Hotel star rating system in India: classification, checklist and fees

The hotel star rating system in India is run by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. It is a voluntary scheme: a hotel applies, is inspected against a published checklist and, if it passes, is classified from 1 Star to 5 Star Deluxe, or under the Heritage categories. Those stars are different from the ones Google and the OTAs show, and many owners confuse the two. This guide explains who classifies hotels, the key criteria for each star in a checklist table, the fees and documents, how to apply on NIDHI+, and how Google decides the stars it shows.

All figures here come from the Ministry's hotel classification guidelines published on the NIDHI+ portal. Guidelines are revised from time to time, so check the current version on nidhi.tourism.gov.in before you apply or build.

Who rates hotels in India

There is no star rating in law that every hotel must carry. The official stars come from the Ministry of Tourism's classification scheme, which the Ministry describes as voluntary. Two bodies handle it:

• 1 Star, 2 Star and 3 Star: applications go to the Regional Director of the India Tourism office for the region where the hotel is. The committee is chaired by the state tourism secretary or director, or the Regional Director, and includes members from hotel and travel associations and an Institute of Hotel Management.
• 4 Star, 5 Star, 5 Star Deluxe and Heritage: these go to the Hotel and Restaurant Approval and Classification Committee (HRACC) at the Ministry, chaired by an Additional Director General (Tourism).

The categories for operational hotels are 1 Star, 2 Star, 3 Star, 4 Star (with or without alcohol service), 5 Star (with or without alcohol service) and 5 Star Deluxe. There are also Heritage categories for old buildings run as hotels, covered below.

The scheme has two stages. Project approval is for a hotel still being built, so the design meets the standard before the money is spent. Classification is for a hotel already open. Many lenders and some state incentive schemes ask for one or the other, so check what yours needs.

Why bother with a star classification

Since it is voluntary, many smaller hotels never apply. It is worth considering when:

• A licence or approval asks for it. For example, Delhi's L-15 licence for serving liquor to hotel residents requires star classification and approval of the Department of Tourism. See bar licences for hotels.
• You want government or corporate business. Travel desks and tour operators often filter by official category.
• A loan, subsidy or state incentive depends on it. The guidelines note that hotels taking subsidies in the 1 to 4 Star categories carry a lock-in period of 8 years.
• You want to show guests a standard that someone checked. An official classification carries more weight than a self-description.

If none of these apply, the checklist below is still a useful standard to run your property against.

Hotel star rating checklist: key criteria by category

The full checklist (Annexure III of the guidelines) runs to several hundred lines, each marked N (necessary) or D (desirable) for each category. These are the points that most often decide which category a building can reach. "5 Star" here covers 5 Star and 5 Star Deluxe, which share these minimums.

A few more points from the guidelines that catch owners out:

• Single rooms may be 20 sq ft smaller than the minimum.
• Food: 1 and 2 Star need at least one dining room serving all meals. 3 Star needs a restaurant-cum-coffee shop open from 7 am to 11 pm and 24-hour room service. 5 Star and 5 Star Deluxe need a 24-hour multi-cuisine restaurant-cum-coffee shop. 4 Star hotels in the Grade A cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Secunderabad) add a specialty restaurant.
• Bar: where local law does not allow a bar licence, the bar requirement does not apply. A hotel applying for 4 Star or 5 Star with alcohol service, or 5 Star Deluxe, must hold a bar licence.
• Pools can be relaxed for hill destinations.
• Lifts are needed round the clock in buildings higher than ground plus two floors.
• Room temperature should be between 20 and 28 degrees Celsius.
• Eco measures are necessary for every category: sewage treatment, rainwater harvesting, waste management, pollution control and non-CFC equipment. Older buildings whose completion certificate predates 1 April 2012 are excused the sewage treatment plant.
• Accessible rooms: door widths of 90 cm, applied to existing hotels from 1 April 2023.
• Monthly reporting: classified hotels file occupancy and digital transaction reports by the 20th of every month.

Staff counted as "qualified" hold a degree or diploma from a central or state Institute of Hotel Management, a Food Craft Institute, an NCHMCT-affiliated institute or another reputed hospitality school, or a Ministry of Tourism skill training certificate.

Fees, validity and timelines

Fees from the Ministry's guidelines, paid online by RTGS, NEFT, debit or credit card:

The key dates:

• Apply within 3 months of the hotel becoming operational.
• Classification is valid for 5 years from the date of approval by the Chairman, HRACC.
• Re-classification must be applied for and completed at least six months before expiry. Miss it and the hotel is treated as a fresh case.
• Project approval is valid for 5 years, ending three months before expiry or when the hotel opens, whichever is earlier. It can be extended by a year on request, with the fee paid again.
• Decision: the Ministry aims for a final decision within three months of receiving a complete application.

The application fee is the smallest cost. The real expense is meeting the checklist: bigger rooms, air-conditioning, a lift, a sewage treatment plant or trained staff. Price those first.

