Best Hotels For Business Travelers

An annual hotel chain survey from the magazine Business Travel News shows that new brands are making waves among business travelers, with some new names beating out industry stalwarts.
Some changes might be attributed to a change in the scoring system this year (from a six- to five-point scale) and a new criterion consistency.

In the luxury tier, St. Regis/Luxury Collection, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, won top marks for business, achieving high marks for physical appearance, hotel staff, sales staff, business centers, business and in-room amenities and price/value comparison. They narrowly beat out Ritz-Carlton. Former industry winner Four Seasons dropped to fifth place, behind Waldorf=Astoria and Mandarin Oriental.

Even in a tough economy, “luxury hotels have rebounded powerfully,” wrote author Michael Baker in the September 10 issue of Business Travel News, even reaching pre-recession levels.

James Vanderslice, Hilton‘s global head of luxury and lifestyle brands, explained why in the article.
“Our travel partners have realized there’s actually efficiency to having a meeting or event at a luxury hotel because of the facilities and services we provide.”

“Upper Upscale” businesses also showed growth, with the W hotels brand edging out JW Marriott by one one-hundredth of a point. Upscale travelers preferred Embassy Suites, which beat out Doubletree hotels, also by just one one-hundredth of a point. Embassy Suites were viewed as the most consistent and best value, while Doubletree won for physical appearance.

Will this change where you stay as a business traveler?