?
4 stars:?Very good to excellent standards throughout, with high quality coordinated furniture, fixtures and fittings.?Ample space with well-planned layout of furniture; high quality and very good range of kitchen equipment.
5 stars:?Exceptional and outstanding levels of comfort throughout, with an excellent range of items.?High quality furniture with striking interior design.?An excellent range of kitchen appliances, cookware, crockery, cutlery and utensils, all in pristine condition.
Other awards?and classifications
AA Merit Score
In addition to the star rating, we give each hotel an AA Merit Score as a percentage.?This indicates the level of quality achieved within each star rating, which helps you to compare hotels with the same number of stars.
Red Star Award: AA Inspectors' Choice in Britain & Ireland
The AA's supreme accolade for hotels, regardless of size or type of operation.?A hotel awarded red stars has been selected by the AA as one of the best hotels in the British Isles, offering excellent levels of quality throughout, outstanding levels of hospitality and service.
Hotel Silver Star Award
Highly recommended hotels offering a superior level of quality within their star rating, high standards of hotel keeping in particular hospitality, service and cleanliness and hold an AA Rosette award for the quality of their food.
Guest Accommodation Gold Star Award
The AA's supreme accolade for guest accommodation, regardless of size or type of operation.?AA Gold Stars are awarded to the very best properties offering excellent levels of quality throughout and outstanding levels of hospitality and service.?The AA's supreme accolade for self catering offering excellent levels of quality and facilities.
Guest Accommodation Silver Star Award
Highly recommended guest accommodation offering a superior level of quality within their star rating, high standards of hospitality, service and cleanliness.
Breakfast and Dinner awards?
For guest accommodation, the eggcup and pie symbols indicate a very special breakfast or dinner, with an emphasis on freshly prepared local ingredients.
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Unconfirmed rating
Hotel, guest accommodation or self catering may have an 'unconfirmed' symbol because their star rating has not been confirmed.?This may be due to a change of ownership, or the establishment has only recently joined the AA rating scheme, or we are working with the management/owners whilst works and changes take place to achieve an AA star rating.
AA Associate recognition
Establishments inspected and rated by VisitBritain, VisitScotland or VisitWales can pay to belong to the AA Associate hotel/guest accommodation scheme. You can be confident that all AA Associate-recognised establishments have star ratings that meet the common quality standards.
Advertised
These establishments are not rated or inspected by the AA but are displayed for purely advertising reasons only.
Pennant ratings
1 Pennant:?One-pennant parks offer a simple standard of facilities. You can expect to find no more than 30 pitches per acre, with at least 10% of the pitches allocated to tourers. There will be an adequate drinking water supply and reasonable drainage, plus a washroom with flush toilets (if there are no toilet facilities this should be clearly stated). Chemical disposal arrangements are provided, ideally with running water and clearly signed refuse disposal arrangements. The ground will be well-drained with some level pitches, and entrance and access roads will be of an adequate width and surface.
2 Pennants:?These parks offer a better level of facilities, services, customer care and ground maintenance. You should find separate washrooms, including at least two WCs and two washbasins, with hot and cold water, per gender for every 30 pitches. Toilet blocks will be externally lit and a warden will be available, at times indicated, during the day. Covered and lit dishwashing facilities are provided and you can expect to find a park reception area.
3 Pennants:?Three-pennant parks are of a very good standard with well-maintained facilities and grounds, and attention to customer care and security. You can expect to find modern toilet blocks and also modern shower cubicles (one per gender for every 35 pitches). The parks offer some electric-hook-ups, hardstandings, wheel runs and/or firm level ground. A laundry with at least one washing machine and drying facilities will be available, and you can expect to find a children's playground.
4 Pennants:?These parks have achieved an extremely high standard in all areas. You can expect fully tiled shower cubicles and some combined toilet-washing cubicles. A warden is available at all times, and there is a good level of security and supervision. At least half of the pitches will have an electric hook-up and there will be a maximum of 25 pitches per camping acre. There will also be a shop on site or nearby, and the park will have a reception area and a late-arrivals enclosure.
