Photo courtesy of Thinkstock
Residence Inn and Holiday Inn Express are the new industry leaders in customer experience, according to the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings.
The two brands tied for the top spot this year and were the only two hotel brands evaluated to improve their ratings from 2015 to 2016.
Both Residence Inn and Holiday Inn Express earned solid scores of 71 percent, ranking them 42nd overall out of 294 companies rated across 20 industries.
While the aforementioned brands succeeded in improving their customer experience, the industry as a whole struggled, with its average rating dropping from 66 percent in 2015 to 60 percent in 2016.
"Unlike other industries in the ratings, hotels haven't had clear customer experience frontrunners, leaving the door open for Residence Inn and Holiday Inn Express to take up the mantle," said Temkin Group managing partner Bruce Temkin in a statement.
READ MORE: Which Hotel Loyalty Programs Earn the Highest Satisfaction for 2016?
With the exception of Residence Inn and Holiday Inn Express, the rest of the industry's brands failed to earn a "good" customer experience score (70 percent or above).
Hilton (69 percent), Marriott (68 percent) and Wyndham (66 percent) rounded out the top five for 2016, beating out other brands like Fairfield Inn, Courtyard by Marriott and Westin, which experienced the biggest declines from 2015 to 2016, dropping between 13 and 17 percentage points.
Nonetheless, budget brand Motel 6 (41 percent) received the industry's lowest rating for 2016, ranking 283rd among the 294 brands that were evaluated.
READ MORE: ACSI Report Finds Hotel Guest Satisfaction Down in 2016
Although the hotel industry dropped as a whole, it still managed to place eighth out of the 20 industries. What's more, only 20 percent of companies earned a good or excellent score compared to 44 percent that earned poor or very poor scores.
The industry's struggles should come as little surprise also considering the American Customer Satisfaction Index released this past April revealed a slight drop in hotel guest satisfaction.
The Temkin Experience Ratings are based on surveys of 10,000 U.S. consumers taking into account success, effort and emotion.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
