Travelers have a plethora of lodging choices, from luxury hotels to boutique properties and affordable chains. Cost and location are key drivers when selecting a hotel, but other factors such as the brand’s reputation for customer satisfaction should be considered as well. Forbes Passport analyzes hotel brands and their individual facilities to determine which ones best satisfy guests. To make the grade, a chain must be ranked highly in all categories and rank in the top half of its category. In addition, it must have a robust loyalty program and high consumer-response rates.
To help you choose the right hotel for your next vacation, we’ve compiled the top ten brands in each category and listed their highest-rated properties. We’ve also included a few notable standouts, such as the Hotel del Coronado in California and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Inn in New York City.
A hotel’s reputation for customer satisfaction is based on many factors, including the guest experience, room quality and service, and value. A great way to assess a hotel’s reputation is by reviewing the reviews on TripAdvisor. It’s the 900-pound gorilla in the hotel space, with an incredible 661 million reviews across accommodations, restaurants, airlines and experiences. But savvy travelers understand that not all reviews are created equal. There are plenty of bogus reviews written by people with an agenda, such as reputation management operatives hired by hotels to boost their ratings and destroy those of their competitors, or disgruntled former employees.
Fortunately, there are other good sources of hotel reviews. Google is rising quickly and has a strong advantage over TripAdvisor with its Hotel Finder tool, which integrates into search results. The platform is free for hotel owners to claim, and allows them to respond to reviews. It also lets hotel owners see what potential guests are searching for, a big plus when it comes to capturing the interest of prospective visitors.
Whether you’re a visitor to the City that Never Sleeps or an innkeeper, it’s important to stay on top of the best hotel review sites. That’s because consumers trust some of these more than others, according to a new survey by CivicScience. To no one’s surprise, TripAdvisor and other widely known review sites were deemed the least trustworthy. Other lesser-known sites, such as Trivago and Google, scored much better in the trust department. That’s good news for hotels, as it reflects a distrust of general review sites and a desire for more accurate lodging advice. Having your property appear on these hotel-specific review sites can help you connect with potential customers who need to know what they’re getting into. And it can help you improve your guests’ experiences when they’re staying with you. In fact, it’s why many innkeepers tell me they prefer Google over other hotel review sites. After all, Google is where most potential guests start their search for a place to stay. That’s why it’s crucial that every hotel owner create or claim their free Google My Business listing and keep it up to date.