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English to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Tourism & Travel / Hotel Classification
English term or phrase:Six-Star Hotel
A decade ago, the top end hotels have five stars. Nowadays, the phrase "six-star hotel" is being sprinkled around. Is there a substantial difference in facilities or is it simply in the same genre as calling a bus driver a bus captain?
Come to think of it, are there such things as "one-star" and "two-star" hotels?
Explanation: This should be a good explanation: http://www.snarkhunting.com/2004/07/hotel-branding-travel-lu...
Starry starry plight: hotel ratings in trouble
(via Agenda) The International Herald Tribune reports that the 1-to-5-star hotel rating system that we have all come to depend upon to match the quality of a room with the quality of a potential roommate, is under strain:
At the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the cheapest room goes for $666 a night, and a two-bedroom suite costs $2,231. It is beyond dispute that it ranks among the world’s great hotels.
But is the Burj Al Arab merely in the upper tier of “five-star” hotels - a designation that has long been the standard for the world’s best? No: According to the hotel and many travel writers, it is the world’s first seven-star hotel. It is not alone in leaping into new galaxies of self-definition. As lodging companies rush to establish their highest-level brands in cities and resort areas the world over, scores of luxury hotels now claim six-star status.
What is going on here? Has grade inflation come to hotel rating scales? Well, yes - but for good reason, argues David Beer, a founder of Brennan Beer Gorman Architects, which has designed top luxury hotels, including the Peninsula in Bangkok. There has been so much expansion and improvement in the five-star category in the last decade, he said, that there is a need to add an extra star to describe the creme de la creme. (Beer has a list of 11 hotels worldwide that he says meet this standard, and the Burj Al Arab is not on it.)
“Around the world, a five-star rating may encompass anything from a very nice Sofitel or a very good Westin to the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong or the Gritti Palace in Venice, and they really aren’t the same,” he said, citing two hotels he believes deserve six-star status. So who, exactly, doles out these stars? Whether to describe a basic motel beside a highway or a luxurious resort, the rankings confuse many travelers. That is mostly because there are no clear standards, and there is no definitive source.
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http://www.luxist.com/2004/12/16/the-rise-of-the-six-star-ho...
The Rise of the Six Star Hotel
Posted Dec 16th 2004 2:35AM by Deidre Woollard
Filed under: Journeys
An article which first appeared in the Wall Street Journal looks at the increased interest in luxury travel. The amenities craze is causing some hoteliers to up the ante, hence the six-star hotel. The term is a bit of a misnomer since the hotels are declaring themselves six star worthy rather than being awarded the title. Even existing "five-star" chains such as the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels actually only rate four stars from the Mobil Travel Guides. Six star hotels come with personal butlers, private pools and other special features that merit the thousand of dollars a night fees they command. A former chairman of the Ritz-Carlton hotel company, says he is set to open a six-star chain next year which will include properties in Mexico, Austria and Ireland. Right now, the most famous six stars are the Setai in Miami which is opening this month and the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab in Dubai shown here.
You got the marks for the link to the argument on adding a star to the five stars.
Marian Greefield is in second place with the link that argues that yesterday's five stars are today's four stars, and "super-luxury".
Alison Jenner is in third place for the link to British classification for hotels, and "super-luxury".
Marina Soldati gets special mention for the funny picture of what parking at a one-star hotel is like.
Awana does not get any points for mostly repeating what others had said. (If the entry had come ahead of the rest, it may get a mark or two.) 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Even the character in Crocodile Dundee had to put up in a hotel without knowing what a bidet is for!
But Gaddafi did get to pitch his tents in city areas even on official visits to foreign countries. :O)
Explanation: Star ratings symbolise the level of service, range of facilities and quality of guest care that you can expect. Hotels are required to meet progressively higher standards as they move up the scale from One to Five Stars. http://www.fweb.org.uk/dean/visitor/accom/symbols.html
I'd gather from "six star" that it's meant to be super-luxury! (nice if you can afford it!)
Alison Jenner Switzerland Local time: 16:40 Native speaker of: English
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +6
