Survey says: Hotel guests generally happier with their stays

by Melanie Nayer on

It’s no surprise the hotel industry is making a strong comeback. When travel started to falter in the down economy, hotels kept the spirit alive with the ‘staycation’ craze. Now, as more people start spending money on much-needed vacations again, the hotel industry is once again at the forefront of recreating the ultimate customer service experience and according to travelers, hotels are doing a pretty good job.

The latest survey results from J.D. Power and Associates says guests have generally been happier with their hotel experience over the past year. The study finds that the proportion of hotel guests making reservations online has increased in 2010. Not surprisingly, a drop in hotel prices had a little something to do with this, but we’ve heard from more hotels that customer service and personalized guest programs have been at the forefront of their efforts over the past year.

So, how has your hotel stacked up against its competition? The latest study measures how well hotel chains satisfy their customers and ranks the hotels by economy-budget to upscale-luxury. The study leaves out independent chains and hotels, but more well-known brands like Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Embassy Suites and Hilton are part of the survey. Drury Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Omni Hotels and The Ritz-Carlton rank highest in customer satisfaction.

The following hotel brands rank highest in guest satisfaction within their respective segments:

Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton
Upscale: Omni Hotels & Resorts
Mid-Scale Full Service: Hilton Garden Inn (for a second consecutive year)
Mid-Scale Limited Service: Drury Inn & Suites (for a fifth consecutive year)
Economy/Budget: Microtel Inns & Suites (for a ninth consecutive year)
Extended Stay: Homewood Suites

We’re curious: Do you agree with the results? Were you satisfied with your most recent hotel stay?

J.D. Power North American airline study says traditional airlines suck

by Scott Carmichael on

J.D. Power released the results of their yearly airline satisfaction survey, and the results paint a pretty bleak picture of the traditional carriers. Eight of these legacy carriers were reviewed on 8 different aspects of their service:

Overall satisfaction, reservation experience, check-in experience, boarding/deplaning/baggage experience, aircraft experience, flight crew experience, in-flight services and costs/fees experience.

Of the eight traditional carriers, Alaska Airlines took the top spot, followed by Continental Airlines. Alaska did such a good job this year, that they scored 5/5 in 6 of the 8 categories. This fantastic result means they take home the J.D. Powers award for 2009 airline satisfaction.

United Airlines and US Airways scored “about average” in just one category (in-flight services). In every other category, they scored just 2 points, which is also the lowest possible score. This is a pretty dismal score, and one that shows that United and US are in a serious mess.

Of the low cost carriers, Jet Blue took the prize, though their contest was a very close match between fellow low cost carriers Southwest Airlines and WestJet.

AirTran and Frontier scored mostly 2 pointers in each category, with Frontier managing to snag 2 3-pointers in in-flight experience and aircraft experience.

Bottom line is that the traditional carriers are in a boatload of trouble. As they keep chipping away at their services, and adding more fee based amenities, the low cost carriers have mastered the art of keeping passengers happy.

When you look at the in-flight services, airlines like JetBlue and Southwest outrank even the largest of the legacy carriers, and it has to be quite embarrassing for an airline like United to see the cheap airlines beat them in so many categories.

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