Tag: Hotel Surveys
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Are We Suckers for Ordering Room Service? Study Shows Yes, We Are
We know you love you some room service, whether it's a quick snack, breakfast, or one of those nights you don't feel like dealing with anyone. But man, should the hotels just do us all a favor and call us suckers up front when we place the order, or should they wait until checkout?
Yes, the day of the deal is indeed past us, a fact proven by a recent TripAdvisor room service survey that compared the costs of common items and services that travelers purchase when staying in a hotel. The survey looked at the prices of items such as a club sandwich, an airplane bottle of liquor, a can of coke, a bottle of water, peanuts, and dry cleaning.
Among U.S. cities in the survey, Denver and Dallas came in as the best value while Vegas and Honolulu were the most expensive. You could expect things such as the latter, but there were some surprises, like the fact that New York City has the cheapest peanuts and an airplane bottle of vodka is approaching $19 in Vegas (Okay, maybe we’re more annoyed than surprised by that).
Hotel Trends / Hotel Surveys / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Hilton, Marriott, and Four Seasons Most Talked About Brands On the 'Net
"How do you choose a hotel? By the quality of service? The view? What your friends might think? How about the water pressure in the shower?"
These are questions Boston-based, global PR firm Brodeur Partners is trying to answer via a new market research study, dubbed the "Hospitality Relevance Audit," that "looks into the heart of what really matters in online conversations about hotel choice."
The firm conducted the study with the help of the technical wizardy of MavenMagnet, a company whose knack is "leveraging the power of online conversations."
The study analyzed ten popular hotel brands based on a unique "Conversational Relevance(TM)" scale . It quantifies A) how much people are talking about a brand and B) how impactful and positive that conversation is; sifting through more than 18,000 "online conversations" (wait, are they spying on us?!) from May - October 2012 across social networks, profiles, forums, news sites and blogs.
JD Power / Hotel Surveys / Hotel Reports / Hotel Research / Guest Satisfaction / Hotel News / → All Tags
Ugh. New Report Finds Hotel Rates are Rising But Guest Satisfaction is Declining
The latest J.D. Power & Associates report on hotels is out and it's kinda troubling.
The 2012 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study measures overall hotel guest satisfaction across seven different types of hotels--ranging from luxury to economy/budget and extended stay. Within those groupings, seven key measures are also examined ranging from reservations to hotel services and most importantly, costs and fees.
This year, the overall guest satisfaction rating has slid down to 757 (out of a 1,000-point scale), down about seven points from last year. That doesn't sound too bad but J.D. Power points out that guest satisfaction with check-in and check-out, food and beverage, hotel services and hotel facilities are at new lows since 2006. Also, guest satisfaction with the guest room has sunk to within one point of its lowest level in the past seven years.
Making all this new research even grimmer is that hotel rates are rising--meaning that we hotel guests are getting charged more for worse service. Ugh.
Hotel WiFi / Disney Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Surveys / → All Tags
Disney Waves Its Magic Wand And Grants Free WiFi To All Guests
Well it looks like all our hotel WiFi bellyaching the other week paid off. In addition to getting tons of awesome feedback from you all here on the site and over on our Twitter page, another major resort brand is now in the process of switching to free wireless internet for all guests.
We're talking about Disney.
Having polled over 10,000 hotel guests over the past year on the amenities they would most like to see added to all Disney hotels, free WiFi (not surprisingly) came out at the top of the list. And while the company alleges that they had planned to install it all along (yeah, yeah), they've now committed to rewiring all the resorts stat.
Hotel Surveys / Hotel Service / JD Power / Hotel News / → All Tags
Wait, No. Maybe You Don't Like Hotels After All?
Yesterday we dished on a new survey that said online reviews are mostly positive but today with the release of the newest J.D. Power and Associates annual hotel survey, overall guest satisfaction has apparently dropped off. Huh?
But wait, it gets even more confusing. The survey also reports that guest satisfaction with room rates and fees have increased as have occupancy rates. This actually strikes us as strange because we've been seeing a lot of silly new fees implemented at hotels lately, coupled with the usual suspects like resort fees, internet charges and parking. But apparently, you all don't mind about that.
