Visit England star ratings - are they worthwhile?

[peter_964rs]

I scanned but didn't find suitable posts on this, which could be my mistake.

By dint of circumstance (i.e. I built an annexe on the side of my house for my Mum which is nearly complete, and she then changed her mind about moving in) I am shortly going to step into the world of holiday lets with a 1-bed property in Devon as a way of recouping my investment costs.

Since the property is effectively brand new, built to modern building standards with underfloor heating and extensive insulation, a new kitchen, bathroom and so on, my wife and I thought we would make the extra effort to get a Visit England 5* rating for our property.

In the opinion of the forum - is it worthwhile? Having spoken to Quality in Tourism, who manage the grading scheme on behalf of Visit England, it appears we are scuppered already; the kitchen we put in feels luxurious and has all mod cons, but isn't handmade (it's from Magnet) and doesn't have Bosh/Miele appliances (Hotpoint, Indesit, etc), both of which are requirements for 5*. Not sure but we might not even make 4* as we only have a shower - Mum didn't want a bath and prefers a large walk-in shower - although we might get dispensation if everything else is elevated.

We are about to buy a bed, but for 5* you apparently need a bed from a fairly select group of manufacturers, it must be a divan, and there must be something like 2000 springs in a pocket sprung mattress. This would be treble what we expected to spend and may not be worthwhile as I may never see that money again; Bensons for Beds have a sale on at the moment and some excellent beds and mattresses that looked robust, stylish, comfortable, reversible (a summer/winter side on the mattress) for about £650 instead of somewhere north of £2k.

I'd be grateful of any opinions on this. There is a balance to be struck between what we can charge, occupancy rates, and our upfront and running costs, and I want to get the balance right.

[greenbarn]

Basically, what you've been told is complete garbage.

Got to this page , click on Downloads and download the Standards document which is what QIT are required to work to.

Hopefully whoever you spoke to at QIT isn't working for them any more.

[Nemo]

Think this post should help a little. When you search if you have two words, then put "and" between them for the search to pick them both up. viewtopic.php?t=23126

If you decide to go for it then this is the most recent thread. viewtopic.php?t=23149

Plus an older thread. viewtopic.php?t=18843

[Jester]

The criteria certainly don't mention any of those things, apart from saying things should be of good quality and having gone the extra mile etc... otherwise we're going to have a really disappointing day on our first ever assessment in about 2.5 weeks time!!

[Nuthatch]

Basically, what you've been told is complete garbage.

+1

We're 5-star Gold Award, and have been ever since we opened in 2009. We have a Howdens kitchen (although with granite worktops), the appliances are standard integrated ones (so you can't see the name anyway), the beds are either commercial ones from Mattisons or a Lombok 4-poster we were lucky enough to buy in the sale (none are divans) and quite a lot of the kitchen equipment is M&S and other high street names.

I think that at 5-star level the assessors want something that looks like it's a significant cut above what most people would have at home. And it goes without saying that cleanliness is ultra-important.

Feel free to have a look at my website and PM if you want any info.

[peter_964rs]

Thanks for all the replies and I don't know why I didn't find those earlier topics.

My wife phoned QIT on their 0845 number and spoke at length to their assessor and that's what she was told: what bed to get, the quality of mattress, the hand built nature of the kitchen, and so on.

Definitely a surprise!

[Jester]

Personally I'm finding doing all the paperwork in advance more hard work than anything else, i.e. the access statement and making sure I've done pre-arrival packs and clear instructions for everything and sorting out copies of my insurance etc...as it means I feel tied to my laptop till I've done it.

[newtimber]

Unless your property is going to be wonderful in every way, it may be better to be a good 4*.

Then your guests will be delighted to find your property better than they expected rather than disappointed that it fails to meet the exceptional standards they were expecting.

[half pint]

We are 4* with visit Wales (but they are all supposed to be the same standard), our kitchen is also Howdens and I bought the cheapest of everything I could could find that we needed, we are graded 5* for most things on the list that they grade by but we do not have a dishwasher and our lane up to the house is unmade and a bit rough. But as long as I continue to to get a 5* grade for cleanliness, I'm not that bothered. They did say at our last grading that although our bathrooms are all fully tiled people nowadays want big shower heads and all singing and dancing showers. I would rather have a high 4* grade and know our guests are warm and comfortable and have a clean house than have to worry about the latest trends and change things every couple of years to keep up.
If you have one thing that is graded at a level lower than everything else then that is the grade you will get, eg. if you are 5* for everything bar say the cleanliness for which you get a 4* grade then 4* is what you shall get.

