Hotel Espanya in Barcelona has a two-star rating. According to the hotel's Web site, it looks very promising: an opulent lobby, modernist interior design and a fantastic location, just a few meters from Ramblas Boulevard. Despite the seeming discrepancy between the hotel's rating and its looks, history and excellent location, we anticipated pampering luxury - early 20th-century style.

When we opened the door to room 409, we sighed in disappointment and realized that the star-givers knew what they were talking about. The room was narrow, cramped, far from fancy and encouraged us to spend as much time outside the hotel as possible.

Stars, diamonds or any other type of rating awarded to a hotel are supposed to assist visitors in aligning their expectations with what they will actually receive. Ratings and past experience teach travelers what to expect when they register for a two-star hotel rather than a four-star hotel. They know how large the room will be, the types of amenities included, the hotel's facilities and restaurants, and whether there will be a swimming pool or parking lot.

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Israel, unlike most European countries, does not have an agreed rating system for its hotels. This bizarre situation has lasted over a decade, since the Tourism Ministry canceled the ratings. Since then the hotels have ranked themselves as they see fit, or are rated by external bodies, such as tourism agencies or guides. Since they are unauthorized to do this, the ratings are not reliable.

Sources in the tourism industry agree that there is no point in devising a new government-endorsed rating system. The question remains, however, as to whether ratings are necessary, and if so, what authority should determine and enforce them?

Outgoing Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog supports the creation of a new, reliable ratings system for Israel's hotels. In December 2006, Herzog appointed a committee to examine the services offered to tourists in Israel and to recommend criteria for ratings. Herzog said the ministry would not be in charge of the ratings - that era was part of the past. He stressed, however that consumers have a right to know what to expect. A tourist seeking a hotel room in Israel is given the erroneous impression that there are ratings here, while the reality is different. Herzog believes that the proper solution is a joint effort by non-ministerial bodies such as rating companies similar to those that operate in the capital market. The committee appointed by Herzog is still in the early stages of its work.

Some tourism sources are actually not thrilled about the reinstatement of ratings.

Shmuel Zurel, director general of the Israel Hotels Association, believes this is an archaic approach.

"There are a lot of hotels today that specialize in specific tourism areas," says Zurel, "business, recreation, sports, spas, etc. It will be difficult to create a uniform rating system that will meet everyone's needs. Information is available on every hotel these days, much more than in the past. Every visitor can go to a hotel's Web site and find out, even without a star rating, exactly what he can expect at the hotel. Ranking is liable to distort that information. There are already different rating systems. The large hotel chains rate themselves."

Oded Niv, manager of the Jerusalem hotel A Little House in Baka, which has 30 rooms, feels that ratings would actually help.

"The lack of a rating supports the unjustified raising of prices in the industry," says Niv. "In order to market ourselves abroad, we gave ourselves a three-star rating. This is the only way to get bookings via international search engines such as Expedia. The lack of a rating is theoretically better for hotel owners, but in reality it hurts us."

Niv explains that new rating must be undertaken by an external body that will set clear standards.

"If there are standards, we will make an effort to meet them," says Niv. "This is better for the consumer."

Yonatan Harpaz, director general of the Jerusalem Hotel Association, disagrees, contending that the Internet solves the problem.

"Every [hotel] Web site has photos and information to help the consumer understand what he is ordering. Although the comparison to other hotels is not uniform, the past decade has proved that it doesn't hurt."

Important aid for tourists

The comparison that is required is a system on par with that of other countries around the world. A study conducted in the European Union in 2004 found that throughout the Continent, with the exception of Norway and Finland, there is an official, accepted rating for hotels. Only seven of the 21 countries surveyed do not require the use of the rating system. In the other 14 countries, hotels cannot receive an operating license if they do not accept a rating.

In about half the countries, the rating body is affiliated with the national hotels association. In some of the countries the rating body is operated jointly by the hotels association and a government authority (the tourism ministry or tourism bureau).

In Switzerland, one of the first countries in the world to have a professional hotel rating system, the hotels association set up a separate, independent rating body that checks whether hotels maintain their standards. Martin Beck, the marketing manager for the Swiss body, which is called Hotelleriesuisse, explains that there are clear criteria for the awarding of ratings of one to five stars.

"We have a clear separation," says Beck, "between the people who set the uniform standards and the people who enforce them. The enforcers visit the hotels and know exactly how many square feet a room must have in a four-star hotel. This is not a matter of judgment or debate. There are 70 professional hoteliers who check out the hotels throughout the country, and everyone trusts them implicitly."

In the U.S. the most recognized rating is done by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Michael Petron, the AAA's director of Tourism Information and Development, explains how the rating system works:

"We employ 65 tourism experts, whose job it is to visit and check out the hotels. Identical criteria are applied to some 32,000 hotels, motels and hostels in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. The hotels are sorted and awarded diamonds, with the cheapest hotels receiving one diamond and the most expensive ones receiving five."

What about Israel? Beck feels it is worthwhile reinstating a rating system for Israel's hotels, noting that the greatest advantage of ratings lies in the Israeli hotels' ability to compete with hotels in other countries.

"All competition is based on comparison," explains Beck, "and at present it is impossible to compare Israeli hotels to those in other countries. Anyone like me, looking in from the outside, gains the impression that hotels in Israel are afraid of an uncomplimentary rating, and such a fear is uncomplimentary to Israeli tourism."