Conference Torquay

Accommodation
Gradings Explained

• » Hotels

  Hotels have to be licensed, offer dinner at least 5 nights a week and have all rooms en-suite or with a private bathroom. A three star hotel will have rooms en-suite, room service and a permanently staffed reception. Five stars will have spacious rooms, some luxury suites, a lift to all floors and enhanced services such as a concierge.

• » Guest Accomm./Guest House

  Guest accommodation tend to be run by the owners themselves and have to provide certain additional facilities and services to gain a higher level of star rating. Three star accommodation will offer a bathroom not shared and a sink in the room (if not en suite). Five star accommodation will have all rooms en suite and will offer excellent customer service and a degree of luxury in the room.

• » Self Catering

  The layout and the design of the accommodation and the range and quality of the kitchen equipment is assessed as well as the quality and comfort of the bedrooms and bathrooms and most importantly the cleanliness.

• » Gold and Silver Awards

  For guest accommodations or hotels that go the extra mile to make your stay a special one, Gold or Silver Awards may be achieved and displayed alongside the official rating.

  You may come across other categories on other sites, however, all of our accommodation falls within the above categories.

• » Other awards to look out for:

  Green Tourism Business Scheme

  Awarded to businesses delivering demonstrable environmental and green initiatives.

  Businesses must also provide consumers with a clear option to use sustainable products and services. There are three levels awarded depending on the quantity of initiatives implemented by the individual business; Bronze, Silver and Gold.

  Welcome to Excellence

  Welcome to Excellence is a programme which offers various levels of training in order to provide businesses with exceptional customer service experience. Welcome to Excellence is the only customer service training programme in the UK recommended by Regional Tourist Board Partnerships.

  National Accessible Scheme

  Some accommodation may display a grading under the National Accessible Scheme. The Scheme allows accommodation providers to display a rating to show that their property has been independently assessed and found to be meeting rigorous standards of accessibility. Properties can be assessed under any one, two or three categories - Mobility, Visual and Hearing, levels 1-2/3. Level 1 meeting the minimum standards and 2/3 being the highest.

Quality Assurance

Most of the accommodation on this website has been quality assessed by either Visit Britain or the AA, or has recently applied for a rating and is awaiting assessment. Please be aware that ratings may change throughout the year.

The two national assessing bodies now assess hotels and guest accommodation to the same criteria and award one to five stars. The stars reflect the overall quality of the experience.

The type of accommodation is shown clearly below the stars, as well as marked clearly on our website, within the individual listing. The categories are Hotel, Guest Accommodation, Self catering.

E.g. You could have a four star hotel, a four star guest accommodation, and a four star self catering, the logo's would be the same, except for the category stated underneath the stars, which would read as one of the following categories, relevant to their type: