Laterooms.com adopts VisitBritain's hotel star system

Online bookings agent Laterooms.com has become the first internet operator to use the national classification system for hotels and guest houses after aligning its star-rating system with VisitBritain's.

Laterooms.com said the move was necessary to avoid customer confusion over the types of classification system used by tourist bodies and operators.

Jeremy Brinkworth, general manager of quality at VisitBritain, said: "Holidaymakers need to know what type of accommodation they are booking and therefore what they can expect when they arrive, regardless of how they book."

VisitBritain checked hotels on LateRooms.com that held either a VisitBritain or AA star rating. Hotels currently on the bookings site without a rating by either party will continue to be self-assed by LateRooms.com.

Chris Allen, chief executive of Laterooms.com. "Over the last few months we've been working closely with the organisation and our accommodation providers in order to minimise the gap between expectation and reality for people making late availability bookings online."

Laterooms.com is a subsidiary of travel agency First Choice Holidays.

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By Christopher Walton