Market Metrix mentions that customer satisfaction was up slightly for hotels in the third quarter of 2009.
The article mentions that scores for Value has gone up, which could reflect the discounted rates and value-adds that many operators have implemented since 2008. It mentions that Upscale Casinos and Luxury Hotels had the largest gains in value, while Timeshare Accommodations declined slightly. Although value was lower for Timeshare Accommodations, the segment was at its highest for customer satisfaction.
Interestingly on GuestIQ when we were discussing the main customer satisfaction surveys for 2008, we pointed out a Bloomberg article that mentioned that some chains were letting certain properties drop their five-star rating. At the time, there were 103 five-diamond hotels in North America, including Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean.
Since then, according to this USA Today article, Mobil and Forbes have merged and added to their lodgings with five-star status. The article seems to suggest that the rating agency is more lenient than before. It mentions that there’s a rumor that inspectors are more flexible. It also mentions that they added newly-made properties to five-diamond status, which is unusual since they usually need time to work out kinks. Although the flexibility could be reflective of the tough times, it could also suggest that the meaning of a five-diamond guest experience has changed.
