Travelers today are an increasingly unhappy, dissatisfied group of people, reflecting the challenging economic climate. Gasoline process and airfares have all skyrocketed and people and businesses are rethinking every trip’s importance. Hotels are feeling the double economic pinch of less leisure travel and higher operating expenses costs. They are trying to manage their costs at the same time they meet ever-higher customer expectations, but that effort hasn’t been totally successful. In 2008, overall satisfaction with hotels is down notably in four of the six segments measured by the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction StudySM.
We asked travelers to rate seven key customer satisfaction measures: reservations, check-in/check-out, guest room, food and beverage, hotel services, hotel facilities, and costs and fees. We then separated out those responses across six hotel segments: luxury, upscale, mid-scale full service, mid-scale limited service, economy/budget and extended stay.
For two thirds of those segments—upscale, mid-scale full service, mid-scale limited service and economy-budget—overall satisfaction declined from last year’s results. The largest drop was in the economy/budget segment, which posted the largest year-over-year decrease of any segment in the study’s 12 year history. The unhappiest measures for many of those travelers? Their experiences with the guest room and food and beverage services. Hotel and room maintenance issues were in the top five problem rankings across all segments.
The only travelers who didn’t register a decline in satisfaction were people staying at luxury hotels and the extended stay establishments most commonly used by corporate travel departments.
In this challenging environment, some hotel chains still manage to stand out for their ability to keep their guests satisfied and happy. Who does the best job of making your hotel stay a pleasant one? Here’s the list:
- Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (for a second consecutive year)
- Upscale: Embassy Suites Hotels (for a second consecutive year)
- Mid-Scale Full Service: Hyatt Place
- Mid-Scale Limited Service: Drury Inn & Suites (for a third consecutive year)
- Economy/Budget: Microtel Inns & Suites (for a seventh consecutive year – the first time any brand has accomplished that feat)
- Extended Stay: Homewood Suites (for a second consecutive year)
The 2008 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study is based on responses gathered between June 2007 and 2008 from over 53,000 guests who stayed in a hotel between May 2007 and May 2008.
For more information, view the hotel guest satisfaction ratings or read the press release.
