What appears to be increasing guest discontent with hotel food service and maintenance has driven down average satisfaction scores for hotel management companies in a new J.D. Power survey, released Wednesday.
The average overall hotel management company satisfaction score J.D. Power's 2025 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark was 682 on a 1,000-point scale. That's just a touch down from the 683 average score recorded last year, but J.D. Power noted such overall year-over-year comparisons aren't valid due to changes to survey methodology from last year.
That said, year-over-year comparisons of survey categories that stayed consistent remain sound, and J.D. Power pointed to two categories where guest satisfaction notably dropped: food and beverage—including quality of food, cleanliness of dining areas, food and beverage presentation and ambiance—as well the appearance of the hotel exterior and grounds, along with maintenance of pools, fitness centers and laundry areas.
In hotels where the owner is not operating the property, guest satisfaction ultimately rests with third-party management companies that operate on behalf of hotel owners," J.D. Power hospitality practice lead Andrea Stokes said in a statement. "While these companies are all focused on bringing a level of standardization and consistency to the guest experience, we’re starting to see some challenges emerge where guest satisfaction is faltering, particularly for quality of food and beverage and hotel facilities upkeep, which can often indicate rising costs."
As food costs increase for consumers, so they do for hotels, as does the costs of food and beverage labor, a category that hotel analytics firm STR said increased 15 percent year over year in 2024, more so than any other hotel labor category.
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Atrium Hospitality, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based hotel management company with 73 properties in its portfolio, including branded Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham properties, topped J.D. Power's list with a satisfaction score of 722.
J.D. Power surveyed 5,022 guests who stayed at a branded hotel between May 2024 and May 2025. The survey is based on seven categories, in declining order of importance: guest room, hotel staff service, value for prices paid, check-in and check-out, hotel facility, food and beverage, and hotel connectivity. That the check-in and check-out category is broken out separately is a change from 2024.
Third-party hotel operators with more than 14,000 branded hotel rooms under management were eligible for J.D Power's survey.