Can someone at Fodor's please direct me to where I can find a detailed list of the criteria used to rate a hotel in the United States as a 1-star to 5-star property?

There are no government ratings, so everyone has their own criteria, ex. AAA's criteria are not the same as Mobil's criteria.

From my official AAA guide:

1 star - prostitutes are likely to be within a block of your motel

2 star - Prostitutes may possibly be near your motel and there will be a Denny's within a block or two

3 star - No prostitutes. You can go for a swim in the hotel pool but usually with obnoxious kids whose parents are bloated after eating a free breakfast buffet

4 star - The pool will have some adult hours and the hotel will have a nice bar to relax and have a drink.

5 star - Relax in a private jacuzzi tub, dine on delicious room service, and sleep on bed that is way more comfortable than the one you have at home. No reason to ever leave the room.

Thank sf7307 for the reply. I do understand that AAA, Mobil, and Foder's have their own criteria but where can I find a detailed list of each companies criteria for each star rating or in the case of AAA, diamond rating?

google a great tool to search the internet

i tried "AAA hotel rating criteria site:aaa.com"

which yields this
http://ww2.aaa.com/aaa/common/Tourbo...hatisthis.html

Thanks J62. Already seen that for AAA but that does not provide the level of detail I am looking for. But I did finally get to this article on about.com:
http://hotels.about.com/od/hotelrati...aa_ratings.htm.

I was also able to find some similar details about the Mobil rating process but have still not been able to find details for Fodor's. I have just written to Fodor's editors to see if they can provide.

Thanks again for your reply.

There is no official system and all the various books and booking services use different criteria. Many - Priceline for example - work off a questionnaire that the lodging fills out about specific amenities. When booking blind (as in not a name brand like four seasons or hyatt) I assume they are actually one star less than they claim.

methuselah- That's perfect!

I thought so, too - enough so that I read it aloud to my family. Cracked me up!