Dive Brief:
- For the third consecutive year, Davidson Hospitality Group ranked highest in overall guest satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2024 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark, published today. HEI Hotels and Resorts ranked second, while White Lodging ranked third.
- Overall guest satisfaction with branded hotels run by the largest third-party management companies (those with more than 14,000 branded hotel rooms under management) improved significantly from May 2023 through May 2024, “outperforming both chainmanaged and independently operated hotels,” according to the benchmark.
- The year-over-year improvement was driven primarily by guests' happiness with the cleanliness of guest rooms, maintenance and upkeep of the hotel and hotel staff responsiveness to guest questions and requests, J.D. Power reported.
Dive Insight:
Also ranking above the benchmark average for guest satisfaction were hotel management companies Concord Hospitality, HHM Hotels, MCR Hotels, Remington Hospitality, Schulte Hospitality Group, Pyramid Global Hospitality, Dimension Hospitality and Crestline Hotels & Resorts.
Overall guest satisfaction with hotels run by third-party management companies was up “significantly” year to date in May, roughly 8 points on J.D. Power’s 1,000-point scale.
“Third-party management companies operating branded hotels are really firing on all cylinders by consistently delivering well-maintained buildings, cleaner guest rooms and an overall better guest experience than those seen among independently operated branded properties and even chain-managed properties,” said Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power, in a statement.
More notably, Stokes added, “the largest third-party hotel operators are delivering an improved level of staff service, even as higher room rates are pushing guest expectations higher.”
Despite hotel guests paying more for their rooms than last year, overall improvement in perceived value for price for the largest third-party managed hotels rose slightly on average, per the benchmark.
In J.D. Power’s 2024 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index study, released in July, guests reported getting more “value for prices paid” at hotels within the luxury and upper upscale hotels, despite the segments having some of the highest increases in average room rates.
This year, guests saw value in staff service in particular, which achieved the highest satisfaction scores across the hotel management benchmark. Satisfaction with staff service was up year over year, driven by front desk staff efficiency and responsiveness to guest questions or concerns, according to J.D. Power.
Hotels continue to have trouble attracting and retaining staff, though, as industry-wide labor shortages persist. Currently, those shortages are being exacerbated by some 10,000 hotel workers striking across the country.
