THE STAR RATINGS FOR SELF-CATERING HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
Ratings Explained
The Star Ratings for Self-Catering Holiday Accommodation.
When choosing self-catering accommodation, look for the Quality Rose, the mark of England’s official, nationwide quality assessment scheme.
All the national assessing bodies (VisitBritain*, VisitScotland and VisitWales) now assess to the same criteria and award one to five stars. The star ratings reflect the overall quality of the experience. The scheme covers a range of accommodation and more than 10,000 self-catering properties are assessed every year. All accommodation must be self-contained and have kitchen facilities.
Enjoy England’s team of professional assessors visit each property every year. They spend time at each establishment checking all the facilities and award a quality score for every aspect, including the layout and design of the accommodation, the comfort of the beds, the quality of the bathrooms, the range and quality of the kitchen equipment and most importantly the cleanliness. Places that ‘go the extra mile’ to make your stay a special one will be awarded a higher star rating.
Higher star-rated accommodation tends to have more spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, high spec appliances, including TV and audio equipment, and high quality tableware and bed linen. At five star locations, you can really expect luxurious surroundings!
All self-catering accommodation and apartments awarded star ratings will meet minimum standards – you can be confident that you will find:
- Clear and unambiguous information prior to booking on all aspects of the accommodation including location, facilities, prices, deposits and policies on smoking, children and cancellations
- No shared facilities except a laundry room in multi-unit sites
- The establishment meets all statutory obligations including liability cover
- Clear information on procedures in case of emergency – who to contact etc
If you choose to stay at one of VisitEngland’s quality-assessed self-catering accommodation locations, you can be confident that it has been checked out before you check in.
For more information on the VisitEngland Quality Rose assessment schemes and the star ratings, go to Visit England.
Ratings made easy. Certain additional facilities and services are required at the higher star levels, some of which may be important to you.
These include:
Three Star
Good level of quality and comfort – Bed linen (with or without additional charge)
Four Star
Excellent level of quality and comfort – Only bed spaces in bedrooms can be advertised unless within a studio (i.e. bed settees are excluded) Bed linen provided and included in hire charge and beds made up on arrival.
Five Star
Exceptional with a degree of luxury – At least 2 of the following items (tumble dryer, telephone, stereo, DVD)
Gold Award
VisitEngland recently announced a new Gold Award for its self-catering businesses.
The awards have been given to the top scoring 5-star properties and all 4-star properties with 5-star quality scores that are ‘capped’ because they don’t offer all the facilities and services required to achieve 5 stars. (eg. bath AND shower). The same applies to a few 2 and 3-star properties with high 4-star quality scores.
This will mirror the hotels and guest accommodation awards, which can be achieved by properties at all star levels. Additionally, a number of 4-star Gold awards have been given to the properties with high overall scores and solid scores in the sectional consistency areas, to include public areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and cleanliness.
Families Welcome
If you are planning a break with the family, look out for the Families Welcome scheme awarded to businesses that provide facilities and services for families of varying ages and combinations.
Accommodation displaying this logo provides facilities specifically for your family and provides information to help make your stay more comfortable and enjoyable.
Cyclists Welcome and Walkers Welcome
Enjoy England recognise that there’s no such thing as an average customer, and they’ve been busy fine-tuning their schemes to make your selection of accommodation even easier.
If you’re a walker or cyclist, for example, you know how helpful it is to stay somewhere that offers facilities like a room to dry wet clothes – so look out for the Walkers Welcome and Cyclists Welcome logos on accommodation that does this and much more.
If you have any queries regarding the ratings used on this website please email Country Hideaways at info@countryhideaways.co.uk.
*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.
