Summer travel carefully booked 4 stars, arrived hotel was not good

Currently, there are many cases where hotels assign star ratings on online booking platforms that are far from reality, causing tourists to lose money - Photo: QUANG DINH

Recently, a number of hotels in Da Nang were asked by the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to contact online booking platforms to remove false stars.

According to businesses, this situation is happening in many accommodation areas, affecting customer experience and being unfair to accommodation establishments that "look real, do real work".

"A 5-star hotel doesn't need to advertise, if you advertise it, it might not be as good as it seems"

On May 11, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Ms. VTX (25 years old, Da Nang ) said that in 2024, she booked a hotel room on an online booking platform for a 2-night stay in Hoi An.

"I booked a 4-star hotel room, which was not peak season at that time, for 1.2 million VND/night. The room pictures on the app were very nice, but when I got there, I was shocked. Because the quality of the room service, equipment, and amenities were not up to par, the staff's service attitude was not enthusiastic, the wifi was unstable, it was said to have a swimming pool but you couldn't swim... In short, it was no different from a motel," said Ms. VTX.

Responding to the booking platform, Ms. VTX called the hotline but the line was busy, she accepted to "give up" and rented a homestay not far away for 400,000 VND/night but Ms. VTX was very satisfied.

She added: "I learned a lesson for myself: never trust hotel images advertised on online booking platforms. Be more careful with mid-range hotels that advertise 3-4 stars. There is no need to advertise 5-star hotels, if you advertise, be careful... they won't be as good."

Similarly, in a hotel and homestay review group in Ho Chi Minh City, an account shared that they rented a 4-star hotel room. When they pulled the curtains to block the sun, the curtains fell down, luckily not hitting their heads.

This account holder said: "The curtain fell down, I called the staff, the staff answered very impolitely: 'You rented the room, why did you use so much force, you have to pay for it'. In the end, I had to pay an additional 200,000 VND for the curtain."

When the account owner shared the picture and the bill for the curtains, many travel "fans" were interested.

Account Pham Lan Phuong commented: "A 4-star hotel? Reading the story and the bill, it seems a bit strange, not worthy of a 4-star hotel."

Meanwhile, Ms. Pham Thi Phuong (former resort manager in Mui Ne, Binh Thuan province) said that it is common for hotel owners to not put stars on the hotel name sign but "advertise" 3-4 or 5 stars on online platforms, put stars on the website; or sell room vouchers on some websites and fanpages with 30-40% discount but when staying there, they "get bored" is a common thing.

"But in the context of business and competition, "upgrading" star ratings is information that business owners cannot ignore," Ms. Phuong explained.

Can't control it all?

The 2017 Tourism Law takes effect on voluntary star rating for tourist accommodation establishments, not mandatory rating as in the 2005 Tourism Law. Therefore, it is difficult for tourists to know and verify the actual star rating of hotels.

According to a representative of a business specializing in hotel management consulting services in Ho Chi Minh City, many hotels are currently self-awarding stars on online platforms (Online Travel Agency - OTA).

Each OTA and each website sets its own star standards and accommodation rating systems; even the standards are not consistent with the star rating standards prescribed by law.

This person cited Booking.com's quality ratings applied worldwide based on many criteria: amenities, services provided; area, number of rooms and capacity...; while Agoda is more visible in its yellow and pink star system to rank accommodation locations.

However, the story of hotel stars on OTAs is still far from reality. The recent incident in Da Nang is proof that OTAs cannot control all star ratings.

"This affects business competition and is frustrating for users. Management agencies need to tighten and tighten," he emphasized.

From a state management perspective, Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism - said that the situation of self-proclaimed star hotels on foreign websites cannot be fully checked.

Mr. Hoa said: "Websites and online booking platforms operate abroad, so Vietnam does not have enough authority to manage them. The stars on OTAs only rate the digital platform market.

To avoid losing money, customers need to check the official star rating of the accommodation recognized by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and need to be alert from consumers.

Having had the "experience" of booking a 4-star hotel on OTAs but when arriving, it was actually no different from a motel and looking from the perspective of a tourism business person, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ni Ni (owner of La Homestay in Quang Ngai City) said that to book a good quality room, you first need to check online groups; refer to the reviews of people who have stayed at hotels and resorts on websites or OTAs for booking rooms...

Ms. Ni said: "Of course, not all opinions are trustworthy because it does not exclude the marketing team or hotel owners from creating fake reviews. If there are many positive comments, you can temporarily trust them. Then, learn more about the quality, room service, and many other cross-checks...".

In the first quarter of 2025, the whole country will have 278 5-star tourist accommodation establishments.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, regarding the ranking of 4-5 star tourist accommodation establishments in the first quarter of 2025, the agency has issued 33 decisions recognizing tourist accommodation establishments meeting 4-5 star standards, of which 5 establishments were newly appraised and 28 establishments were re-appraised.

As of March 21, the country had 278 5-star tourist accommodation establishments with 92,622 rooms, and 341 4-star tourist accommodation establishments with 47,038 rooms.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/du-lich-he-can-than-dat-4-sao-den-noi-khach-san-khong-ra-sao-20250511032922012.htm