It seems not a day goes by that a potential guest asks me about the star rating of my property. “I only stay at 5 star properties,” some of them sniff (and, since there’s only one 5 star property on Maui, you’d be calling me, why, then?). The fact of the matter is that there exists now so much confusion amongst the general traveling public about hotel ratings that, at face value, all hotel rating systems are useless.
Originally, in the pre-internet days, there were two widely accepted hotel ratings in the US – AAA’s diamonds and Mobil’s stars. Just to be listed in either guide, even with one star or diamond, was considered an honor. In fact, I like the way AAA’s guide says “AAA approves and rates only hotels and restaurants that are clean, well-maintained, and offer a level of features to meet basic expectations of AAA members. As a result, properties at every AAA Diamond level meet and uphold favorable quality standards. A One Diamond hotel differs from a Three Diamond hotel in that it will have a simpler level of design features, amenities, and often a much lower price — ideal for travelers seeking a clean, comfortable, no-frills, budget-oriented accommodation. Likewise, a One Diamond restaurant could be that unassuming, order-at-the counter hamburger joint that just happens to serves the best burgers around!” The strength of this system was that a humble accommodation’s one diamond could still be considered positive in that they met AAA’s one diamond standards, so no matter your budget, you still had options that had been inspected, met a specific set of criteria and were rated accordingly.
Hotel ratings involve both the facility and the service. AAA’s ratings start with the initial reservation and run through the checkout process; in between, every aspect of each hotel is scrutinized. Take a look at AAA’s website regarding the meaning of each set of stars. What you don’t see here are the pages and pages of requirements that AAA has developed to delineate these simple explanations.
These days, anyone with a travel-related website can and does rate hotels. These ratings are different than the AAA or Mobile ratings in that, generally, someone from the website reviews the hotel’s attributes and makes a decision about what that property’s rating should be. Expedia, for example, uses a star rating system. Take a look at Expedia’s rating criteria.
Notice how Expedia uses a half star step system, not to clarify the difference in quality but to differentiate between lodging types. Expedia’s ratings are based solely on the type of lodging, and leave plenty of wiggle room by using terms such as “usually”, “may” and “typically”. Compare this to AAA’s much more definite terms regarding a property’s quality; you get the feeling that a hotel is not going to sneak anything past AAA while Expedia, well, as I said, is more subjective.
For Maui, here is the current list of 4 and 5 star/diamond properties:
AAA 5 Diamond
Four Seasons – Wailea
Ritz Carlton – Kapalua
Mobile 5 Star
Four Seasons – Wailea
AAA 4 Diamond
Hotel Hana - Hana
Hyatt Regency – Kaanapali
Westin – Kaanapali
Grand Wailea – Wailea
Fairmont Kea Lani – Wailea
Wailea Beach Marriott - Wailea
Mobile 4 Star
Ritz Carlton - Kapalua
You can see that both AAA and Mobile agree only that the Four Seasons is worthy of their top star/diamond ratings. Beyond that, they disagree on pretty much every other Maui hotel.
Ratings do serve an important purpose in the guest’s hotel buying decision. It is imperative, though, that prior to making assumptions (“all five star ratings from every source mean the same thing”) the guest know exactly what criteria those ratings follow, how the data was gathered, who wrote the review and how reliable the data is. Yes, there’s work involved in determining the meanings of the ratings criteria but it’s your vacation and your vacation dollars; don’t you want to be sure that you’re getting the best value for your time and money?
Bill Rees is the General Manager of the Outrigger Maui Eldorado Resort. He has been in the hotel business for longer than he cares to admit and he has the anecdotes and nervous tics to prove it! When not at work or exploring Maui, Bill, who is a Honoapiilani Highway road warrior, spends time working on his historic Wailuku home. Bill can be reached at bill.rees@outrigger.com
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