Star grading, how much do you know?

[May 2008] One often hears about “five star accommodation”, but what does this mean? Does this mean that the higher the star grading the more stylish and expensive a accommodation destination is or does this mean that they have much more to offer than lower star graded accommodation and non-star accommodation?

South Africa has two accommodation grading bodies i.e. National Accommodation Association (NAA) and the South African Tourism Grading Council (SATGC). They have various specifications by which accommodation entities need to comply with in order to be graded a certain amounts of stars or to be graded at all.

The NAA is a national self-regulating body that has national, regional and local offices throughout the country. They do not use star grading to assess accommodations, but rather use a quality assessment called the classification system. The classification system has various levels which accommodation can be classified under. These levels represent the facilities and the services offered by the establishment.

The NAA uses four levels to classify accommodation namely Budget, Comfort, Comfort with Luxury and Luxury accommodation. Each level indicates basic to luxury items present and that could be added to the accommodation facilities.

An accommodation establishment can offer more services and facilities than the level of their classification but may never offer less. The classification levels do not indicate that the one establishment is superior to the other, but merely states that it is different in its specific offerings.

The SATGC, other than the NAA, uses star grading to classify various accommodation establishments. The SATGC is the only government mandated, industry supported quality assurance authority in South Africa. They use the international grading system and is the only body or organization authorized to use the star symbol of the within the Council’s official logo.

Any establishment can be graded and in order to keep the star grading allocated to an establishment valid and the up to date, grading needs to be done annually. The stars indicate the level of luxury, comfort, facilities and services offered by an establishment. The standards for grading are very high, even a 2 star accommodation establishment is clean, maintained and pleasant to stay in.

The stars that are displayed on accommodation websites can be obtained from the SATGC. This is an accurate indication of the accommodations grading by the council. Grading takes place in 8 different categories namely: backpacker and hostelling, bed and breakfast, caravan and camping, country houses, guest houses, hotels, lodges and self catering.

It is the customers’ expectations that give rise to various forms of grading and classifications. This assists the council in keeping South Africa on par with international accommodation establishments and what they have to offer.

A hint to establishments:

Have a facility where clients can comment on their experience at the establishment and use criticism and gestures as means and ways to improve the presentation and the environment of the establishment to best meet the requirements of their visitors.

At the end of the day, it is the initial impression of the accommodation that will lure them back and make referrals to friends, family and co-workers.