J.D. Power Associates has released its long-running rankings of consumer satisfaction with hotels, and has found that Millennials are far more loyal than other reports suggest.
Overall satisfaction was up 27 points since 2012, bringing the average ranking to 784 out of a potential 1,000. The rankings placed the following hotels at the top of their respective segments:
- Luxury: Four Seasons
- Upper Upscale: Kimpton - two years in a row
- Upscale: Hilton Garden Inn
- Midscale Full Service: Holiday Inn - four years running
- Midscale: Drury Hotels - nine years in a row
- Economy: Microtel by Wyndham - two years running
- Upper Extended Stay: Homewood Suites by Hilton - two consecutive years
- Extended Stay: Candlewood Suites
In regards to how Millennials rank satisfaction of hotels, brands that are seen as exciting trendsetters generally perform better on satisfaction scores. This is intriguing, as high expectations oftentimes make it harder to deliver on. This may be why the findings show Millennials are more critical about hotel stays than their counterparts.
Despite this level of expectation, Millennials are not necessarily disloyal. They actually were more satisfied on average with hotel brands that they had a previous experience with.
Rick Garlick, leader of the global travel and hospitality practice, says of Gen Y/Millennial loyalty:
By improving the brand experience for first-time Gen Y guests, there is a substantial opportunity for hotels to gain a pool of satisfied, committed guests who will be loyal for years to come.
We also find that satisfaction is more than 300 points lower among Gen Y guests who have a low opinion of staff than among Gen Y guests who have a high opinion of the hotel staff, while that difference is much smaller among those in other generation groups. Hoteliers have the opportunity to improve both satisfaction and loyalty rates by simply focusing on improving their staff interactions with Gen Y guests.
Some of the biggest deal-breakers as far as guest satisfaction were unkempt hotel rooms, having to pay for WiFi, poor connectivity and WiFi speed and being perceived as environmentally careless.
Scrutinizers - those folks who scrub through countless reviews online to make the most informed choice - grew to ten percent, up three percent from last year. Surprisingly, this research-intensive group is the most loyal segment of customer.
NB: Star rankings image courtesy Shutterstock.