Ratings Explained

Understanding the Quality Assessment Scheme

All the accommodation featured on the Shropshire Tourism website and other websites within the Shropshire Tourism website network have been quality assessed by either VisitBritain or the AA, or have recently applied for a rating and is awaiting assessment. Please be aware that ratings may change throughout the year.

To confirm a rating please visit:

For Visit Britain Ratings:
visit www.enjoyEngland.com or telephone VisitBritain on 0208 563 3309

For AA ratings:
visit www.theAA.com or telephone: 01256 844455

All the national assessing bodies (VisitBritain*, VisitScotland, Visit Wales and the AA) now assess hotels and guest accommodation (including B&Bs) to the same criteria and award one to five stars. The star ratings reflect the overall quality of the experience.

When choosing your accommodation look for the Quality Rose, the official marque of the Enjoy England national tourist board rating scheme.

The Enjoy England professional assessors visit every year, carrying out a routine day visit or an overnight stay in the case of serviced accommodation. On these occasions, they book in as you would, as a normal guest and test all the facilities and services. A quality score is awarded for every aspect of the experience including the comfort of the bed, the quality of the breakfast and dinner and, most importantly, the cleanliness. They also score the warmth of welcome. Places that 'go the extra mile' to make your stay a special one, will be awarded a high star rating and hotels and guest accommodation may achieve a Gold or Silver award.

For self-catering accommodation, the layout and design of the accommodation and the range and quality of the kitchen equipment is assessed, as well as the quality and comfort of the bedrooms and bathrooms and most importantly, the cleanliness.

Higher star-rated accommodation tends to have more spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, and in hotels a higher staff to guest ratio, so service should be very attentive. At five stars, you can really expect to be pampered in luxurious surroundings!

For serviced accommodation, there are two separate schemes
– one for hotels and one for guest accommodation.

Hotel Categories:

Hotels have a minimum of six bedrooms, but are more likely to have 20+ rooms.
Small Hotels have a maximum of 20 bedrooms and are likely to be more personally run.
Country House Hotels have ample grounds or gardens, in a rural or semirural location, with emphasis on peace and quiet.
Town House Hotels are in a city/town centre location and are of high quality with a distinctive style. High ratio of staff to guests.
Metro Hotels are found in city/town centres, offering full hotel services, but no dinner. Will be within easy walking distance of a range of places to eat.
Budget Hotels are a part of a chain of branded hotels offering clean and comfortable en suite facilities, 24 hour reservations and a consistent level of facilities. They are not awarded a star rating.

Guest Accommodation categories:

Guest Accommodation is the category which encompasses anything from a one-room bed and breakfast to larger establishments, which may offer dinner and may be licensed.
Bed and Breakfasts accommodate no more than six people. It's like staying as a special guest in someone's home.
Farmhouses offer bed and breakfast and sometimes dinner, always on a farm.
Guest Houses tend to have more than three rooms and may offer dinner to their guests. Some may be licensed.
Restaurants with Rooms are just that. The restaurant is the main business and they will be licensed. They generally offer a small number of bedrooms with all the facilities you would expect and breakfast.
Inns are pubs with rooms which serve food in the evenings, as well as breakfast.

Sometimes access to guest accommodation may be restricted during the day, but you will be advised on booking. Guest accommodation tends to be personally run by the owners.

Guest Accommodation – Diamonds and Stars

The diamond ratings that were previously awarded to guest accommodation (B&Bs, Guest Houses etc) are gradually being replaced by stars. You will find some entries on this website with diamond ratings and some with star ratings. The new star ratings are designed to meet the greater expectations of consumers with regards to quality and facilities. Higher ratings are therefore more difficult to achieve than under the diamond scheme.

Hotels have to provide certain additional facilities and services at the higher star levels. These include:

	Dinner served five nights a week.
	Dinner available every night of the week
	All bedrooms en suite (i.e. no private bathrooms) Room service available Permanently staffed reception.
	24-hour room service 50% of all en suites with bath and shower.
	Some permanent luxury suites Enhanced services such as concierge.

Of course, many lower star-rated hotels may offer some of the above, but just do not meet all of the expectations for the higher star ratings. Sometimes a hotel has exceptional bedrooms and bathrooms and offers its guests a very special welcome, but cannot achieve a higher star rating because, for example, it does not offer dinner every evening (two star), room service (three star) or does not have the minimum 50% of bathrooms with bath and shower (four star).

Guest accommodation owners have to provide certain additional facilities and services at the higher star levels. These include:

	Bathroom/shower rooms cannot be shared with the owners. If the bedroom is not en suite, then a wash basin is provided in the bedroom
	At least 50% of bedrooms are en suite or private bathroom
	All bedrooms are en suite or have a private bathroom

Sometimes a bed and breakfast or guest house has exceptional bedrooms and bathrooms and offers guests a very special welcome, but cannot achieve a higher star rating because, for example, they do not have any en suite bedrooms, nor can they easily put wash basins in the bedrooms (three star). This is sometimes the case with period properties. They might not have the minimum 50% of bathrooms with bath and shower (four star).

Of course, you will find accommodation with 100% en suite bedrooms at all the star ratings, so refer to the descriptions on the website to help you make your choice.

Gold and Silver awards for Hotels and Guest Accommodation

Silver Awards recognise exceptional quality at all levels and Gold Awards are given to the very 'best of the best'.

Campus
Enjoy England’s campus scheme covers the universities and colleges that are able to accommodate visitors during the vacation periods on a bed and breakfast basis. Generally the rooms are en suite and there will be plenty of single rooms, so large groups will not present a problem.

Campus accommodation is star-rated one to five, reflecting the quality of the accommodation.

Hostels
Hostels provide safe, budget-priced accommodation for young people, families and larger groups and are star-rated. Higher rated accommodation often provides en suite rooms.

 

Holiday, touring, and camping parks and holiday villages:
Enjoy England awards star ratings reflecting the overall quality of the park from one to five stars - five stars being reserved for parks of exceptional quality.

 

 

If you choose to stay in any quality-assessed accommodation, you can be confident that it has been checked out before you check in.

*VisitBritain is the national tourism agency, marketing Britain worldwide and England in Britain, France, Germany, Ireland
and the Netherlands. Quality is a major element of VisitBritain’s strategy to improve tourism products and services and the standard of welcome visitors receive. VisitBritain assesses more than 23,000 accommodation businesses across nine different Enjoy England schemes. These assessments are provided by Quality in Tourism on VisitBritain’s behalf.

Complaints

If you have stayed in some Shropshire Accommodation and you have reason to complain, please click here >>

To download a full PDF copy of the VisitBritain Ratings Explained Guide, please click here.