Rome hotel star ratings and what they mean

Warning - Rome hotel star ratings are not what they seem!

This gorgeous, sweeping, iconic lobby of Rome's Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel is the kind of amenity you will only find in 5-star hotels in Rome.

If you think of a 5 star hotel in Rome, do you think: chocolates on the pillow, bellhops to take my luggage, a lovely spacious lobby, super-helpful concierge staff, and well-appointed rooms? 

Well you may be right about some of those things but actually, the only thing a 5 star hotel in Rome is required to provide, out of the list above, is the bellhop and the spacious lobby. They are also required to provide rooms of a certain minimum size, to have a reception that's open 24 hours, and that the rooms get cleaned at least once a day…are you getting the picture? It’s just a checklist.

A 3 star hotel in Rome is required to have a lobby on the ground floor and for all rooms to have a private bathroom. 

This is to give you an idea of how different the Rome Italy hotels star ratings are from other places in the world.

Hotel Star Ratings in Italy

Hotels in Italy are rated with a number of stars from 1 to 5, which essentially correspond to some minimum requirements of the structure, furnishings, qualification of personnel and the quality of services offered.

(This is the technical part but in case you are interested in looking this up: The minimum standards of services that hotels must provide the country are established by the Decree of 21 October 2008, published in the Official Gazette n. 34 of 11.2.2009. It is only published online in Italian, but I have translated them here.)

Minimum Hotel Standards for Rome Italy Hotels

Regardless, according to decree mentioned above (they love having decrees in Italy), you can be sure of the following minimum standards for hotels in Rome using the star system:

• At a 1 star hotel in Rome: reception 12 hours per day, room cleaning once a day, minimum size of the double room of 14 square meters, change of bed linens once a week;
• At a 2 star hotel in Rome: same features but with a lift and change of bed linens twice a week;
• At a 3 star hotel in Rome: in addition compared to 2-star bar service, knowledge of a foreign language by the reception (at least for 16 hours), staff uniforms, internet service and all rooms feature a private bathroom;
• At a 4 star hotel in Rome: in addition to the daily cleaning of the room, the room will also be tidied in the afternoon; a change of linen every day, unless the customer chooses to protect the environment; laundry and ironing services available for guests, parking for at least 50 % of the rooms, double rooms at least 15 square meters and bath 4;
• At a 5 star hotel in Rome: reception service open 24 hours a day, three foreign languages ​​on the part of employees, single rooms of at least 9 square meters and 16 double rooms.

Full Checklist for Rome Hotel Star Ratings

That is a very short synopsis, but if you are really interested in the full checklist of Rome hotel star ratings, I have translated it from the Italian and you may download it here.