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Accommodation Star Ratings

Red, white and blue logo with four stars

Visit Wales 4 star logo Visit Scotland 4 star logo

If you see a quality assessment logo next to HF Holidays’ Country House accommodation, it means an official Quality Assessor has visited the accommodation and given it a rating.

The majority of HF Holidays’ Country Houses are independently inspected annually by VisitEngland, VisitWales and VisitScotland to assess our standard of accommodation. The external assessment determines the star rating of our facilities and services. This includes the quality of welcome and hospitality, food and cleanliness of our accommodation.

The external assessments all use the same extremely rigorous criteria to award 1 to 5 stars and make reliable and impartial assessments. The stars reflect the facilities and overall quality of the experience.

Guest accommodation

HF Holidays’ UK Country Houses are assessed as guest accommodation. Guest accommodation properties are likely to be smaller than hotels with perhaps more of a family home feel and approach, and a less structured service.

Please note

The external rating system covers a variety of accommodation from campsites to B&Bs to city centre hotels, all offering different levels of facilities and services. For this reason, specific types of accommodation need to be assessed in a different way. Not only must an establishment offer the facilities required to meet a certain level, it must also achieve the quality required. For all accommodation types, the number of stars gives an indication of the general quality of the furnishings, decor and ambience. The more stars awarded, the higher the level of quality.

Remember that 3-star guest accommodation cannot be compared to a 3-star hotel, as different criteria apply. Lower star rated accommodation may still offer high quality, but does not meet all the facility and service expectations of the higher star ratings.

The external assessor visits as a 'mystery guest' to give the opportunity to test aspects of the guest experience such as the welcome, the comfort of the bed, the food and the cleanliness.