What is the criteria for classifying tourist hotels/motels in Syria?

Damascus,SANA- The Ministry of Tourism is responsible for granting a license for constructing tourism buildings, classifying and licensing investment for tourism facilities, following up on their implementation until they are put into investment, according to Director of Tourism Facilities at the Ministry of Tourism Roshan Sheikh Mohammed.

The ministry is also responsible for ensuring that these facilities meet the mandatory technical and service standards, monitoring the quality of services provided therein and maintaining the facility’s classification level, which ranges from one-star to five- star hotels,Mohammed added.

Hotels vary between heritage hotels “boutique hotels” which are within old buildings, houses, palaces, or buildings with an architectural character and linked to an era in the city’s history, in addition to road hotels “motels”, which are located on the international road or in tourist areas, and consist of rooms that provide various necessary services to guests, and provide the services that the traveler needs on the road.

According to Engineer Mohammed, the availability of green and water areas, preserving the environmental aspects and the entire surroundings of the site adjacent to the hotel, along with providing parking spaces that are appropriate for the size of the facility, are among the most important conditions for the hotels’ buildings from the outside.

One of the criteria that must be accomplished in the facility is that the lobby area be proportional to the size and number of rooms in the hotel, so that the area allocated to each room ranges from 1 to 3 meters according to the hotel’s classification level.

As for the room area, Engineer Mohammed explained that the area, including the bathrooms and the room entrance, ranges according to the classification between 16 and 28 meters for one person, while for the room designated for two people, it ranges between 18 and 30 meters.

Regarding the suites, they vary in five-star hotels, such as the presidential suite, which contains two bedrooms, a reception hall, a bar, two bathrooms , an entrance with a dressing room, a dining room, and is equipped with luxurious furnishings. While the diplomatic suite, it consists of two bedrooms, a reception hall with an office, two bathrooms. The excellent suite contains one bedroom, a reception hall, and an office. As for the four-star hotels, they include the standard suite and the junior suite.

As for the food in the five-star hotels, there are two restaurants, a cafeteria and a bar, according to Engineer Mohammed, and a restaurant, cafeteria and bar for the four-star level, and a restaurant and cafeteria for the three-star level, while for the two-star level there is only a breakfast hall.

The public facilities in the four- and five-star hotels, these must include a multi-purpose hall with its services, with shops (gifts – antiques – beauty center), with the possibility of adding recreational facilities according to the desire of the facility owner, such as a “health club – sports grounds ” that contribute to raising the level of the facility, while five-star hotels are required to provide a swimming pool.

Regarding the classification criteria for boutique hotels, they are classified from three to five stars according to the building location, reception area, services and facilities they provide. Whereas the criteria for resort hotels, Mohammed explained that they contain at least one type of cultural, sports or health activities.

The Ministry, through joint and specialized committees, monitors the quality of services provided by each tourist facility according to fixed standards, and they study prices periodically and continuously for food and tourist accommodation facilities and according to the actual operating costs.