"En suite" in London?
 

In searching for a decent & economical hotel in London around Victoria Station via various websites, I see the terms "basic", "standard", and sometimes an "en suite" description of the room. Plus some lists use both "diamonds" and "stars" ratings but don't explain!
Do only "en suite" rooms mean a normal private bathroom included, or could it mean only certain facilities are in the room (either alongside the bed or in a separate bathroom) & the rest "shared" or "down the hall"?
Can anyone give a logical explanation of the system or is there no standard?

I don't think there is any regulated standard in terms of what is legal to call "en suite", which is a British term. However, I have never seen it referring to anything but a complete bathroom in your room (although that could be only a shower, not a tub), rather than anything shared or in the hallway.

I've never seen diamonds on hotel sites except in the US as Mobil uses them. Stars are used officially and unofficially. Some US websites use stars but make them up or let the hotels make them up (ie, Priceline). In Europe, most countries have an official hotel govt rating system that uses stars, however. In England, I believe the English Tourism Council is the one who gives official star ratings to hotels, from 1 to 5. Never heard of diamonds in England.

The RAC (Royal Automobile Club) uses a diamond rating as follows:

"The term Guest Accommodation incorporates bed & breakfasts, guest houses, farmhouses, small private hotels, inns and restaurants with rooms which in the UK and Ireland offer a style and warmth of accommodation envied around the world.

The Guest Accommodation scheme assesses properties at five levels of quality from 1 Diamond to 5 Diamonds."

You can find info at

http://www.rac.co.uk/travelservices/hotels/

"En-suite" means bathroom in the bedroom.

"Private" means it is your bathroom but its not IN your room. This is not common in hotels as much as in smaller B&Bs where they have squeezed extra baths into a house. it is not always possible to fit a full baths into every bedroom in an old house. But a private bath is yours alone - just down the hall.

"Shared" means just that - a shared bath. the ratio could be 2 bedrooms to one bath or as bad a 15:1in some cheap hotels.

Stars are "official" and are pretty accurate. The RAC diamonds are also pretty good indicators, tho.

Thanks to all for their comments & link to the RAC website, which explains their stars & diamonds ratings for lodging in the UK.
The description of a room as "standard" on the Orbitz (US) booking site would normally indicate to me that it's a room with bath. However on other hotel booking websites rates are given for "basic" rooms, which can be with or without in room bath facilities as far as I can surmise.

Hi trav,

Don't make any assumptions. Call, fax or eml the hotel to be sure of what you are getting.