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The basis for rating

A standard was issued by the China National Tourism Administration to rate hotels in China from one to five stars.

The basis for rating hotels in China is as follows:
One-Star hotels must have air-conditioning, coffee shop, dining room, and at least 20 guest rooms cleaned daily. 75% of these must have private baths. They must have central heating, a lobby with information and reception desk, postal service, and 12-hour a day cold and hot running water.

Two-Star hotels must have at least 20 guest rooms, 95% with private baths, 50% with telephones, and 16 hours of cold and hot running water. Western and Chinese breakfast must be offered.
Three-Star hotels must have at least well-decorated guest rooms with dressing table, desk, drawers and closet; carpet or wood floor; telephones in every room with international direct dial (IDD); mini-bar and refrigerator; color television sets, in-house movies, music; writing materials; sun-proof curtains; and bed turn-down service.

They must have single rooms and suites, Western and Chinese dining rooms(with English-speaking attendants, and the last order no earlier than 8:30pm), 16-hour coffee shop, banquet hall or function room, buffet breakfast and bar service(until midnight), and 18-hour room service.

They must also have elevator service, public telephone and washroom, equipment and service for disabled people, disco or karaoke, foreign exchange, safe deposit boxes, store, camera film developing, fax and telex service, luggage storage, 24-hour laundry and dry-cleaning, wake-up calls, shoe polishing, and taxis. They should be able to mend articles of everyday use for guests. They should accept major credit cards. They must have an emergency electricity supply for public areas, medical services, 16-hour a day doorman, and message service, guest reception, and managers on call. An assistant manager should be in the lobby 18 hours and railroad timetables should be available. China Daily and China Tourism News should be on sale (or free).

Four Star hotels should have luxurious and spacious soundproof rooms, low-noise toilets, and hair dryers. They should have guests and service elevators, background music, health club, swimming pool, sauna, business center, greenhouse, 24-hour doorman, reservations accepted through fax/telex, 24-hour room service, and onward reservations in China for guests. A guest reception and assistant manager should be available in the lobby 24 hours a day. Laundry should be returned by next day.

The restaurants in four-star hotels should provide two kinds of Chinese food with the last order no earlier than 9pm. Bar service should be available to one am. There should be a 24-hur coffee shop and a breakfast and dinner buffet. A clinic should be on-site. A business center with photocopying, typing and translation services should be available, as should a ticketing agency with city tours and babysitting services.

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