A six-month follow-up to the fall’s "J.D. Power Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study" reveals some compelling insights into what guests are demanding from hoteliers.
Guest responses from June to November 2020 make it clear that hotel teams are working hard to maintain cleanliness and safety protocols—and that guests are aware of the efforts. Satisfaction with guestroom cleanliness remains at an all-time high. J.D. Power is measuring guest experiences across 16 different hotel health and safety practices.
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The chart below shows how hotels have ramped up several of these key safety efforts since last June.
On the downside, the company reported significant declines in satisfaction with food and beverage in the upper-midscale and midscale segments. In other words, guests who take advantage of current F&B options across these these segments (i.e. to-go breakfast bags, pantry, etc.) have lower F&B satisfaction of late. A lack of variety seems to be the primary cause because many upper-midscale hotels reduced or eliminated breakfast without a corresponding increase in pantry items.
J.D. Power offered an update guests using mobile/online check-in to bypass the front desk upon arrival. While more guests are using online/mobile check-in than before the pandemic began, the majority of guests are still using the front desk. Still, the proportion of hotel guests who have downloaded the hotel chain’s mobile app has jumped by 10 percentage points since before the pandemic began.