Chocolate Pillow Announce Final Testing For New Worldwide Hotel Accreditation Scheme

Online, February 4, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Chocolate Pillow today began the final phase of testing for their new worldwide hotel accreditation scheme; scheduled to be the first worldwide accreditation standard for hotels. The scheme is a unique concept, focusing on the quality of service and the entire guest experience and factoring in online reviews from commonly used travel review sites.

Matt Shiells-Jones, Founder of Chocolate Pillow, stated "There has never been a more important time to shake up the hotel accreditation market. We have spoken to many hoteliers worldwide and most feel that existing schemes are outdated, concentrating many on facilities as opposed to service." With this in mind, a framework has been developed that awards hotels based on the quality of the experience. Matt continued "Social media is a rapidly expanding form of communication, review sites are ever more popular and our system takes in to account what people say on these sites, along with scores from a mystery guest visit from our inspectors."

The scheme has been in development for over a year with hoteliers from across the world getting involved, from 2 bedroom guest houses to 5 star luxury resort owners. The system is set to ruffle a few feathers in the industry as the framework is so very different to many of the existing systems that are available. Traditionally hotels in many countries (particularly the UK) have been accredited based on room sizes, facilities and even whether the decoration matches; the Chocolate Pillow accreditation is focused on experience; this means that a current 2 star hotel could become 5 'Pillow' rated and a 5 star resort could find itself with only 2 'Pillows'. The framework also uses ratings from online sites, with up to 25% of the final grade being drawn from such reviews.

Matt stated "We want to shake up the current system. Our standard is one of quality and experience and is designed to be difficult to achieve". So what do you need to do to obtain the full rating of 5 'Pillows'? Matt kept very quiet on this, but did say "You may be able to achieve 4 ½ pillows, but achieving 5 needs a very special experience, and an overall score of over 97%!"

How well the scheme will be received is yet to be seen, but there are already plans to roll out the scheme to attractions and transport providers, proving just how flexible the scheme is. Beta Testing applications are still open and anyone can apply at www.chocolatepillow.com using the online registration form. The accreditation scheme is due to launch in March 2010, so applications close soon!