Documents you will need

The guidelines list the documents to upload with an application for an operational hotel. Have these scanned and current:

• Trade licence to operate as a hotel
• Fire safety certificate (the fire department's NOC)
• Health NOC
• NOC from the police department (see police licence for hotels)
• Consent to operate from the State Pollution Control Board
• Bar licence, where applicable
• Land use permission, sanctioned building plans and the occupancy certificate
• Sewage treatment plant details
• Environment, airport authority and coastal zone clearances, where they apply
• An affidavit on ₹100 stamp paper and the Safe and Honourable Tourism pledge

Hotels that take 4 Star or 5 Star with alcohol service, or 5 Star Deluxe, must include the bar licence.

How to apply on NIDHI+

The Ministry now takes applications on the NIDHI+ portal (nidhi.tourism.gov.in), which is integrated with a payment gateway. Older copies of the guidelines still mention hotelcloud.nic.in; use NIDHI+.

1. Register the property on NIDHI+ and choose classification (operational hotel) or project approval (under construction).
2. Self-check against Annexure III. Go line by line with a tape measure. Note every N item you do not meet.
3. Upload documents and pay the fee online.
4. Inspection. The committee first checks that the required facilities exist, then judges their quality on a site visit. Have the property full of normal operations, not empty and staged.
5. Fix and confirm. If the committee lists shortfalls, fix them and submit proof.
6. Decision. You receive the category. An appeal against an HRACC decision goes to the Secretary (Tourism) within 30 days.
7. Diary the renewal for at least six months before the 5-year expiry.

Heritage hotels and smaller properties

Old buildings have their own route. Under the Ministry's heritage guidelines, a Heritage hotel must be built before 1950 with at least 5 rooms (10 beds). Heritage Classic and Heritage Grand need buildings from before 1935 with at least 15 rooms (30 beds), and Heritage Grand needs at least half its rooms air-conditioned. No room or bathroom size is prescribed, since old buildings cannot be measured against new-build standards.

Homestays and small guest houses usually cannot use the hotel scheme at all, because it needs 10 lettable rooms. They register under their state's homestay scheme instead; see homestay registration in India. Where a state has no scheme of its own, the Ministry's Incredible India Bed and Breakfast scheme grades properties of 1 to 6 rooms as Silver or Gold, for fees of ₹3,000 and ₹5,000, valid for two years. That is a grading, not a star rating.

Google stars vs official classification

Guests rarely see the Ministry's certificate. They see stars on Google and the OTAs, and those can differ.

Google's Travel Help says it displays the official class rating assigned by local authorities where one is available. Where there is none, Google assigns a class rating from one to five stars using third-party partners, direct research, hotelier feedback and machine-learning inference that looks at attributes such as price, location, room size and amenities. If no class rating shows, the hotel may have no official rating or Google may not have evaluated it yet.

Two practical points follow:

• Class rating is not your review score. Google's Business Profile help is explicit that the class rating (hotel stars) and the review rating (guest stars) are different. A 3 Star hotel can carry a 4.6 review score.
• You cannot edit the class rating yourself. If it looks wrong, you can send feedback to Google, and an official classification gives you something concrete to point to.

To get the rest of your Google listing right, see how to list your hotel on Google. OTAs set their own star or category fields, usually from what you declare at sign-up; see listing your hotel on OTAs.

Getting ready, month by month

If you are aiming for classification in the next few months, a simple plan:

1. Month 1: download the current guideline from NIDHI+, measure every room and bathroom, and mark each Annexure III line as met, fixable or impossible. Choose the category the building can actually reach.
2. Month 2: gather documents. Renewing a fire safety certificate or pollution consent can take longer than any building work, so start those first.
3. Month 3: close the gaps: signage, accessible room, CCTV, staff training records, digital payment set-up.
4. Month 4: apply on NIDHI+ and prepare the team for the inspection.

Several checklist items are operational rather than structural: accepting cards and digital payments, monthly occupancy reports, CCTV, housekeeping standards and trained staff on record. GuestHawk keeps billing, payments, housekeeping and staff records in one system, and sends the owner occupancy and revenue every morning. See the platform for what it covers.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Ministry of Tourism, NIDHI+: hotel classification guidelines
2. Ministry of Tourism: revised guidelines for project approval and star classification of hotels, 2018
3. Ministry of Tourism: guidelines for classification of heritage hotels
4. Ministry of Tourism: guidelines for Incredible India Bed & Breakfast and Homestay establishments, 2018
5. PIB, Ministry of Tourism: rating of hotels under the Ministry of Tourism, 3 Apr 2025
6. PIB, Ministry of Tourism: digital tourism, safety and sectoral reforms, 18 Dec 2025
7. Delhi Excise Department: L-15 and L-16 hotel licences
8. Google Business Profile Help: Hotel class ratings

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