One of the city's most historic hotels has decided it would rather have no star rating than be underrated by city officials who care more about the lack of a swimming poll than they do about history or cultural significance.

The Astor House Hotel, which was known as Richard's Hotel back in the 1920s and 30s when celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein were guests, recently finished a 7 million yuan (US$843,300) renovation of its 35 VIP guest rooms.

"Given the limited space and the fact that we are housed in a historical building, we cannot afford modern facilities such as a swimming pool and a tennis court," said Wu Jiaming, the hotel's vice president. "So it would be a waste of time to ask to be reevaluated."

That didn't stop the hotel from discarding its previous two-star rating and setting five-star prices ranging from 550 yuan to 800 yuan per night.

"This is a reasonable price, reflecting the true value of the hotel," said Wu.

Had the hotel kept its previous rating, the most it could charge is 350 yuan, based on a conventional pricing request from travel agencies. Unrated hotels, however, can set any price they please.

Wu says history and culture need to be a bigger concern when evaluating a hotel, instead of merely focusing on a hotel's hardware and service.

"If the hotel thought it unfair to give it only two stars after the renovation, it should have come to us for a new evaluation," said Chen Xueyu, deputy director of the Shanghai Tourism Administration.

But he admitted that the history and tradition of a hotel is often overlooked during an evaluation.

The Astor House isn't the only hotel in Shanghai to have ditched its star rating in recent years.

When the Hengshan Mahler Villa -- which is housed in a villa that looks like a doll house on Shaanxi Road -- opened to the public in May last year, it didn't even bother asking for a rating.

"We didn't go to the tourism officials, since no evaluation system so far can give us a fair rating," said Sun Weiguo, president of the hotel, which is owned by the same group as the Astor House.

Although prices are sky high, ranging from 500 yuan to US$500, that hasn't deterred guests, with occupancy rates averaging around 70 percent.

"There should be some evaluation system, but we are looking forward to a more suitable one for us," said Sun.

He says China's National Tourism Administration is working on such a system, but it hasn't been made public yet.

(eastday.com August 18, 2003)