Never has quality meant so much

When choosing your accommodation look for the Quality Rose, the official marque of the Enjoy England national tourist board rating scheme.

The Enjoy England and AA professional assessors visit every year, carrying out a routine day visit or an overnight stay in the case of serviced accommodation. On these occasions, they book in as you would, as a normal guest and test all the facilities and services. A quality score is awarded for every aspect of the experience including the comfort of the bed, the quality of the breakfast and dinner and, most importantly, the cleanliness. They also score the warmth of welcome.

Places that 'go the extra mile' to make your stay a special one, will be awarded a high star rating and hotels and guest accommodation may achieve a Gold or Silver award.

Self Catering

For self-catering accommodation, the layout and design of the accommodation and the range and quality of the kitchen equipment is assessed, as well as the quality and comfort of the bedrooms and bathrooms and most importantly, the cleanliness.

Higher star-rated accommodation tends to have more spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, and in hotels a higher staff to guest ratio, so service should be very attentive. At five star, you can really expect to be pampered in luxurious surroundings!

For serviced accommodation, there are two separate schemes – one for hotels and one for guest accommodation.

Hotel Categories:

Hotels have a minimum of six bedrooms, but more likely to
have 20+ rooms.
Small Hotels have a maximum of 20 bedrooms and likely to
be more personally run.
Country House Hotels have ample grounds or gardens, in a rural or semirural
location, with emphasis on peace and quiet.
Town House Hotels are in a city/town centre location and are of high quality
with a distinctive style. High ratio of staff to guests.
Metro Hotels are found in city/town centres, offering full hotel services, but
no dinner. Will be within easy walking distance of a range of places to eat.
Budget Hotels are part of a chain of branded hotels offering clean and
comfortable en suite facilities, 24 hour reservations and a consistent level of facilities. They are not awarded a star rating.

Guest Accommodation categories:

Guest Accommodation is the category which encompasses anything from one-room bed and breakfasts to the larger places found in our coastal resorts, which may offer dinner and may be licensed.
Bed and Breakfasts accommodate no more than six people. It's like staying as a special guest in someone's home.
Farmhouses offer bed and breakfast and sometimes dinner, always on a farm.
Guest Houses tend to have more than three rooms and may offer dinner to
their guests. Some may be licensed.
Restaurants with Rooms are just that. The restaurant is the main business
and they will be licensed. They generally offer a small number of bedrooms with
all the facilities you would expect and breakfast.
Inns are pubs with rooms which serve food in the evenings, as well a breakfast.

Sometimes access to guest accommodation may be restricted during the day, but
you will be advised on booking. Guest accommodation tends to be personally
run by the owners.

Guest Accommodation – Diamonds and Stars

The diamond ratings that were previously awarded to guest accommodation
(B&Bs, Guest Houses etc) are gradually being replaced by stars. You will find
some entries on this site with diamond ratings and some with star ratings.
The new star ratings are designed to meet the greater expectations of consumers
with regards to quality and facilities. Higher ratings are therefore more difficult to
achieve than under the diamond scheme. On this site you may find, for example
guest accommodation that previously held a 4 diamond rating and has been reassessed
under the new standards as 3 stars. It does not necessarily mean that
their quality standards have dropped.

Hotels have to provide certain additional facilities and services at the higher star levels. These include:
★ Dinner served five nights a week.
★★ Dinner available every night of the week
★★★ All bedrooms en suite (i.e. no private bathrooms)
Room service available
Permanently staffed reception.
★★★★ 24-hour room service
50% of all en suites with bath and shower.
★★★★★ Some permanent luxury suites
Enhanced services such as concierge.

Of course, many lower star-rated hotels may offer some of the above, but just do not meet all of the expectations for the higher star ratings. Sometimes a hotel has exceptional bedrooms and bathrooms and offers its guests a very special welcome, but cannot achieve a higher star rating because, for example, it does not offer dinner every evening (two star), room service (three star) or does not have the minimum 50% of bathrooms with bath and shower (four star). 

Guest accommodation owners have to provide certain additional
facilities and services at the higher star levels. These include:
★★★ Bathroom/shower rooms cannot be shared with the owners.
If bedroom not en suite, then wash basin in bedroom
★★★★ At least 50% of bedrooms en suite or private bathroom
★★★★★ All bedrooms en suite or private bathroom

Sometimes a bed and breakfast or guest house has exceptional bedrooms and bathrooms and offers guests a very special welcome, but cannot achieve a higher
star rating because, for example, they do not have any en suite bedrooms, nor can they easily put wash basins in the bedrooms (three star). This is sometimes the case with period properties. They might not have the minimum 50% of bathrooms with bath and shower (four star).

Of course, you will find accommodation with 100% en suite bedrooms at all the
star ratings, so refer to the descriptions on this site to help you make your
choice.

Gold and Silver awards for Hotels and Guest Accommodation
Silver Awards recognise exceptional quality at all levels and
Gold Awards are given to the very 'best of the best'.

If you choose to stay in any of Enjoy England's or AA's quality-assessed accommodation, you can be confident that it has been checked out before you check in. For more
information on the Enjoy England Quality Rose assessment schemes and the star
ratings, go to www.enjoyEngland.com

Holiday, touring, and camping parks and holiday villages:

Enjoy England awards star ratings reflecting the overall quality of the
park from one to five stars - five stars being reserved for parks of
exceptional quality.

Enjoy England ratings made easy:

★ Simple, practical, no frills
★★ Well presented and well run
★★★ Good level of quality and comfort
★★★★ Excellent standard throughout
★★★★★ Exceptional with a degree of luxury

Quality & Quality Plus

In addition to the Enjoy England & AA ratings you will also see Quality and Quality Plus. This is a local initiative working in partnership with VisitBritain. Whilst not yet participating fully in VisitBritain's quality assurance schemes, these establishments are committed to quality improvements. You can expect these properties at the very least to provide accommodation that is clean, comfortable and fit for the purpose. All have been assessed to an agreed minimum standard, so you can book with confidence.

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