Hotels French left behind their new star - December 27, 2009
The reform of the hotel classification has been put back on track Sunday with the publication of a decree in the Official Journal: the stars, who had lost their luster, have been groomed and award criteria updated to make them more readable for the client. The most spectacular innovation: the creation of a class "five stars" to align France on the international competition. Sixty prestigious establishments as the Ritz in Paris or the Negresco in Nice, did not have to wait for the order, was benefiting from a transitional measure.
Beyond these exceptional hotels, reform for 18,000 establishments (600,000 rooms), a quarter are deemed older, classified according to criteria in 1986. Some will have to undertake major renovations to keep their stars. A renovation effort is estimated at 8 or 10 billion euros by professionals.Especially that can be added work involved with accessibility standards applicable in 2015, and fire standards by 2011.
"The benchmark was exceeded," says Christine Pujol, hotel and President as UMIH, the main union, a position that it disputes its predecessor Andre Daguin. "Faced with a" two star "customers do not know what to expect," adds Jennifer Balh, president of hotels at Synhorcat, another union. An institution classified in 1986 may very well never have been renovated and can still have its stars, lack of control, says she.
The disappearance of "0 star"
Now, the ranking will be valid for five years, and the law also provides for regular review criteria. The number of points required to fill up at least 95% varies between 141 and 298, by category.To categorize the hotel is voluntary and is paid. The surveys are no longer the purview of the DGCCRF but audit firms accredited. The final decision will come back to the prefect. By 1 July 2012, the old and the new standard will coexist.
The inglorious category "0 star" disappears, merging with the "one star". "Consumers know that even a star ensures hygiene, safety and good equipment," explains Michele Le Poutre, who negotiated this classification on behalf of Synhorcat. This classification is "harmonized" with what is happening elsewhere in Europe, say the professionals. Now, the client "knows what to expect," says Lawrence Duke, president of the National Federation hotel. "For an independent classify his hotel, is to give more visibility to consumers."
But beware, he warns, "a ranking is not a label.The first door on objective criteria, the second takes account of subjective factors. "Consumers were not asked about this new classification," laments Mark Watkins, chairman of the Committee for the Modernization of French hospitality. "The repository is already old-fashioned" and very short of foreign competition, says he. According to him, this classification helps hotel groups at the expense of independents. Between 3000 and 4000 hotels could disappear in the next three years, says he.
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