Its a bit of both but you will never find out publically for the sake of the organisation and the party concerned. I follow the R&C restaurant rating; not their hotel rating. A Relais Gourmand rating really means something good with reference to restaurants. Everything else is "good" but thats about it.

It like the Leading Hotels of the World. Very much marketing but it lays down a certain standard. The problem is that to show global coverage, the global standards can differ in certain countries where the better hotels do not want to join. The Burj Al Arab was a major loss to the LHW but then given its well known name, they found it cheaper to revamp their own internet reservation system and save on the LHW organisation fees.