However, you are displeased with the other parts of your hotel stay from the hotel facilities and operations to services. But there could be a reason for that.
Motel 6 / Hotel Service / Hotel Surveys / Budget Hotels / → All Tags
Motel 6 Really Wants to Know What You Think Of Its Rooms
Motel 6 really wanted to know what we thought of this room
We always had Motel 6 down as a wham, bam, thank you kinda place to stay. You pays your $35.99 (one person), you gets your (grubby) room key, and the next morning you high tail it outta there, hoping you left the cooties in the bed.
That’s what we did recently, anyway, at the Motel 6 in Pueblo, Colorado. Our room smelt odd, the covers were pretty grim, they tried to charge us more than they should have (they allocated us a studio rather than a room, when we’d asked for a room) and it was, all in all, not the nicest motel we’d ever been in.
The next day, we didn’t even bother handing in our key at reception. We just got the hell out (along with the local gun show folks, who’d been filling the beds the night before).
We thought no more of it until the next day, when we got an email from Motel 6, asking us to fill in a survey about our stay. Which we ignored.
Then, five days later, we got another email. This time it said, plaintively:
We noticed that you did not have time to complete the survey. We are concerned that you may not have responded because we have somehow failed to live up to your expectations. At Accor Hotels, we are committed to providing a superior guest experience to each and every one of our customers. Please take a few minutes to tell us how well we met your expectations.
Hotel Surveys / JD Power / Hotel News / Omni Hotels / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Aloft Hotels / Microtel Inns / Drury Hotels / Hilton Garden Inns / → All Tags
No Brainer: Low Room Rates Equals Happy Hotel Guests
We got this room at the Affinia Chicago for $159 a night. And we liked it!
A new report released by J.D. Power & Associates says hotel guests are more satisfied this year with their hotel stays and hoteliers have reasonable room rates to thank for that.
Because of the recession, hotels have had to drop room rates and as we've known here at HotelChatter for quite some time, when we get good deals on rooms, we're happier guests. Also thanks to the recession, hotels have had lower occupancy levels so more guests have gotten room upgrades at check-in. J.D. Powers' Mark Schwartz told the LA Times:
“If occupancy is lower, we find satisfaction with the speed of check-in is higher,” he said. “Guests are spending less time in line, are less likely to face overbooking and are more likely to be able to get an upgrade because more rooms are available.”
And guests are probably happier because hotels are rolling out all sorts of new amenities and services to keep them happy, from free WiFi to wine-tastings to cool in-room technology and upgraded lobby cafes.
Oregon Hotels / Seaside Hotels / Conde Nast Traveler / Hotel Surveys / → All Tags
What Makes Oregon's Stephanie Inn So Great?
Now that we've had a chance to pour over Conde Nast's Readers' Choice Awards, we noticed an Oregon hotel that didn't pop up when we wandered through the Oregon Hotel Trail. The Stephanie Inn, say CNT's readers, is the third best hotel in the country, after the Chicago outposts of the Ritz-Carlton and The Peninsula.
So what makes it so special? Good question: CN Traveler doesn't spell out any details. And the survey is just a numerical ranking, leaving us curious as to what makes the Stephanie so praiseworthy. On Tripadvisor, reviewers come to a consensus:
This Inn is probably great if you can pay $600/night for a view room. It is also great if you like a lot of pretension. You will see more people here in slacks than in beach clothes and we were definitely the youngest people there.
The Stephanie certainly has a great view of Haystack Rock, but aside from that, we're just not seeing the appeal. Also, how can a hotel not have online reservations??
[Photo: TripAdvisor]
Related Stories:
· Oregon Hotel Guide [HotelChatter]
· Conde Nast Readers Have Spoken [HotelChatter]
Hotel News / Travelodge Hotels / Hotel Surveys / → All Tags
Travelodge Says Nude Sleepwalkers More Common Than You Think
Travelodge UK has once again put out another wacky hotel survey, this time involving nude sleepwalkers. Yup, nude sleepwalkers and they are mostly men. Even more scary, the number of men sleepwalking is on the rise, increasing by sevenfold since last year's survey.
