InsureandGo research finds Dublin hotels outperform star ratings

• More than three-quarters of Dublin hotels are rated higher by guests than their star rating
• Dublin ranks 15th out of 106 destinations
• 76.6pc of Dublin hotels are rated higher than their star rating
• Málaga, Zermatt and Orlando make the top three
• Just 9pc of five-star hotels earn a guest score equivalent to five stars

New research from InsureandGo has found that more than three-quarters of Dublin hotels are rated higher by guests than their star rating, placing the city 15th out of 106 destinations. InsureandGo compared the star ratings of more than 15,000 hotels across 106 destinations with their guest review scores. Dublin’s hotels are more likely than most to impress with 76.6pc rated higher than their star rating.

Málaga took the top spot with 90.7pc of hotels rated higher by guests than the official star rating. Zermatt came second at 89.5pc and Orlando third at 88.1pc. Seville, Kraków, Venice, Bucharest, Nashville, Amsterdam and Budapest completed the top ten. Dublin ranked ahead of Florence at 76.4pc, Madrid at 74.3pc, Berlin at 74.1pc and London at 57.7pc.

Five stars is the hardest rating to live up to with just 9pc of five-star hotels earning a guest score equivalent to five stars. By comparison 94pc of four-star hotels match or beat their rating. Value for money was the most common weak spot at hotels that fell short while service and breakfast came up most often in negative reviews.

Mellisa Hutchins shared “A star rating tells you what facilities a hotel has, but it can’t always guarantee how your stay will feel, and because there’s no global standard, a four-star in one country can be very different from a four-star in another. Our research shows most hotels beat their stars, but the higher the rating, the higher guests’ expectations, especially on price.”