One major change at many hotel brands since the pandemic started has been the removal or downsizing of breakfast. This change has not gone over well with much of the traveling public, who reported their dissatisfaction with the reduced variety and quality of breakfast, if it was offered at all, in the 2021 J.D. Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, released Wednesday.
"It is clear that guests expect breakfast service to resume, especially in limited-service hotels that usually provide complimentary hot breakfast," said J.D. Power hospitality practice lead Andrea Stokes in a statement. During the course of the study dates—May 2020 to June 2021—36 percent of hotels eliminated buffet-style serving, according to J.D. Power, and breakfast satisfaction dropped in all hotel segments, except for economy, where it wasn't always on offer even pre-pandemic.
Other features that travelers surveyed by J.D. Power want include smart TVs, which increased by 9 percentage points from 2020; a balcony and views, up 6 percentage points; and healthy living/wellness amenities, up 5 percentage points.
"We've been measuring these amenities for several years now, and that is how we are able to see that jump," Stokes told BTN. "I definitely agree it was most likely due to the pandemic. Smart TVs have really moved into the 'need to have' category, simply because we all subscribe to more and more entertainment services at home, and it's clear that travelers want to access these services while away. With balconies, we were all cooped up during the pandemic, and when people started booking hotels again, they wanted a different view or to spend time outside, so that is a real revenue opportunity for hotels that do have balconies to upsell."
[Report continues below chart.]
Overall hotel guest satisfaction across the study was 830 on a 1,000-point scale, which was unchanged from last year and 10 points higher than in 2019. The strong performance was driven in large part by the overall hotel staff experience, which increased slightly in 2021, according to the company. Flexible cancellation policies also kept hotel guests satisfied, though those policies have since become more restricted. Last year, cleanliness topped the list of satisfaction drivers, and it remained a key factor, Stokes said.
Brand Rankings
The survey ranks hotel brands based on a 1,000-point scale in the six major segments: luxury, upper upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy. Drury Hotels led the upper midscale segment for the 16th consecutive year. The midscale Tru by Hilton and the economy SureStay by Best Western both repeated their top ranking for a second year in a row. Both the latter brands were newcomers in the rankings last year.
Other top-ranked brands include The Ritz-Carlton for luxury, Hard Rock Hotels for upper upscale, and AC Hotels for upscale—all of which moved up from second in their respective segments in 2020. This year also marked the first time AC Hotels had won its category, Stokes said.
New to the survey this year was the inclusion of health and safety protocols as a reason for choosing a particular property. "Price always comes up at the top of the list, or location … but it seems like there was some tradeoff of location for the health and safety protocols," Stokes said. "Obviously it was top of mind for many people if they were traveling during the pandemic."
Last year, business travelers comprised about 25 percent of survey respondents, but, not unsurprisingly, made up a far smaller share this year, Stokes said. The 2021 J.D. Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study was based on responses from 32,963 hotel guests for stays between May 2020 and June 2021. It posed about 150 questions and benchmarked the performance of 104 brands.
RELATED: Guest Satisfaction with Hotel Cleanliness Reaches Record High in 2020 J.D. Power Survey