Room categories: when the supplement is worth it and when it is not

“Junior Suite” is not a protected term

There is a surprisingly precise definition of what a suite is, at least in the 22 countries of the Hotelstars Union, which include Switzerland. The catalogue of criteria puts it like this: a suite consists of at least two separate rooms, one furnished as a bedroom, one as a living room. The rooms do not have to be connected by a door; an opening is enough.

And then comes the decisive sentence: junior suites are expressly excluded. For the purposes of this classification, a junior suite is precisely not a suite. What it is instead, nobody defines. In practice it is usually a larger room with a seating area in it.

The same applies all the more to “Deluxe”, “Superior”, “Premium” or “Executive”. These words are defined nowhere. A superior room in house A can be smaller than a standard room in house B. The names rank only within one house, and even there they rank by price, not necessarily by quality.

It fits that room size is only an optional criterion in the classification system, one that earns points but is not a requirement for a star category. So the category names are neither externally defined nor tied to the stars.

What you are actually paying for

Behind every supplement sits one of four factors, sometimes several. It is worth keeping them apart, because they are worth very different amounts.

• Position in the building. Floor, orientation, distance from the lift, the bar, the kitchen and the delivery entrance. The most underrated factor, and the one that decides how you sleep.
• View. The most heavily priced factor and the one with the most intermediate grades: “Sea View”, “Partial Sea View”, “Sea Glimpse”. The last two mean that sea features somewhere.
• Floor area. Square metres and sometimes a balcony. Sold most often and least often the thing that changes the stay.
• Access and services. Club lounge, breakfast included, late check-out, transfers. This is the only factor you can cost out precisely.

When the supplement is worth it

• When the view is the reason for the trip. In a house whose entire point is its position, the room at the back would be an odd decision. Here the supplement is not a luxury, it is the reason for buying.
• On long stays. From about five nights, floor area starts to count, because you unpack things, work or read in the room, and two people need space at the same time.
• If you are sensitive to noise. The supplement for the quiet side is justified almost every time. Poor sleep ruins a trip more reliably than a small bathroom.
• With a club lounge, when the arithmetic works. If access costs 120 francs a night and includes breakfast for two, an aperitif and drinks, that is often cheaper than the same à la carte. If it costs 120 francs and you intend to eat out in the evening anyway, you are paying for a buffet you do not use.
• A balcony or terrace in warm destinations. The one floor-area supplement I defend almost every time, because it genuinely enlarges the room and changes the time you spend in it.

When it is not worth it

• On short city breaks. Over three nights you are in the room to sleep. Twenty extra square metres are then the worst possible use of that money. Put it into the location of the house.
• When the supplement buys only square metres. Same floor, same orientation, same bathroom, just bigger: this is the classic case where the second-best category is the wiser choice.
• With “Partial View”. This category exists because it sells. Either you want the view and take the full category, or you do not want it and take the cheapest. The middle is usually a supplement for a fragment.
• In the highest category of a house. The most expensive suite is rarely the best value for money. It often exists so that the second-highest looks cheap.
• When you might get an upgrade anyway. More on that shortly.

The calculation nobody does

Convert the supplement into the time you actually spend awake in the room. Ten nights at a supplement of 90 francs a night is 900 francs. If on a beach holiday you spend three waking hours a day in the room, you are paying around 30 francs an hour for more floor area. The same money buys ten very good dinners in the same house, or a private day on a boat.

That is not an argument against upgrades. It is an argument for asking the question deliberately, instead of answering it in passing during the booking process, where it arrives looking like a harmless choice.

“Run of House” and what really happens when rooms are allocated

Some rates are sold without a fixed category. The room is allocated on arrival, depending on availability. That can turn out well, and in case of doubt it is the category nobody else wanted.

Equally important: a category is not a room number. Within the same category there are rooms above the delivery entrance and rooms looking out over the garden, refurbished ones and ones not yet refurbished. The difference within a category is often greater than the difference between two categories.

That is why the most effective step is not the upgrade but the specific request: a high floor, away from the lift, on the quiet side, a refurbished room. It costs nothing and is granted more often than most people assume, provided it is filed in good time and by name rather than mentioned at the front desk.

What to ask before you upgrade

• What exactly distinguishes this category from the one below it, apart from floor area?
• On which floor and facing which side are the rooms in this category?
• Is the view guaranteed or subject to availability?
• When was this category last refurbished, and the one below it?
• Are there rooms within the category that you would not recommend?

The last question is the best one. Anyone who answers it honestly works in a house that takes its guests seriously.

The price that is not in the room price

When comparing categories, it is worth looking at mandatory additional fees. In the United States, resort fees and destination fees appeared for years only at the end of the booking process. Since 12 May 2025 a rule of the trade regulator FTC has applied there which requires hotels and short-term lodging to state the actual total price, including all mandatory fees, clearly and conspicuously whenever a price is displayed or advertised. The total price must be the most prominent figure; taxes may be shown separately, but must be disclosed before payment details are entered.

For you that means two things. First, American prices are now easier to compare than they used to be. Second, the fee has not disappeared, it has only become visible. It can make a room that looks 40 francs cheaper end up more expensive than the one with breakfast.

In Europe, quoted prices are usually inclusive; here the most common surprise is the visitor’s tax, which is added per person per night on site.

Sources

• Hotelstars Union, catalogue of criteria 2025–2030, definition of the suite and room-size criteria
• Federal Trade Commission, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, in force since 12 May 2025