Before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the industry, the American Customer Satisfaction Index from the University of Michigan recorded mixed results in traveler sentiment. As of March, hotels had made slight gains year over year, but results from the six-month period that followed show that hotel guest satisfaction took a U-turn. In fact, nearly every major hotel chain saw their guest satisfaction numbers decrease.
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, as of August nearly 65 percent of hotels remained at or below 50 percent occupancy—which is below the threshold at which most hotels can break even and pay debt—and four out of 10 employees still were not working. At the same time, guest satisfaction for the travel industry overall dropped 2.6 percent to 74 (on a 100-point scale) with only Wyndham Hotels & Resorts maintaining stable satisfaction relative to earlier in 2020.
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Survey highlights, according to ACSI:
Guest Experience
For the industry overall, guests see little improvement in their experiences during the pandemic. The only bright spot is call center satisfaction, which has slightly improved to 79. This is encouraging given the massive influx of cancellations and postponements that the industry has faced. On the other hand, customers find it a bit more difficult to make reservations (down 2 percent to 81) and the check-in process that was the high point of the guest experience (84) is now more cumbersome (down 5 percent to 80). Mobile apps also show some weakening, but still rate near the top for quality (82) and reliability (81).
Staff courtesy shows signs of strain (down 2 percent to 79) and room quality in terms of cleanliness and comfort is worse (down 3 percent to 78). Smaller dips occur for in-room features including entertainment, internet service and amenities (76). Compared with either airlines or car rental firms (79), hotels are lacking when it comes to loyalty programs (75).
At the low end, guests continue to be displeased with facility amenities like fitness rooms or pools (73) and food services (72). While many hotels had to temporarily close restaurants and pools, the industry consistently showed ample room for improvement in these areas prior to the pandemic.
As in previous years, hotels do a better job of handling complaints for business guests than for leisure travelers. Before the pandemic, business travelers who complained to their hotel were among the most satisfied guests (80). During the pandemic, however, this same segment is far less happy (down 10 percent to 72).
On the other hand, leisure guests with complaints continue to be disgruntled—either before the outbreak (61) or after (65), despite some modest improvement.
