system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Who determines the rating of a hotel ? and based on what ?
gpt
At least in Europe, star ratings are mostly based on what services/facilities/'minimum standards' they provide. It's not an indicator of quality, but what they have to offer "on paper".


Airco, Telecommunications/Internet, bathtub (seperate from shower), Parking, 24h reception, minibar, roomservice etc... could all be super crappy, but they will still score lots of points for the hotel if they have it available.


Having said that, most of the time, quality goes hand-in-hand with offering lots of services/facilities though. Occasionally - and in some countries more so than in others - cheap hotels will still have lots of stars but offer bad/mediocre quality. Therefor, don't expect a  really cheap 4/5-star hotel  to provide excellent quality. The photos may not match the reality.