[zebedee]

Hello Peter.
Is a good 4 or 5 star rating from Visit England worth the effort?
I would say yes, firstly because you are new to the market so you don't have a regular repeat clientele and it will help people to understand and benchmark the quality standards of what you are offering compared to others in your area. They should have a bit more confidence in booking with you.
You may decide after a few years that the benefits are less and reconsider whether or not to continue with the scheme but the benefits are quite considerable when you are first starting out and trying to establish a presence in your local market. The inspection process is hard work and can be stressful but will give you independent feedback and (if your assessor is competent to do the job) you will get sound objective feedback on your property and useful constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement and / or advice on increasing your business.
Is 5 star essential? (I got the feeling you thought anything less may not be worth the effort - apologies if I am wrong).
The following may help. A few years ago we stayed in an outstanding B&B in Scotland - a large beautiful room with terrace and fantastic view. Very courteous staff, family run and very attentive, huge amount of facilities and all of the highest quality and immaculate. Fabulous breakfast with a wonderful choice from the menu. I asked the owner why they were 4 Star and not 5 Star? Her answer was that if they were 5 Star some guests (particularly our cousins from across the pond) would be very critical of minor detail if things were slightly different to what they expected. She preferred therefore to be 4 Star and overwhelm guests with how great everything was than suffer any petty nit-picking or grumbling.
Now you really need to know your market to know if this logic would apply to you. It may be very different in your area, and guests who visit your area may be different from those who go to that part of Scotland, but you can always work to improve your grading over time if you initially achieve 4 Star and 5 Star is what you and your guests want and you have enough evidence that it will be a good investment of your time and money business wise.
I am not looking to offend anyone who is 5 star - there is a market for this level of accommodation and anyone who achieves this standard deserves it for all their hard work, and I delight in their success. I am just trying to help you look at things from different angles to help you make your decision.

[kg1]

Half pint - do you know you website is down?

[greenbarn]

zebedee's post is bang on the nail, and echoes my own thoughts and experience.

Yes, when you're starting out it's extremely useful to have the professional guidance, eye and advice the you should get from the inspector - their job is to help you and work with you, not against you.

Yes, when we started we were graded as a good 4 star, and we were very cautious of the possibility of 5 star attracting the professional complainer; we live on site and we want to enjoy our business and guests. As we got to know our market and the type of guests attracted to our area and properties, we became much more comfortable and we now have 5 star and 5 star Gold ratings.

Will we continue with the scheme? It's not a given, and I'd need to make a number of changes in our website, signage and leaflets (we're on a walkers' route, so leaflets do get taken). The current turmoil in the business with HA and HL seeking to control the market leads me to think that guests will become more discerning in what they look for, and find alternatives to the major sites for anything that's not typical mass market appeal (if that exists) and sold in a standard box. Good star ratings may become more useful, they may not. Interesting times.

[barbersdrove]

zebedee's post is bang on the nail, and echoes my own thoughts and experience.

+1

[peter_964rs]

Thanks again. Zebedee's post reminds me of the JD Power survey of cars - Skoda do really well, because people's expectations aren't as high as they are for, say, Mercedes, and are frequently exceeded. Therefore, they score higher; plus the cars are basically less sexy Volkswagens and Audis and therefore very competent and unpretentious.

Not surprisingly, our two cars are both Skoda and we are very happy with them and how the local dealer treated us.

That said, we were still very taken aback by what the lady on the end of the phone at QIT told us. Not only the kitchen, appliance make and bed/mattress thing, but also the weight of the cutlery (marked down for Ikea, must feel heavy), the glasses should be crystal, the tea/coffee ware china, and so on.

We've spoken to a few agencies, naming no names, who (understandably) feel the QIT rating is unnecessary to achieve a good rate of occupancy at suitable rates, especially for a newbie. They have their own rating systems that are supposed to reflect the overall experience, not mandate (for example) Miele appliances. The markup may be anathema to some here, but for the sake of simplicity could be worthwhile for us.

[Goscar]

We took the decision to have our property inspected by Visit Wales when we started out in 2003, having taken the view that it's a useful benchmark for any prospective guests and one way of overcoming the objection of "how do we know this isn't a scam?".

The one thing we had not expected was a 5 star grading. Although we make mention of it, I cannot remember a guest ever having done so. From time to time we wonder whether the grading might put some people off, but that's just conjecture on our part.