The awards focus on the standard of the welcome, hospitality and service they provide, as well as presentation and the standard of toilets, shop or café if they have them. The number of stars awarded to a property indicate that it is:

1.          Acceptable - 1 star
2.          Good - 2 stars
3.          Very good - 3 stars
4.          Excellent - 4 stars
5.          Exceptional - 5 stars

Gold Awards
The Gold award recognises serviced accommodation businesses which consistently achieve the highest levels of excellence within their VisitScotland star grading. Businesses achieving the award will excel in the areas of customer care and hospitality and show evidence of a real commitment to staff development and training.

Star-graded Properties
An extensive range of properties is assessed under the various star-grading schemes. These include:

Serviced and self-catering accommodation:
B&Bs, budget hotels, campus properties, country house hotels, cruise ships, exclusive-use venues, farmhouses, guest accommodation, guest houses, hotels, inns, international resort hotels, lodges, metro hotels, restaurants with rooms, self-catering, serviced apartments, small hotels, townhouse hotels and trains.

Visitor attractions:
Activity centres, arts venues, castles, gardens, garden centres, historic attractions, historic houses, leisure centres, museums, tours, tourist shops, wildlife experiences.

Caravan and camping:
Camping parks, holiday caravans, holiday parks, Thistle parks and touring parks.

Hostels:
Activity accommodation, backpackers, bods and bothies, bunkhouses, group accommodation and hostels.