.JPG)
It’s been a while since I last visited France, but I have led several tours there in the past, particularly to the south region bordering Spain and, more specifically and most often, to the catholic pilgrimage spot of Lourdes, and every time I go it always worries me, when going to a hotel I have not stayed in before, not knowing what to expect. Of course the company I lead the tour for always gives me some information about it beforehand (well, not that much, actually just the name, address and contact) and I do some research through the web to find some more, but unfortunately that doesn’t work always (not even often). Category standards are just too vague. This has happened to me in France, Portugal, Italy and the UK: one three stars hotel (not many of them) turns out sparkly clean, diligently serviced, newly refurbished and presents ample rooms and baths, next three stars hotel is old and wrinkly like old movies’ landladies, with a just as grumpy a service and staff, and a cleaning condition, or at least look, that results in getting of the bed in the morning scratching your body and wondering whether that bugbite was already there in your thigh before you reached your room last night, while you make your way to the tiny shower plate of the claustrophobic bathroom a lot quicker and readier than you do in the sleepy waking ups of your own home.
This is rare in Spain: it is not unheard of, but regional tourism authorities keep a very consisting policy concerning the quality of services. The category division by stars is mandatory in all the country for hotels (and most areas have also other category divisions for non hotel accommodations like aparthotels-usually ranged 1 to 5 “keys”-hostels, road motels, pensions, campings, etc), and strictly supervised. Each region’s authority establishes a list of minimum services and extras that must be available at the hotel in order to claim a given number of stars and failing to produce them results in very severe fines, loss of stars and other administrative (and sometimes penal) measures. Tourism being a very important source of income for the country, regions strive to be competitive and these standards are usually high. Sometimes you can even find hotels that are much better than their announced category. Why is this? They simple have reached and compiled a very high level and number of services that would allow them to gain a new star, but in doing so they would be also stepping up into a tax category of luxury service in which they do not want to incur yet.Of course you still find differences from one hotel to the next in the same category (especially in 1 and 2 stars) which mainly occur because not all hotels choose to provide the same services: if law decrees that 15 out of a list of 20 services must be provided in a 3 stars hotel, and 9 of them are compulsory, different hotels may differ in which other 6 they offer. Admittedly, some of those might be the ones you particularly like to have available, and so these explanation may not satisfy you if you are disappointed on arrival, but consider all the above and you might find that it is not the quality of services what is nagging at you. If still you think you have reasons to do so, please, by all means take measures about it; a complaint form in Spain is a very important tool for tourism: fill one, give the hotel/restaurant/agency/whatever else their copy, keep your copy, and mail the third one to the tourism authorities. This is the right way to do it and if the guy attending you knows anything about his job and you are right in your complaint, the very second he realizes you know what to do with the form he will probably try to amend the problem a.s.a.p to prevent you from sending it, which more often than not results in a quick fine of minimum 5000 euros for his business (if your complaint is rightful). Hope this was useful.
This is rare in Spain: it is not unheard of, but regional tourism authorities keep a very consisting policy concerning the quality of services. The category division by stars is mandatory in all the country for hotels (and most areas have also other category divisions for non hotel accommodations like aparthotels-usually ranged 1 to 5 “keys”-hostels, road motels, pensions, campings, etc), and strictly supervised. Each region’s authority establishes a list of minimum services and extras that must be available at the hotel in order to claim a given number of stars and failing to produce them results in very severe fines, loss of stars and other administrative (and sometimes penal) measures. Tourism being a very important source of income for the country, regions strive to be competitive and these standards are usually high. Sometimes you can even find hotels that are much better than their announced category. Why is this? They simple have reached and compiled a very high level and number of services that would allow them to gain a new star, but in doing so they would be also stepping up into a tax category of luxury service in which they do not want to incur yet.Of course you still find differences from one hotel to the next in the same category (especially in 1 and 2 stars) which mainly occur because not all hotels choose to provide the same services: if law decrees that 15 out of a list of 20 services must be provided in a 3 stars hotel, and 9 of them are compulsory, different hotels may differ in which other 6 they offer. Admittedly, some of those might be the ones you particularly like to have available, and so these explanation may not satisfy you if you are disappointed on arrival, but consider all the above and you might find that it is not the quality of services what is nagging at you. If still you think you have reasons to do so, please, by all means take measures about it; a complaint form in Spain is a very important tool for tourism: fill one, give the hotel/restaurant/agency/whatever else their copy, keep your copy, and mail the third one to the tourism authorities. This is the right way to do it and if the guy attending you knows anything about his job and you are right in your complaint, the very second he realizes you know what to do with the form he will probably try to amend the problem a.s.a.p to prevent you from sending it, which more often than not results in a quick fine of minimum 5000 euros for his business (if your complaint is rightful). Hope this was useful.
No comments:
Post a Comment