Many hotels and resorts in Hoi An City, a famed tourist destination in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, have removed the four- and five-star ratings that they had earlier given to themselves from their websites and online platforms.

The self-proclaimed star ratings of many hotels and resorts are no longer displayed on online room booking platforms, such as Agoda and Booking.

On Agoda, the rating of Le Pavillon Hoi An Gallery, a hotel at 288 Nguyen Duy Hieu Street in Hoi An, has been hidden.

Earlier, it claimed its campuses to be four- and five-star establishments, despite having no certificate issued by the proper authorities.

A representative of Le Pavillon Hoi An Gallery explained to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the act was just a marketing gimmick.

It met local four- and five-star benchmarks whereas national standards were different, the representative added.

Similarly, KOI Resort Hoi An in Cua Dai Ward has removed the star rating on its Facebook page but made no changes to its introduction on online booking platforms.

Many other hotels and resorts have yet to make an adjustment, however.

As a case in point, Belleriver Hoi An Hotel, situated at 33 Le Dai Hanh Street, still introduced itself as a five-star establishment on Agoda as of Monday afternoon although it has yet to obtain any certification.

The Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism said it launched unannounced inspections into lodging facilities and found that many of them claimed themselves to meet five-star standards and use phrases of 'The best' or 'The most prestigious' to advertise themselves on their websites, Facebook accounts, and online booking platforms, such as Booking, Traveloka, and Agoda, causing misunderstanding for tourists.

To create a healthy tourism environment, the department asked enterprises to strictly comply with prevailing regulations.

They may not use the words  'The best,' 'nique,' and 'No. 1,' among others to advertise themselves without legal proof as well as images and words causing misapprehension about their business and goods and service provision.

Explaining some lodging facilities’ delays in adjusting their ratings on online booking platforms, a representative of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism said servers of these platforms are located abroad, so the process will take time.

The department has requested enterprises to work with the owners of these platforms to make alterations to avoid misunderstanding.

Earlier, Tuoi Tre found that many hotels and resorts in Hoi An City proclaimed themselves as four- and five-star establishments as a way to attract tourists, while many customers had complained about their services.

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