The French hotel grading system

There are no 5 star hotels in France. This surprises a lot of people who are impressed with the inflation of stars attributed to various luxury hotels throughout the world. But it's true: the French system goes from no stars to '4 stars luxury' and that's it.

NO STARS - this doesn't really mean a doss-house or 'hôtel de passe' (a prostitute's hangout), although it can, but rather an establishment which doesn't want to be in the system, which doesn't want to be judged by bureaucrats. The hotels in this category range from the clean and efficient roadside motel chains like 'Formule 1', 'Quick Palace' and 'B&B Hotel' to the dodgy run-down places in the seedy parts of town by the station.

1 star - usually very bottom-of-the-range cheap hotels who have failed to invest and refurbish. WC and bathrooms tend to be in the corridor.

2 star - the great majority of hotels in France. From simple traveller's hotels beside the station to country auberges a two-star hotel will have ensuite bathroom (and usually toilet) with each room. The rooms may be a bit cramped and there may not be a lift in the building. In the country they will normally have restaurant and bar facilities. The 'Logis de France' hotels are usually 2 star.

3 star - These vary greatly in style and facilities, although the grading system has a complicated appreciation scale based on room-size, personnel to public ratio, presence of a night-porter and so on. But they will all have fairly spacious rooms with ensuite bath and toilet, a lift if more than two floors, 24hr personnel and parking space. The Best Western chain are usually 3 star - at the upper end.

4 star - although there is no '5 star' grading this is not the final category. These are the 'good' hotels, the 'international' hotels - Crowne Plaza, Sofitel etc with spacious rooms, restaurants and bars, sometimes spa or gym facilities, multilingual 24 hour personnel and so on found in prime city-centre or airport locations.

4 star 'luxury' - or '4 star L' - this grade was created to separate the wheat from the chaff; to make space for the ultimate in French hotel experience - the George V, the Crillon, the Negresco and those marvellous chateaux-hotels in Provence or on the coast. These are the hotels we would call '5 star' in any other country (except perhaps Dubai) but which the french taxman has perversely labelled 4L. In fact, these hotels are considered luxury hotels and so pay a value-added tax of 19.6% whereas all the other grades get away with a proletarian 5.5%!

... and that's it. There is a government commission sitting at this moment reviewing the whole set-up but don't expect much action just yet: there's an election coming up.

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