good to see some professional initiatives from tourist institutions in an attempt to tackle the   problem  of categorization and rating, more specifically in Catalonia.

first, there is a recognition of a long dating problem for apartments, nowadays under the law of housing, in a not distant future it should be integrated within tourism competences. apartments are considered one of the fields that escape from fiscal control and that compete directly with hotels especially in coastal areas and, in the last 10 years, in Barcelona city. it is easy to visit apartments with low guarantees of security or quality that blur the image of a modern country.

 second, in the domain of hotels, the introduction of two additional ratings, superior 4 star and grand luxury, plus it isbeing created a new category: family hotel with multibedded rooms adapted to the needs of this specific stripe of customers. the latter, a real need; the former it is likely to add confusion to the system that should seek simplification and fill international categories of: economy/budget-tourist-first-de luxe, i.e, maximum 4, and look for standardization of quality system certifications like Q or ISO, through international quality verification & rating companies.

other important changes are to be done also in rural establishments and campsites categories.

anyhow, we think that initiatives that tend to regulate minimally the market are to be supported, especially in tourism, an economic field that is often mentioned as a sample for free market believers that leave to users, actors and end-customers with little protection before bad professional practices.

see more in
http://www10.gencat.cat/gencat/AppJava/en/actualitat2/2011/10726imatgeicategoriadelshotelsdecatalunya.jsp