Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
OT but when did France ever have a hotel rating system where the top was four stars? IIRC even in the 1970s there were five star hotels in Paris. Also, France has some properties that are five star "luxe" or palace hotels. There are also some hotels without any stars, although nowadays these tend to be hostels.
well, technically france went up to four star "luxe", which could be considered 5 star?
2010 (before their change to 5 stars)
http://www.ehospitalitytimes.com/?p=367
The challenge is to support tourism which is the first industry of France: With the globalisation and the client’s changing needs France has to be competitive with other destinations concerning the clients’ behaviours and needs. (Not having a five star rating is a serious handicap considering that the client doesn’t always know the fact that France’s highest class of hotel is “four star luxe”).
(you can search google for more examples "France + four star luxe maximum")
http://tourismintelligence.ca/2005/0...-expectations/
The French government awards a maximum of four stars but has an alternative category called “four-star luxe” and another, termed “HT”.
since the french government controls the official rating, then if priceline was a french company, they would need to follow that rating... not sure if they actually do when selling in france right now? (and of they don't, you have a more valid reason to complain)