Hotels and B&Bs in the UK are to be graded according to a newly harmonised set of common standards, it will be announced shortly.

An agreement has been reached by the Common Standards Group, a committee made up of the five main accreditation bodies, which now means that the rating awarded to an inspected property will be the same, irrespective of which organisation inspected it.

From 2006, VisitBritain will only progressively market accommodation assessed and rated under these common standards. Any operators who choose not to be included under the new scheme will be excluded from all marketing material.

The committee, made up of representatives from VisitBritain, VisitScotland, the Wales Tourist Board, the AA and the RAC, and chaired by former English Tourism Council Chairman Alan Britten, first met in April 2003 to open discussion on the proposed harmonisation.

Members of the British Hospitality Association (BHA) have been represented on the committee by chief executive Bob Cotton.

The intention is that the new scheme will reduce customer confusion and make the marketing of graded properties easier, both domestically and overseas.

There will now be three categories, the first two of which will award one to five Stars. It will no longer be possible to be 2-star in some aspects and 4-star in others and get a 3-star rating. All key aspects will have to meet the requirements for the awarded rating. Diamond ratings for Bed and Breakfast accommodation will disappear.

The new gradings are as follows:

Hotel: including the designators ‘Country House Hotel’, ‘Small Hotel’, ‘Town House Hotel’ and (for urban hotels not serving dinner) ‘Metro Hotel’.

Guest Accommodation: including the designators ‘Bed and Breakfast’, ‘Guest House’, ‘Farmhouse’, ‘Inn’ and ‘Restaurant with Rooms’.

Budget Hotel: for branded chain accommodation where bedroom style, facilities and quality are uniform across all outlets. This category will not receive stars but will be subject to an inspection regime.

A new Standards Review Group will be set up to ensure consistency across the accreditation bodies. All accommodation will continue to be assessed on an annual basis by an inspectorate approved by the body.

Properties already in the schemes will receive details soon. Detailed assessment criteria is expected to be made publicly available shortly. The harmonised standards will also be available on the association’s website; visit www.bha.org.uk for further details.

If you wish to make any comments on the changes to the UK’s grading schemes, please send them to [email protected]