Guest satisfaction levels with North American hotel services
and facilities are at the lowest point in the past seven years, according to
J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey,
and overall hotel guest satisfaction in North America fell from last year's
level.
Overall satisfaction in the survey, based on responses from
61,700 guests who stayed in a North American hotel between June 2011 and May
2012, totaled 757 on a 1,000-point scale, down seven points from last year's
survey. The drop was somewhat tempered by relatively high satisfaction levels
with costs and fees, as satisfaction levels with food and beverage offerings,
the check-in and checkout processes, hotel facilities, hotel rooms and hotel
services are at or near their lowest levels since the 2006 survey. The results
show a need for hotels to "get back to the fundamentals and improve the
overall guest experience," according to J.D. Power travel and hospitality
practice vice president and general manager Stuart Greif.
In the luxury tier, guests rated Ritz-Carlton as the top
brand for the third year in a row, followed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
and JW Marriott. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts scored lowest in the
tier, nearly 40 points below the average luxury hotel score.
Omni Hotels & Resorts received the top rating in the
upper upscale tier, besting last year's top brand, Hilton's Embassy Suites
Hotels. Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Hotels & Resorts also
received above-average scores in the tier, while Hilton's DoubleTree and
Starwood's Sheraton Hotels & Resorts trailed.
Hilton Garden Inn and Marriott's SpringHill Suites tied for
the top score in the upscale tier, followed by Starwood's Aloft and Hyatt Place
in a tie for third, while last year's top brand, IHG's Hotel Indigo, dropped to
a tie for fifth with Courtyard by Marriott. Starwood's Four Points by Sheraton
and Carlson's Radisson were the lowest-rated brands in the tier
In the full-service midprice tier, IHG's Holiday Inn received
top satisfaction scores for the second straight year, followed by Best Western.
Howard Johnson was the lowest-rated brand in the category. In the
select-service midprice tier, buyers rated Drury Hotels as the top brand for
the seventh year in a row, and it had a 30-point premium over the second-place
brand, Hampton Inn. Ramada Limited ranked at the bottom, nearly 100 points
below the tier's average score.
Hilton's Homewood Suites ranked at the top of the extended
stay segment for the third year in a row, followed by IHG's Staybridge Suites
and Marriott's Residence Inn. Homestead Studio Suites and Extended Stay America
were the only two extended stay brands to receive below-average scores.
In the economy/budget tier, Jameson Inn received the top
score, beating Wyndham's Microtel Inn & Suites, which had led the tier for
the previous 10 years. Rodeway Inn and Knights Inn trailed the tier.