Hotels are getting higher marks from guests
The investments that many hotels made to upgrade their properties after the Great Recession are starting to pay off.
Overall hotel guest satisfaction, measured on a 1,000-point scale, jumped 20 points since 2012 to an average of 777, according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates study of guests’ satisfaction with North American hotels.
Experts say the latest scores, the highest marks in seven years, are a response to upgrades and remodeling projects done by hotels to entice guests back after the financial crisis.
Among several Southern California hotels that invested in recent upgrades was the three-star Holiday Inn in downtown Los Angeles, across the street from L.A. Live and Staples Center. It underwent a $10-million makeover to become a four-star property with a swanky new name: Luxe City Center Hotel.
“Since the renovation and since my arrival [in April], there has been double-digit growth in rates and occupancy,” said Tom Xavier, general manager of the hotel.
The J.D. Power study also found that price is not the best way to choose a hotel.
Guests who choose a hotel primarily based on price are not as happy with their hotel as those who choose based on information they dig up from hotel review websites, according to the study.
The study collected responses from more than 68,700 hotel guests from Canada and the United States who stayed in a North American hotel between June 2012 and May 2013.
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