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01/06/2010
Is a 3 star hotel in Belgium better than a similar hotel in other European countries?

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Is a 3 star hotel in Belgium better than a similar hotel in other European countries?

ECC-Net has compared 41 minimum criteria in 29 European countries.

Does a 3 star hotel in Spain or Greece offer the same level of quality as a 3 star hotel in Belgium? Are Scandinavian 3 star hotels even better than our 3 star hotels? And what about Estonia?

One of the first criteria travellers refer to in order to select a hotel is the number of stars it has been awarded. Most guides or websites that offer hotels also classify them on the basis of the number of stars. But are these classifications comparable across borders throughout Europe?

In order to find an answer to this question, ECC-Net compared what could be expected from a 3 star hotel by evaluating 22 criteria relating to collective facilities and services and 19 criteria relating to rooms and bathrooms in 29 European countries (the EU + Iceland and Norway).

Main findings 

  • There are 2 systems: In 10 countries a hotel has to meet specific minimum criteria to attain a certain category, whereas 17 other countries use a system based on minimum criteria that need to be supplemented on the basis of a points system (points have to be scored). Belgium uses both systems concurrently. It is difficult to compare hotels from the two different systems.

  • Denmark (18 m²), Belgium, Iceland, Luxembourg and Portugal (17 m²) provide the largest rooms. The smallest minimum room dimensions in 3 star hotels are found in the United Kingdom (8.4 m²), Slovenia (12 m²), Slovakia (12.6 m²) and France (13.5 m²).

  • 5 countries, including Belgium, do not impose the obligation to provide non-smoking rooms.

  • In most countries receptionists must speak a foreign language as well as their own (19), 3 star hotels have to accept credit or debit cards (25) and must provide the opportunity to use a computer with Internet access in the hotel.
Useful tools when booking an hotel

ECC-Net has compiled the comparison results into a table detailing the main criteria for a 3 star hotel in each country.

Official classification standards only provide limited information for travellers looking for a suitable hotel. Guest reviews and ratings shown on online reservation websites provide better clues about the quality of a specific hotel. Sometimes they include personal photographs and the comments may include elements that are of particular interest to you. Always check that reviews are based on a sufficiently large number of contributions.

Finally, specific guides such as the Michelin guide, boutique or budget hotel guides etc., which provide more information on a hotel’s character and atmosphere, are also available.

If you consider a specific aspect especially important, always call or e-mail the hotel to find out whether it offers what you are looking for.

Uniform European system

A uniform system is needed if Europe wants to create an internal market for the hotel sector. Some initiatives have already been introduced. The hotel federations of 7 countries apply mutual classification standards and procedures summarised in the “Hotelstars Union”. The current review of package holiday guidelines would appear to indicate that now is the time to find a European system that would satisfy not only the sector, but also governments and consumers.


Press contact: Edith Appelmans





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