5 Pennants:?Premier Parks are of an extremely high standard, set in attractive surroundings with mature landscaping. Facilities, security and customer care are exceptional. You can expect to find electric hook-ups at most pitches, and first-class toilet facilities, including several self-contained cubicles ideally with a WC, washbasin and shower. At many Premier Parks you will find a well-equipped shop, a heated swimming pool, and a café, restaurant and/or bar.
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Percentage score
AA Pennant-rated parks and Holiday Centres achieve an overall quality score as a percentage, which helps to differentiate parks with the same Pennant rating.
Gold Pennants
AA Gold Pennants are awarded to the very best camping parks with a Quality Score of 90% and above within the 2, 3, 4 and 5 Pennant ratings.
Platinum Pennants
Holiday centres
Holiday centre is the term used to distinguish a park that caters for all holiday needs. Anyone staying on one of these parks will have no need to go elsewhere for meals or entertainment. Those classed as holiday centres will offer:
Holiday centres also receive a percentage score between 50% and 100% to differentiate quality levels within the same grading. Like the pennant rating, this percentage is reassessed annually.
Glamping sites
Glamping sites are inspected and rated from one to five black pennants. This is an assessment of the quality and variety of facilities a site offers – based on the inspector’s experienced opinion. The percentage score runs from 50% to 100%, and indicates the relative quality of sites with the same pennant rating. The top level is classified as a Five Black Pennant.
The Rosette award explained
What are Rosettes all about?
The long-established Rosette scheme celebrates successful cooking at different levels across the UK. Success or failure in achieving Rosettes is based on one or more visits by an AA inspector to a hotel or restaurant. Essentially the visit is a snapshot, whereby the entire meal, including ancillary items (when served), is assessed. AA Rosettes are solely awarded by our hotel and restaurant Inspectors, and external influences from hotels, restaurants or other guides are not taken into account. About 10% of restaurants nationwide are of a standard that is worthy of one Rosette and above.
1 Rosette:?These restaurants achieve standards that stand out in their local area. They serve food prepared with care, understanding and skill, using good quality ingredients. The same expectations apply to hotel restaurants, where guests can eat in with confidence and a sense of anticipation. Around 50% of restaurants/hotels within our AA Restaurant Guide have one Rosette.
2 Rosettes:?Excellent restaurants that aim for and achieve higher standards and better consistency. A greater precision is apparent in the cooking, and there will be obvious attention to the selection of quality ingredients. Around 40% of restaurants/hotels within our AA Restaurant Guide have two Rosettes.
3 Rosettes:?Outstanding restaurants that achieve standards that demand recognition well beyond their local area. The cooking is underpinned by the selection and sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients. Timing, seasoning and the judgment of flavour combinations will be consistently excellent. These virtues tend to be supported by other elements, such as intuitive service and a well-chosen wine list. Around 10% of the restaurants/hotels within the AA Restaurant Guide have three Rosettes and above.
4 Rosettes:?Among the top restaurants in the UK, where the cooking demands national recognition. These restaurants exhibit intense ambition, a passion for excellence, superb technical skills, and remarkable consistency. They will combine appreciation of culinary traditions with a passionate desire for further exploration and improvement. There are very few restaurants with four AA Rosettes.
5 Rosettes:?The pinnacle, where cooking compares with the best in the world. These restaurants have highly individual voices, exhibit breathtaking culinary skills, and set standards to which others aspire to, yet few achieve.
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Announcement of awards
One and two Rosettes are awarded at the time of inspection. Three and four Rosette awards are announced twice during the year, but never at the time of inspection. Five Rosettes are awarded just once during a year, and never at the time of inspection.
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Suspension of three, four and five Rosettes
When a chef holds three, four or five Rosettes and moves from one establishment to another, the award is suspended at the hotel/restaurant they have just left. The award does not follow the chef either. We therefore recommend that establishments inform us of a change of chef as soon as possible, in order to schedule a forthcoming inspection.
For more detailed information, click here to visit The AA website.