• by Tanya Gazdik , October 2, 2013

Two Marriott brands lead in hotel satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s (ACSI) report on satisfaction with U.S. hotel brands.

The report provides satisfaction scores for the top 24 hotel brands across a range of budgets from economy to midscale to luxury brands.

Marriott International demonstrates customer satisfaction leadership across its entire portfolio.

Guests who choose luxury accommodations show a strong preference for Marriott’s signature JW Marriott hotels, according to the study. While ACSI research shows that upscale properties tend to do better in guest satisfaction than midrange or economy hotels, Grand Hyatt meets -- rather than exceeds -- the hotel industry’s average score.

Marriott’s midscale brand, Fairfield Inn & Suites, rises to the top among all lodging types, scoring 84, ACSI says. The next closest midscale chain, Hilton’s Hampton Inn & Suites, scores 81, while the lowest scoring in the category, Wyndham’s Ramada Inn, is well behind at 69.

While Marriott and Wyndham show fairly consistent levels of guest satisfaction across their portfolios, for Marriott the good news is that its properties turn in the best scores across all lodging types in which it competes, says Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and chairman.

“By contrast, all Wyndham brands are average to below average for guest satisfaction, with the exception of Days Inn, which has a solid lead in the economy category,” Fornell says in a release.

In the upper-upscale category, Marriott goes head-to-head with Hilton and Hyatt, ACSI reports. At 82, Marriott Hotels & Resorts enters a three-way tie for the lead with Hyatt Regency and Hilton’s Embassy Suites.

Rival brand Wyndham Hotels & Resorts trails behind at 77, just ahead of Starwood’s upper-upscale offering Sheraton at 76. Likewise, Marriott’s Courtyard is tied for first in the tight field of upscale hotels, matching Hyatt Place at 79 and inching ahead of Hilton’s Doubletree and Hilton Garden (78 and 77, respectively).

The Wyndham family of hotels -- upscale, midrange or budget -- is near the bottom of the 24 major chains, albeit higher than competition in economy with Days Inn at 74 easily beating sister property Super 8 at 66 and Choice Hotel’s Econo Lodge at 59.

ACSI measures 10 customer experience element, including the ease of making a reservation and check-in, food services, in-room entertainment and staff courtesy.

Among the five lodging types, reservation and check-in processes function well, with scores ranging from 84 for economy to 90 for luxury properties. Ratings for loyalty programs, Internet service and staff courtesy show little variation for midscale through luxury. In fact, staff courtesy for luxury brands ties that of midscale chains at 86.

Guest satisfaction among hotel types varies the most when it comes to room cleanliness and comfort, food services and hotel amenities, ACSI says.

The hotel brand study complements ACSI’s coverage of the hotel industry, updated in June 2013, which gauges customer satisfaction with each hotel corporation’s complete portfolio of lodging types: upscale, midrange and budget. 

For 2013, Marriott captures the lead with a 5 percent gain to 82, followed by Hilton (unchanged) at 80 and Hyatt (+4%) at 79. Despite a 3% increase, Wyndham remains well behind the leaders with a last-place score of 72.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States.

The ACSI uses data from interviews with roughly 70,000 customers annually as inputs to an econometric model for analyzing customer satisfaction with more than 230 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as over 100 services, programs, and websites of federal government agencies.