An astounding 95% of the hotel chain's sleepwalkers have been naked men. These night time sleeping wanderers were found in Travelodge reception areas across the UK, requesting the following information:
- Where is the bathroom - Can I check out as I am late for work - Do you have a copy of todays paper
One naked male sleepwalker even managed to get himself locked out of the hotel and later arrested.
Hmm...if we had to guess which of the three reasons for nude sleepwalkers was most compelling we would have to say alcohol abuse. C'mon...we all had that friend in college who whenever they got too drunk removed some article of clothing.
Anyways, Travelodge is sending out notices to its employees on how to deal with nude sleepwalkers. One such piece of advice is to keep a supply of towels at the front desk. We say also remind guests that there are security cameras around the hotel. Maybe that will sink into their subconscious and force them to at least put on some pants before they sleepwalk around.
Related Stories:
· Nude Men Sleepwalking is on the Rise [Travelodge UK]
· Now Travelodge Really, Really Wants You To Sleep Well [HotelChatter]
· The British Leave Behind Wacky Things in Their Hotel Rooms [HotelChatter]
Hotel Surveys / Conde Nast / Awards / → All Tags
Conde Nast Readers Have Spoken
It's that time of the year again when Conde Nast Traveler unveils its Readers Choice awards.
Topping the list for the best U.S. city was San Francisco who has won this distinction for 17 of the past 18 years. Whoa. Good thing San Francisco has a ton of hotels for all of its happy visitors.
As far as hotels go, not many US hotels made any top spots. The Four Seasons Maui nabbed the #15 spot and the Ritz-Carlton Chicago placed 25, followed closely by the Peninsula Chicago at 26.
The highest-ranked New York hotel on the list is the Four Seasons New York at #39 and that's tied with the Hotel Bel-Air.
So who was #1? The Hotel La Scalinatella, Capri, Italy. If there's anyone who wants to take us there so we can experience this place for ourselves, we will gladly accept.
Related Stories:
· Conde Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards 2007 [Conde Nast]
Hotel Surveys / Hotel News / Hotel Sex / Hotel Minibars / → All Tags
Sex, Drugs, False Teeth and Hotel Surveys
We've seen plenty of hotel surveys that cover guest satisfaction and brand preferences, but this Lost and Bound July one from Kayak gets extra credit for pushing the envelope.
Where else can you see how many people have booked rooms by the hour and what odd things were left in their rooms by other guests?
Four Seasons Hotels / Amanresorts / Hotel Surveys / Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
Survey Says: Zagat Respondents Like Amanresorts and Four Seasons
A few days ago Zagat, publisher of handy restaurant and hotel guides, released the results of a new hotel survey. Amanresorts, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, and Raffles were the top four chains, showing those Asians know a thing or two about providing good service. It didn't stop there though: Asian chains Oberoi and Shangri-La made the top-10 as well.
Seven of the top-10 in the Small Hotels, Resorts & Inns category were in Asia, but the top one was Singita in South Africa, pictured here, which was also cited as having the best rooms. The best large hotel was Four Seasons George V in Paris, while the best resort was the Four Seasons in Hualalai, Hawaii.
A few wild card winners include three resorts in Los Cabos, Mexico, Inn at Little Washington (near D.C.) for cuisine, and a hotel in Vegas--Vegas baby! OK, it was the Four Seasons again, but still...
While we always take these surveys with a grain of salt--even we haven't seen more than a fraction of the best hotels all over the world--but you can't say they didn't try to get a good sampling. "The guide is based on the experiences of 21,783 frequent travelers and 1,626 professional travel agents who averaged 36.9 hotel nights per year."
And since we're highlighted the sorry state of WiFi in a lot of hotels this week, we can't resist this quote: "Zagat surveyors (23%) say the amenities offered have the greatest impact on their choice of hotel, with their favorite in-room feature -- the now nearly ubiquitous WiFi access (66% of business travelers say it's most important)." MOST important--hear that people? It's not an extra service you ream people on; it's up there with hot water and a door that locks.
[Photo: wander2006]
Related Stories:
· Zagat Surveys 23,409 Travelers to ID World's Leading Lodgings [PR Newswire]
