One of the industry segments that took the biggest beating in customer satisfaction during the recent recession was the hotel sector.
Annual surveys conducted by J. D. Power charted a continuing decline in satisfaction rates. In everything from reservations and the check-in process to the cost of stay, hotel customers have been giving “thumbs down” for the past half-decade.
Until now.
Marketing information services company J. D. Power & Associates, part of McGraw Hill, has just released the results of its latest annual survey, based on responses from more than 68,700 hotel guests in the United States and Canada collected between July 2012 and May 2013.
J.D. Power has conducted these hotel industry surveys annually for the past 17 years.
According to the 2013 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, the overall guest satisfaction rating index is 77.7 on a 100-point scale.
That may seem like a “Gentleman’s C,” but it’s an increase from last year’s 75.7 score.
More to the point, it’s the first time in quite a few years in which the aggregate rating has gone up.
Where has satisfaction increased? Pretty much in every category surveyed, with the largest gains coming in the reservations process, check-in/check-out procedures, and hotel costs and fees.
Other categories included in the study were guest room satisfaction, food and beverage service, other hotels services, and hotel faciliites.
The largest area of continuing discontent is in Internet usage. Customer complaints are all across the board — ranging from spotting connectivity and slow speeds to usage charges.
Other areas where improvements are sought are in HVAC comfort and controlling noise levels.
What about customer reaction to rising hotel rates? After all, they’ve gone up by about 5% over the past two years.
But the J. D. Power survey found little concern about rate increases. Rick Garlick, director of the survey, suggests that pulling out of the economic downturn might explain this lack of concern. “The economy may be playing a part in price satisfaction because people have a little more to spend,” he noted.
The people who appear to be the least satisfied with their stay experience are the ones who chose to stay at a hotel based on price alone. It’s like the adage says: “You get what you pay for.”
On the other hand, the most satisfied guests weren’t necessarily people who stayed at 5-star properties. Instead, they’re ones who evaluated hotels carefully beforehand using online tools such as third-party hotel reviews and ratings. The “eyes wide open” strategy, as it were.
Such evaluation tools have made it easier to know what to expect from a hotel stay, contributing to overall satisfaction ratings because there’s less likelihood of a “rude awakening.”
The J. D. Power surveys also ask respondents to rate hotel brands. I was interested to see which hotels scored highest in the various different categories in this year’s survey:
- Luxury category: Ritz-Carlton
- Upscale: Hyatt
- Midscale Full Service: Holiday Inn
- Midscale: Drury
- Economy/Budget: Microtel (Wyndham)
- Extended Stay: TownePlace Suites
Come to think of it, none of these results is particularly surprising. In fact, three of the brands (Ritz-Carlton, Holiday Inn and Drury) have been tops in their category for three or more consecutive years of the J. D. Powers studies.
Nones Notes 