STAR (CLASSIFICATION)

:''Stars are also used to classify senior military ranks. See 1 star rank, 2 star rank, 3 star rank, 4 star rank and 5 star rank for more information.''

'Stars' are often used as symbols for classification purposes. They are a common means by reviewers of ranking things such as movies, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, a set of one to five stars is commonly employed to categorize hotels.

Contents

Movie, TV, theatre, and music classification

Restaurant ratings

Hotel ratings

Standards of hotel classification

Six star hotels

Seven star hotels

Controversy

References

External links

Movie, TV, theatre, and music classification

Among reviewers of movies, TV shows, theatre, and music, the star system is the most popular classification system. One star generally indicates the worst rating though some reviewers use "No-stars" or "Bomb" to indicate the lowest rating possible. On the other end four or five stars represents the highest rating possible. Some reviewers also allow for increments of ½-stars such as 1½ stars or 3½ stars for example. Some reviewers do not use the star classification system at all, instead employing alternative methods such as the letter grade system used by ''Entertainment Weekly'' magazine (i.e. D, C+, A-, etc.). Certain reviews do not employ any sort of definite rating system, instead leaving the opinion to be expressed by the review itself. Movie reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert employed a thumbs up/thumbs down system on their show ''Siskel & Ebert''. They would give a thumbs up to films they liked and a thumbs down to film they disliked. In order to provide nuance to their ratings they might add adjectives to a rating such as "A big thumbs up/down" for a film the really liked or disliked or a "minor thumbs up/down" for a film they just barely liked or disliked. Another alternative classification system used by movie, TV, and theatre reviewers in ''San Francisco Chronicle'' involves symbols representing of a movie, TV, or theatre viewer in different states of enjoyment of the presentation. In the highest rating, the character is shown standing on his seat clapping. The next highest features a man sitting in his seat clapping. This is followed by a man just sitting looking attentively at the screen, followed by a man asleep in his seat. At the lowest end is an icon of an empty seat indicating the man has walked out of the presentation.

Restaurant ratings

Restaurant guides and reviewer often use stars to rate restaurants. This was introduced by the Michelin Red Guide. The Michelin system reserves stars for exceptional restaurants, and gives up to three; the vast majority of recommended restaurants have no star at all. Other guides now use up to four or five stars, with one star being the lowest rating. The stars are sometimes replaced by fanciful symbols such as a fork or spoon. Some guides use separate scales for food, service, ambience, and even noise level.
The Michelin system remains the most famous star system. A single star denotes "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars "excellent cooking, worth a detour", and three stars, "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey".^[1]
Michelin stars are awarded only for the quality of food and wine; the luxury level of the restaurant is rated separately, using a scale of one ("quite comfortable") to five ("luxury in the traditional style") crossed fork and spoon symbols.

Hotel ratings

The star classification system is a common one for rating hotels. Higher star ratings often indicate hotels with higher levels of luxury available.
The AAA and their affiliated bodies use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel and restaurant ratings levels.
Traditional systems rest heavily on the facilities provided, which is often disadvantageous to smaller hotels whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but the lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization.

Standards of hotel classification

In some countries, there is an official body with standard criteria for classifying hotels, but in many others there is none. There have been attempts at unifying the classification system so that it becomes an internationally recognized and reliable standard but large differences exist in the quality of the accommodation and the food within one category of hotel, sometimes even in the same country.

Six star hotels

While "six star" rating systems are known in rating the energy efficiency or water efficiency of electrical appliances, and in some fields of construction and engineering, some members of the hospitality industry have been known to claim a "six star" rating for their operation. One example is the Crown Macau casino, on Taipa Island in the Chinese territory of Macau. Another is the St. Regis Shanghai Hotel in China. The Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast in Australia is described by Australian Traveller magazine as meriting "six star" rating though that level of rating is not used in Australia. The People's Palace (Hotel Review: Palazzo Versace)

Seven star hotels

There are only two seven star hotels in the world. The first is the Burj Al Arab in Dubai which categorizes itself as the world's first and only seven star hotel. The Centaurus complex currently under construction in Islamabad, Pakistan is planned to include a Seven Star Hotel opening in 2010.

Controversy

The expansion beyond the traditional "five star" rating has led to at least one commentator questioning if it is simply more puffery or sales hype. Six-star baloney

References

1.
Le Guide Rouge: Paris 2003, , , , Michelin Editions de Voyages, , ISBN 2-06-100694-9

External links

★ Spain hotel rating article

★ http://goeurope.about.com/od/hotelstars/

★ http://mobiltravelguide.howstuffworks.com/about-the-rating-channel.htm

★ French hotel regulations (in French): 0-4 stars

★ Table of French hotel standards (in French)

★ Hotels and their Star Ratings - What do they mean?