Hotel Management companies are investing in property updates and staff, and the improvements are paying off in higher guest satisfaction scores, according to a recent J.D. Power study.
The J.D. Power 2023 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark shows investments in renovations, maintenance and staffing are contributing to better scores for quality of guestrooms and staff service.
“In the span of a year, staffing has gone from being the biggest pain point for hotel management companies to one of the greatest strengths,” Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power, said in the news release. “Despite continuing labor shortages, this is a testament to the efforts of the industry to ramp up hiring and training during the past several months. Interactions with staff is one of the most important components of a hotel stay and guests are noticing that they are getting better service.”
In an interview with HNN, Stokes said the question around staff service was always in the study, but it is now the highest scoring factor, even above guestroom satisfaction.
"We can't compare apples to apples to last year, but we really think that this is due to the increased hiring in the industry," she said. "We do think guests are noticing more staff in hotels, especially in full-service hotels. They're getting better service not only from additional staff but I think the pressure is sort of reduced on existing staff."
This year, Davidson Hospitality Group and Dimension Hospitality tied in the ranking of overall guest satisfaction. Both companies scored 725 on a 1,000-point scale, and this is Davidson's second consecutive year at the top.
HEI Hotels & Resorts ranked third, with 714 points.
The study, now in its fourth year, is based on six factors: communications and connectivity, food and beverage, guestroom, hotel facilities, staff service and value for price. It includes third-party hotel operators with more than 14,000 branded hotel rooms under management and is based on 3,942 guest responses for branded hotel stays from May 2022 through May 2023.
Study results show the most important performance indicator for guest interactions with hotel staff is predicting and delivering on guest needs. Hotel staff met the goal in 82% of guest interactions across all third-party hotel management companies in the study.
Hotel management companies are investing in renovations, but the study noted only 13% of the evaluated branded hotels met guest expectations for modernized hotel lobbies.
Investment in technology at hotels is also on the minds of guests. Specifically, guests increasingly expect electrical vehicle charging stations on property. Overall, 19% of hotel guests in the study said they need an EV charging station at the hotel where they stay.
Repeat Accolade
When asked about achieving the study's highest ranking for two years running, Davidson Hospitality Group Chief Operating Officer Pete Sams said at the end of the day his team aspires to create exceptional guest experiences.
"That's our marching orders, if you will. To get this type of confirmation and validation that not only have we done so once, but to do so in [two] consecutive years really shows [we are consistent] in our pursuit of excellence," he said.
To achieve this recognition, Sams said it all comes down to having the best talent in the industry, the right culture and effective retention strategies.
"It's really been a do-more-with-less environment as we, as an industry, continue to struggle to fill open positions and achieve the staffing levels [we desire]. To me, that's even more a tribute to quality over quantity of interactions and experiences," he added.
Davidson continues to achieve a lower turnover rate that's "twice as good" as the overall industry. Sams said that's possible by providing resources for employees.
"As a full-service operator of full-service hotels, we've put an emphasis on making sure we've restaffed our [human resources] departments in the field. Often we have, in some cases at our larger more complex resorts, full-time recruitment efforts right on-site. Honestly, grassroots, boots-on-the-ground recruiting is really critical. The ability to network within a local community, creating local partnerships with associations and organizations and schools ... are critical," he said.
Coming out of the pandemic, Davidson has doubled down on the core activities it feels moves the needle in each of its disciplines. There's been a concerted effort to fine-tune and streamline how teams focus on the right tasks that result in excellence, he added. This includes improving the hiring process, which includes a new applicant tracking system.
Sams said it enables the company to attract and engage candidates more quickly and efficiently than the overall industry average.
"Our application times have improved dramatically. We want to make it as easy as possible to apply, so those times have improved to better than two minutes," he said.
When Davidson does choose to utilize contract labor, the company makes a point to treat them as their own employees, Sams said.
"It's seamless to the guest and seamless to the worker. We are very inclusive ... in meetings, conversations, training and development," he added.
To stay on top of renovation needs, Davidson leverages its in-house design and construction team for its existing portfolio as well as new builds.
This gives Davidson a better view of the evolution of trends and ability to actively respond to the needs of its owners, Sams said.
Across the portfolio, Davidson prioritizes preventative maintenance. The goal is to find and resolve issues before the guests even notice.
"We are finalizing a partnership with Duracell ... where standard batteries within the guestroom door locks and bathroom motion sensors are connected via Wi-Fi and they automatically create work orders for us and send alerts when we need to reorder a battery," he said. "That's an example of a new effort, and those are sustainable as well."