Stars from the state

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For the beginning of December a sitting of the evaluation committee is scheduled to take place. The committee act in the frames of an updated system of classification of accommodation objects which was approved on the 15th of July 2005 by the government of the Russian Federation (see news as of 19.07. This is the second stage of classification when approximately 10 Russian hotels (for example, Moscow ‘Berlin 3*’, ‘Ismaylovo Alfa’ 3*, Swisshotel ‘Red hills’ 5*) will be awarded stars. According to Margarita Nemolyaeva, president of the ‘Hotel expert’ association and head of the team (which works with the Federal Tourism Agency on the issue) that developed the system, these hotels have already gone through the first stage when they were inspected by a special evaluation committee. ‘New requirements are entirely adapted to Russian life so, for example, even a 1* hotel room will have be categorized as either luxe or suite‘, said Miss Nemolyaeva to a BANKO correspondent.
   Earlier, during the stage of the introduction of the system the Federal Tourism agency announced that classification will be based on a voluntary charter. However hotels that refused to take it will not be included in the list of accommodation recommended for tourists. Yet for those who receive official ‘stars’, Rostourism promises information support: inclusion in catalogues, publication of materials for the exhibition, and an allocation on the site of the FTA. This might be why Russian hotels have readily accepted the process. ‘We are glad to have feedback from the process about any minor faults such as the lack of our logo on Hotel soaps’. Solving these issues will not be very pricey while the image of the hotel will rise’ says Andrey Bushuev, managing director of the eponymous ‘Novorossiysk hotel’ (3*). What is more, hotel management does not doubt that responsibility for stars awarded will rest with the state authorities, ‘We can now relax as the evaluation committee are experts at what they are doing’, believes Elena Shelsting, deputy general director of the resort complex ‘Nadejda’ 5* in Gelendzhik.