Where you stay matters. After a long day of travel or at the end of a full day of meetings and calls, business travelers need a space to be productive, to relax and unwind — and ultimately to get much-needed rest.
As a travel manager, you’re always striving to best accommodate your team members while also securing the best terms for the company. But what are the best hotel options in 2017 and beyond?
Business Travel News provides a helpful answer to that question with its 2017 Hotel Survey & Report. Read on to learn more about the key takeaway from the report, as well as which hotel brands ranked highest in different categories.
Business Travelers Growing More Critical
One of the biggest takeaways from BTN’s report is this: Travel managers and business travelers are growing more critical of hotels and more demanding in what they expect from hotel providers.
BTN’s report breaks hotels into 7 categories: luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper-midscale, midscale, upscale extended-stay and midscale extended-stay. The leading brands in all 7 categories registered their lowest scores since 2013.
Why? One factor may be that travelers expect free Wi-Fi, better service and personalized service. While hotel providers are trying to be responsive to these emerging expectations, they still have room to grow.
Another factor may be that hotels are creating new policies that restrict flexibility — including new 48- and 72-hour cancellation policies rather than providing the traditional 24 hours. No travel manager is going to appreciate less flexibility in making cancellations.
Though scores are down overall in 2017, hotel providers that claimed top spots in different categories are no doubt proud of the recognition. Here’s a look at the leaders in each of the 7 categories:
Ritz-Carlton: Top Luxury Option
The Ritz-Carlton name is synonymous with luxury, and it delivered an overall score of 5.17 in the BTN report — just ahead of Grand Hyatt at 5.06 and Fairmont at 5.04.
Ritz-Carlton excelled at providing a helpful and courteous staff (5.36), offering public business amenities (5.31), providing in-room business amenities (5.36) and providing personal amenities (5.39).
Hyatt Regency: Top Upper-Upscale Option
The Upper-Upscale category featured strong competition for the top spot. Hyatt Regency came in first with a score of 4.79, followed closely by Inter-Continental at 4.78 and Hyatt at 4.77.
Hyatt Regency’s first-place finish was made possible by strong scores in quality of sales staff (4.89) and public business amenities (4.91).
Hyatt Place: Top Upscale Option
A Hyatt brand also claimed No. 1 in the Upscale category, as Hyatt Place rated a 4.64. This top rating was well ahead of Aloft, which scored a 4.49, as well as Double-Tree and its 4.48 rating.
Hyatt Place earned high marks for sales staff (4.83), consistency (4.9), data quality (4.8) and in providing a helpful and courteous staff (4.77).
Best Western Plus: Top Upper-Midscale Option
Best Western Plus leveraged strong scores in corporate rate programs (4.67) and helpful and courteous staff (4.68) to earn an overall 4.45 in the Upper-Midscale category. Hampton followed closely with an overall score of 4.42.
Best Western: Top Midscale Option
Best Western’s flagship brand also earned top spot among Midscale options, scoring an overall 4.3 — ahead of Wingate at 4.05. Best Western led across 12 of 13 metrics, including high scores for sales staff (4.52), helpful and courteous service (4.55) as well as price/value relationship (4.54).
Homewood Suites: Top Upscale Extended-Stay Option
For anyone who travels for work to one location for long periods of time, finding a quality extended-stay provider is a must. Among Upscale Extended-Stay options, Homewood Suites took the top spot with an overall score of 4.75 — ahead of Residence Inn at 4.66.
Homewood Suites did particularly well in physical appearance (4.88), sales staff (4.81), consistency (4.8), helpful and courteous staff (4.84), as well as traveler satisfaction (4.81).
Candlewood Suites: Top Midscale Extended-Stay Option
Among Midscale Extended-Stay options, Candlewood Suites earned a high score of 4.11, outpacing Towneplace Suites and its 3.99 rating. Candlewood Suites and its corporate rate program scored a 4.56, which was far and away the top metric among all providers in this category.
Find the Best Hotel Options With JTB Business Travel
At JTB Business Travel, we are a comprehensive corporate travel agency serving corporations and organizations of all kinds. We are adept at helping clients find the perfect hotel providers — and negotiating the best rates with those providers.
Common sense is the heartbeat of everything we do. When you want to save money and enhance the business travel experience, we’re here to help.
Contact us today to learn more about our common sense approach to corporate travel.
I am a little surprised to see Best Western Plus on the list.
They are keeping up! Try out next time!
Let us know how it goes! Curious, where do you typically stay when you’re looking for a solid upper mid-scale hotel option?