While the hospitality industry copes with labor shortage and supply chain disruptions, the overall guest satisfaction score across all chain scales is holding steady compared to the previous wave, according to the Wave 1 (June-August) results of the 2022 J.D. Power North America Guest Satisfaction Study. Wave 1 saw satisfaction clock in at 823, nearly spot-on to the previous wave's 824.
For the latest study, the company collected additional guest feedback regarding the actions hotels are taking to augment safety and cleanliness. It also looked at whether augmented safety and cleanliness impacted hotel choice, as well as whether safety-related information was provided prestay and on-property.
Many hotels were fully occupied this summer, and some hotel segments experienced declines in guest satisfaction compared to the summer of 2020. Double-digit declines in key operational areas are statistically significant for the upper-upscale, upper-midscale and economy chainscales. There is also a corresponding decline versus summer 2020 in guests’ perceptions of value for money given the quality and service received.
The 2022 Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study is the fourth year the company looked at satisfaction with stays at home rentals. The data shows the percentage of hotel guests also using home rentals has increased during the pandemic. At the same time, home rental users are less often citing lower prices as a reason for choosing a home rental over a hotel. This indicates a declining perception of home rentals as a better value than hotels, which is not surprising given home rental hosts’ wide latitude to charge additional fees beyond the nightly rate, according to the company.