Outside of room rates, guest satisfaction has declined at
the major hotel brands in Europe, though top-performing brands in each tier
mostly maintained their rankings, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2010
European Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, released on Thursday.
Overall satisfaction levels in the survey, based on
responses from more than 14,000 hotel guests who stayed at hotels in Europe
between July and September, changed little compared with the survey last year.
Out of the seven criteria measured measured—guest room, costs and fees,
facilities, checkin and checkout process, food and beverage, services and
reservations—satisfaction levels declined in all but cost for the midprice,
upscale and upper upscale brands.
"When the industry begins to recover and occupancy and
room rates increase, the positive halo effect from lower costs and fees will
wear off and reveal deficiencies in services and facilities even more starkly,"
J.D. Power and Associates vice president and general manager of the global
travel and hospitality practice Stuart Greif said in a statement. "It will
be critically important for hoteliers to make catch-up investments to improve
the guest experience as the market improves."
In the upper upscale tier, travelers gave the highest marks
to Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts for the third year in a row. Maritim
Hotels, Starwood's Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Carlson's Radisson Blue
Hotels & Resorts also scored above the tier average. Starwood's Le Meridien
Hotels and Resorts trailed the tier.
The Switzerland-based Movenpick Hotels & Resorts also
maintained its place on top of the upscale tier from last year's survey. Other
brands to score above average in the tier include InterContinental Hotels Group's
Crowne Plaza brand, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, Novotel Hotels, Mercure and
Melia Hotels & Resorts. The Barcelona-based Husa Hoteles scored at the bottom
of the tier.
The midprice tier was the only one to see a new top-rated
hotel brand. Scandic Hotels, ranked seventh in 2009, scored highest in the
tier, followed by a tie between Best Western and Carlson's Park Inn. IHG's
Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands, Choice's Clarion brand and Wyndham's
Ramada brand also scored well above the tier's average.
The U.K.-based Premier Inn scored at the top of the economy
tier for the third year in a row. The France-based B&B Hotels and Choice's
Comfort Inn also scored highly in the tier.