Hotels: what are stars worth? | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Can you trust the hotel classification system in France? What are stars really worth? What are the criteria for a one or a three star hotel? Who carries out the inspections? The French hotel industry is aging, just like the ?system of reference? that governs the classification of hotels. This ?system of reference?, which sets the stars, is over twenty years old and is completely out of date. Reform of the hotel classification system is a Loch Ness monster: often referred to, reported, but never actually there. As an example: for two stars, there must be a telephone in every room and at least 40% of the rooms must have a bathroom. It’s the Fraud Squad who is responsible for allocating stars. We saw a hotel with pool, tennis court and rooms meticulously equipped with WiFi refused classification as three star, while at the same time certain three star establishments were offering rooms that were dirty and worn out. If the stars are no guarantee of quality, can guests trust the hotels’ websites? A young couple from Annecy were fooled by one unscrupulous hotelier. Our investigation led us to the inspectors from the Fraud Squad, to the hotel chains that organise their own classification and to the tourist guides.