Ritz Carlton recognized for Best Hotel Restaurants;
Four Seasons wins Best Room Service;
and W Hotels voted Favorite Hotel Bar
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. � February 8, 2006 -- Market
Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for the hospitality
industry, today announced results of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index
(MMHI) for the fourth quarter of 2005. Kimpton Hotels, Independence Air
and Enterprise Rent-a-Car ranked number one in hotel, airline and rental
car industry customer satisfaction, respectively.
Kimpton Hotels and Independence Air have never
won the top spot in their industries and, Independence Air will never do
it again. Independence Air ceased operations in January 2006, only
18 months after launching its service as a low-cost carrier. Independence
joins a long list of carriers that have failed since industry deregulation
in 1978.
Overall satisfaction with hotels was mixed with
more segments declining (Luxury -3.8; Upscale -.8; Midscale w/o F&B
-1.9; Economy -.5 ) than improving (Upper Upscale +.6; Midscale w/ F&B
+.9, Extended Stay +.7). Rental Cars showed improvement (+1.5) but
Airlines edged slightly lower (-.3) for the quarter.
New questions evaluating hotel restaurants, room
service and lounges were recently added to the Market Metrix Hospitality
Index. Here are highlights from the survey results.
-
Restaurants. In the hotel restaurant
category the top-scoring brand was The Ritz-Carlton. Ritz Carlton
guests were wowed by their experiences saying, �The restaurants were absolutely
wonderful,� and �above and beyond my already high expectations.�
-
Room Service. The hotel brands delivering
the best room service (speed and quality) included Four Seasons Hotels,
Intercontinental, and Loews Hotels respectively. Bellagio�s room
service was tops among casino hotels.
-
Bars. In the hotel bar category, people
rave about the bars found in W Hotels. Customers described the W�s
XYZ Bars as a �glamorous cocktail lounge for an upscale crowd� whose popularity
�squeezes people very close together so that meeting people is easy.�
How does food and beverage service affect hotel guest
loyalty?
-
Restaurants. The results showed that
for some segments (e.g., economy) simply providing a restaurant (and not
necessarily a good restaurant) can positively affect hotel loyalty.
For these guests having an exceptional restaurant had no additional positive
impact on hotel loyalty. For other segments (e.g., Midscale, Extended
Stay) hotel guest loyalty was affected with a quality restaurant that exceeded
customers� expectations.
-
Room Service. For economy and extended
stay guests offering room service is important. These guests, however,
did not value exceptional room service with increased loyalty. Conversely,
a high quality in-room dining experience does influence the loyalty behavior
of guests staying at Midscale and Upscale Casino.
-
Bars. The importance of the bar is more
significant for Luxury and Upscale Casinos than for the other industry
segments. However, a better-quality hotel bar does affect the loyalty
behavior of Midscale and Extended Stay guests.
.
MMHI Top-Hospitality Rankings
Q4 2005
| Hotel - Overall - Kimpton Hotels
Airline - Independence Air
Car Rental - Enterprise
Luxury Hotels - Four Seasons
Upper Upscale - Kimpton Hotels
Upscale Hotels - Hilton Garden Inn
Midscale w/ F&B - Holiday Inn Select
Midscale w/o F&B - Country Inns &
Suites By Carlson
Economy Hotels - Microtel Inns & Suites
Extended-Stay Hotels - Homewood Suites
Vacation Clubs - Hilton Grand Vacation
Upscale Casino - Bellagio
Casino - Borgata Casino
Hotel Reservations Website � Hotel Brand
- Walt Disney World Resorts
Hotel Reservations Website � Travel - Hotwire.com
(w/o F&B = without food &
beverage) |
.
About MMHI
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly
report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies
based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality
brands by industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price
and economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for
subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI's reporting
frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or innovative
satisfaction measures.
About Market Metrix
Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 to provide
the hospitality industry with better customer and employee satisfaction
measurement programs and management tools. In addition to MMHI, Market
Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey systems and strategic
services. For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com
or call 1-800-239-7515.
|