Ratings, Symbols & Awards
Ratings, Symbols & Awards
Quality Grading for Accommodation
There are two official quality grading bodies for guest accommodation in England; VisitEngland and The AA. They both assess hotels, guest and self catering accommodation to the same common standard, and award from 1 to 5 stars, the grading criteria can be seen here.
The star rating reflects the overall quality of the experience. All graded accommodation has their rating symbol displayed with their information. If there is no symbol, then the property is not graded.
The VisitEngland and AA schemes provide visitors with the reassurance of a national quality scheme, where accommodation standards are monitored on an annual basis by professional assessors. Should anything go wrong, the schemes also serve as a recognised body to which visitors can report any complaints. Please note that ratings may change through the year.
Awards
With VisitEngland, Hotels and Guest houses that go the extra mile to make your stay special may achieve a Gold or Silver Award. Silver Awards recognise exceptional quality at all levels and Gold Awards are given to the very ‘best of the best’.
With the AA, Hotels and Guest Houses that are in the top 10% of their quality standard are recognised by receiving Red Stars meaning that they are highly commended.
Quality in Tourism also offer a series of Welcome Schemes to highlight accommodation that provides facilities or services to welcome certain groups. These include:
Both the AA and Quality in Tourism also offer a breakfast award which recognises hotels and B&Bs that offer their guests a quality breakfast with choice, service and hospitality that exceeds what would be expected of their star rating. The AA also has a similar award for quality dinners. These are the logo's to look out for:
There is also a National Accessible Scheme so if you have particular mobility, visual or hearing needs, you can look out for the numerous National Accessible Scheme logos to give you peace of mind when booking accommodation.
Both VisitEngland and the AA provide quality assessments for camping sites and holiday parks using the same common standards from 1 to 5, however VisitEngland show these as stars where as the AA use pennants;
