Where to Stay Guide
Who gives Mexican hotels their stars? The official system is a self-assessment that Sectur can verify
Hotels score themselves on a federal questionnaire of up to 1,300 points. What the stars measure, what they leave out and what "Sin categoría" means.
By Durango Reviews Team ·
Good to know
- Under rules published June 27, 2024, a lodging business earns stars by answering a federal questionnaire and uploading photos. Sectur then issues a two-year certificate.
- Scores run up to 1,300 points: 1 to 260 is one star, and 1,041 to 1,300 is five stars.
- Sectur or state tourism offices can visit to check the answers, and Sectur can cancel the category if the hotel doesn't match it.
- "Sin categoría" is an option a hotel can choose, not a low grade. A hotel that takes it may not advertise stars.
- The questionnaire does not score room prices. Labels such as boutique or hacienda are chosen by the hotel and are separate from the stars.
- We found nothing replacing the 2024 rules, but we couldn't confirm that on Sectur's own systems.
Mexico has an official star system for hotels, and it starts with the hotel grading itself. Under rules that the tourism ministry, Sectur, published in the Diario Oficial on June 27, 2024, a lodging business answers an online questionnaire and uploads photographs. The system works out a score and a category, and Sectur sends a certificate valid for two years. Sectur or a state tourism office can then visit to check the answers. Those rules replaced a 2016 version, and a decree signed November 21, 2025, amended the federal tourism regulation to say that Sectur sets and verifies the system and sanctions breaches. We found nothing replacing the 2024 rules, but we couldn't confirm that on Sectur's own systems, as the last section explains.
| Points | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 to 260 | 1 star |
| 261 to 520 | 2 stars |
| 521 to 780 | 3 stars |
| 781 to 1,040 | 4 stars |
| 1,041 to 1,300 | 5 stars |
| No score | Sin categoría, by the hotel's own choice |
What earns points
The questionnaire is grouped into eight areas: access and exterior, communication, room and bathroom, food and drink, reception, temperature control, services, and public areas. The rules tell a hotel to answer by what predominates, meaning a service that makes up 75% of what it offers. It can change its answers and watch the score move before sending them in, and the ministry frames that as a way to spot where to improve.
| Item | Answer and points |
|---|---|
| Rooms adapted for guests with disabilities | None: 0. At least one: 8. At least 5% of rooms: 16 |
| Handling complaints | Suggestion box or front desk: 5. A person or team following up: 10. A managed system with guest evaluation: 15. The same by electronic means: 20 |
| Event rooms for 40 or more people | None: 0. One or two: 5. Three to five: 10. Six or more: 15 |
| National code of conduct on protecting children in travel and tourism | Not signed and in use: 0. Signed and in use: 40 |
Two things follow, by our reading. The stars measure facilities and procedures, so a small hotel without event rooms gets nothing on that item however good its rooms are. And no question in it asks what a room costs.
Boutique, hacienda and other labels are separate
The rules also recognize 16 styles of hotel, which they call vocations. A hotel selects the ones it feels describe it best, and the rules don't tie them to its stars. Some have a set meaning; others are looser.
| Label | What the rules describe |
|---|---|
| Boutique | Fewer than 30 rooms, with rooms that look distinct from one another and personal service |
| Hacienda | A former farm, ranch or mining estate converted to lodging and meals |
| Centro de ciudad | In a historic district, around central squares and gardens, in many cases in a colonial or protected building |
| Reserva | In a natural setting, which may or may not be a protected area |
| Playa/Vacaciones | For leisure stays, on or near a beach or spa, or a draw in its own right |
| Todo incluido | One price covering lodging, unlimited food and drink, and activities |
"Sin categoría" is a choice, not a low grade
A hotel that feels it doesn't need stars can pick "Sin categoría" instead of taking the questionnaire. Sectur still sends it a certificate with that wording, also good for two years, and the hotel may not advertise stars. It can take the questionnaire later. Either route requires it to be on the Registro Nacional de Turismo first. Sectur describes that register as the public catalog of tourism service providers in the country, and a decree of November 2025 gives its certificates a two-year term.
What the rules require, and what they don't
- A hotel may not show stars without having taken the questionnaire, or show a different number from the one it obtained. The rules treat either as grounds for a sanction under the General Tourism Law.
- It doesn't have to display the certificate to guests. The rules say the category will be held on Sectur's portal instead.
- It must redo the self-assessment every two years. If it doesn't, the portal cancels the classification.
- If a verification visit finds the services don't match the category, Sectur can cancel it, and the hotel has at most five working days to reclassify.
- Hotels holding a valid certificate when the rules came out had to renew under the new terms after two years.
What we could not check
We can't confirm that nothing has replaced or changed the 2024 rules. The 2025 decree amends the regulation, not these rules, and we found no later agreement in a web search or in the first pages of Sectur's gob.mx lists, which opened on November 6. But the rules let Sectur update the questionnaire, and the sectur.gob.mx addresses we tried didn't load for us that day. So we haven't seen the classification portal and can't say how complete it is, how a search works or whether the questionnaire still matches the 2024 text. We also can't say how many hotels have stars: the rules give no figure, and we couldn't open a list Sectur has posted. For scale, Profeco, the consumer agency, cites 27,520 business units offering temporary lodging in December 2024, from the national business directory; that counts businesses listed in the directory, not hotels with stars. We found no published count of verification visits.
A star level also says nothing about what you can do if a booking goes wrong. Profeco is the body for that, and our guide to hotel and rental bookings covers what it says on prices, cancellations and complaints.
How this guide was researched: from Sectur's 2024 rules and their questionnaire in the Diario Oficial, the decree of November 21, 2025, Sectur's page on the Registro Nacional de Turismo and Profeco's lodging guide, all read on November 6, 2026. This guide rates no hotel, and no one from this site has stayed at one for it.
Sources
- Acuerdo por el que se emiten los Lineamientos del Sistema de Clasificación Hotelera Secretaría de Turismo (Diario Oficial de la Federación), June 27, 2024
- Decreto por el que se reforman, adicionan y derogan diversas disposiciones del Reglamento de la Ley General de Turismo Presidencia de la República (Sistema de Información del Diario Oficial), November 21, 2025
- Registro Nacional de Turismo Secretaría de Turismo (SECTUR)
- Renta un lugar para vacacionar (Brújula de Compra) Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (Profeco)
Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then checked against the 4 sources above in a separate fact-check on November 6, 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us.