Widespread upgrades and new amenities didn’t stop the hotel industry from slipping from a year ago in the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, which came out last week.
The hotel industry scored 71 out of 100, down from 75 last year, says the survey, which is compiled annually and based on responses from 80,000 U.S. consumers queried about a broad range of their recent dealings with businesses. Tepid scores for budget and midprice hotels caused the decline.
As an industry, hotels have been pumping billions into upgrades, a reflection of strong travel demand and healthy profits over the last three years.
Four large hotel companies in the United States — Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and Starwood — scored well above the industry average, showing that efforts to upgrade may be paying off for some chains at the high end of the luxury scale. Starwood operates Westin and Sheraton, among other brands.
A group of budget and midprice hotels labeled “others” by the study had the deepest drop from 2006. The category, which study officials say includes chains such as Days Inn, Best Western and Red Roof, scored 70, down 6 points from a year ago.
Less Control
Joe McInerney, CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said those chains, unlike Marriott or Starwood, rely entirely on franchisees to run their properties.
As a result, they have less control over the quality of customer service, McInerney says.
