When hunting for a hotel, most people search by hotel rating. It’s a good place to start when you’re trying to narrow down your options, but different companies have different specifications to meet their requirements. Your idea of a four star hotel and a company’s idea of a four star hotel could be very different. Here, you can find Forbes, AAA, and Michelin hotel rating stars explained…

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Forbes

Forbes is a subscription-based guide system. The rating system started as Mobil Travel Guide in 1958 and grew into a team of pros checking out every aspect of a property. The team, trying to remain undetected, goes through a checklist that hovers around 800 items being tested and investigated. It’s one of the more comprehensive lists, and there is no pre-approval process. Forbes mainly focuses on 4 and 5 star properties.

AAA

AAA is less stringent than Forbes when it comes to handing out ratings, in the sense they don’t limit themselves to upscale, luxurious properties. The company uses a diamond system and rates any property that applies and is approved to rated. Properties must meet a 33 point checklist in order to be considered for a diamond rating. Using a 1 to 5 diamond scale, pre-approved properties are evaluated by member feedback and full time professional evaluators. Beyond the 33 point pre-qualifications, AAA uses a system focusing on 77 categories; guest services has an additional 12 areas of service categories. Just to get to 3 diamond status, a property must offer televisions in every room and swimming pool. Luxury properties will get a pass on the pool and TV requirements provided it makes up for the absence somewhere else in its offerings.

Michelin

Perhaps the Michelin award is now more commonly associated with chefs and restaurants, and for good reason. Michelin was once *the* rating systems wary travelers depended on. Now, while still a decent system, Michelin is currently focusing on food. You’ll find equally stringent reviews and evaluations on various travel sites.

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Third Party Travel Sites

It can be a bit confusing. Most third party sites offering deep discounts on 4 and 5 star hotels. It sounds too good to be true, and often it is. Third party sites have their own star rating system and do not use any standardized criteria to set the bar. For example, Expedia’s idea of a 4-star property might only be a 2 diamond property in AAA’s ratings. Usually, you can find a description of the third party’s rating criteria, but be aware there is no standardized criteria used to rate and offer you supposed 4 and 5 star properties.