KUALA LUMPUR Several five-star hotels nationwide are expected to be downgraded unless they buck up.
The Tourism Ministry has started the process of reclassifying hotel ratings as it found that many hotels did not live up to the "five-star" status they claimed to hold.
Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that the ministry was reclassifying the hotels and re-looking at their facilities, room size, room service, coffee house and services right down to the bell boy.
"Some hotels have marketed themselves as five-star but according to standards, they are not," he said after witnessing the signing of an agreement between Mudra Resources Sdn Bhd, the owner of M Suites Hotel in Johor Baru, and Residence Hotels and Resorts (RHR) here Friday.
Tengku Adnan added that the ministry was also considering putting a cap on the discounted rates by five-star hotels, which was at US$80 (RM280).
The ministry, he said, wanted to address the issue of low room rates offered by hotels in Malaysia.
"One hotel chain offers a rate of US$120 (RM420) in Jakarta but it is US$72 (RM252) in Kuala Lumpur even though the latter is nicer. To me, this is ridiculous," he said.
There are 2,7000 rated hotels in the country.
Tengku Adnan also urged hotels to employ hotel management chains to manage them instead of operating as stand-alone hotels.
"As for our own budget hotel Seri Malaysia, we are looking into getting a management company to run it," he said.
Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2007]
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