4-star's rooms all not equal

During the week of March 13-20, '04, we stayed at the Karl Schranz Hotel in St. Anton, Austria. We went with a group of six couples, booked by Alpine Adventures.

We were told it was a 4-star hotel, but when we got there we were assigned a room in which the bathroom had no tub and no counter space. There was not room enough in the small bedroom for two people to pass each other easily. The other five couples got large rooms or suites with tubs, writing desks, easy chairs, a couch and so on. Some even had balconies.

The hotel's Frau Schranz refused to move us, claiming our travel agent had only booked "rooms with showers."

We wrote to Alpine Adventures to complain and We heard nothing from anyone, but the question also is whether the Karl Schranz can really claim to be a 4-star hotel when it contains rooms which are cramped like one might expect in a 2-star hotel. Are the hotel grading criteria different in Austria?

DAVID & ILSE GAY Albuquerque, NM

ITN sent copies of the above letter to the Karl Schranz Hotel (Hausnr. 372, A-6580 St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria) and to Alpine Adventures and received a reply from Alpine Adventures.

The letter from the Gay party brings up the issue of hotel grading criteria, which I believe is the basis for their complaint. I am sure that you are aware of the system for rating hotels in Europe. It varies from country to country, and what may be a 4-star in one country would be comparable to a 3-star in another country.

Unfortunately, we have no control over how hotels are awarded their ratings. However, what we do have control over is making sure that we choose the best-possible hotels for our clients in each category. We have used the Karl Schranz Hotel in the past, as has our ground operator in Austria, and I can assure you that this is the first complaint either of us has received regarding this property.

As you will see from our documentation (below), not only did we do everything in our power to resolve Mr. and Mrs. Gay's issue with the hotel, but we also contacted the leader of their group to address the complaint.

SHANNON SCHINER, Sales Manager, Alpine Adventures, 3020 North Federal Highway, Building 10, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306

Mr. Schiner provided ITN with a copy of the following letter, dated Dec. 1, '04.

In the time since Mr. Gay's letter was written, April 7, 2004, Alpine Adventures has done everything possible to resolve the problem with the client and also with the wholesaler in Austria. The Karl Schranz Hotel has been contacted, and the complaint on their hotel has been turned over to the St. Anton Tourism Bureau.

I was the group escort on this trip, and the clients are all my ski clients. We booked a 4-star hotel only to upgrade room accommodations and had nothing to do with any other hotel amenities.

I arrived in St. Anton a week prior to the group and stayed at a nearby B&B. I walked up to the Karl Schranz Hotel to see the rooms that were allocated to us and to make sure the correct rooms were assigned to the couples (singles). The hotel owner/manager, Frau Schranz, would not allow me to see any of the rooms or discuss the rooms with her prior to the group's arrival. This would have eliminated all of the problems that occurred.

The hotel meets the basic checklist for amenities for a 4-star hotel, but some of its rooms are questionable as even being in a 3-star category. The other couples did NOT all have large rooms, however; one of the couples had a room as small as the Gays'. Incidentally, for the two singles sharing a room, I requested two separate beds and had a written confirmation of such, but there was one bed and so one of the two singles slept on a couch.

Nowhere was it stated that the clients would get a tub, and Mrs. Gay did not request a tub for medical reasons prior to the fact. I let her use the tub in my room each evening.

A lot of time and energy has gone into resolving the issue for the clients. Alpine Adventures is an excellent travel company.

CAROL DAVID, escort for the ski club group, Albuquerque, NM

ITN reminds readers that hotel star ratings are not uniform worldwide. Even in the U.S., there is no official rating system. Fodor's, Frommer's and Michelin Red guides provide ratings. Online, readers can check such sites as www.hotelandtravelindex.com, www.hotelmotelreviews.com, www.hotelshark.com and www.hotel-rankings.com.

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