Premier Inn and Park Inn win JD Power awards

Premier Inn was again named as the leading budget hotel while Park Inn was awarded as the best mid-scale chain in the JD Power European Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study’s fifth annual survey. The recent poll had evaluated 42 hotel chains and surveyed guest comments in seven categories, namely cost and fees, hotel facilities, guest room, food and beverage, hotel services, check in and check out, and reservations.

The UK-based Premier Inn garnered the highest score in the economy hotel segment, ahead of Comfort Inn, Etap Hotel and Travelodge. The Formule 1 chain placed last in the ranking.

With the mid-scale hotel segment, Park Inn came out victorious, followed by Best Western, Clarion, Dorint and Ramada. The survey result was based on responses from 13,000 hotel guests who stayed at the hotels between May and September 2009.

The poll found that hotel guest satisfaction has increased dramatically since 2008, showing that customer service in European hotels has not diminished during the downturn of global tourism. According to JD Power, hotel guests from the UK, Italy and Germany were satisfied during their stays in hotels, while travellers from Spain and France were least satisfied.

In addition, the study found that among the most satisfied hotel guests, 69 per cent said that they plan to go back to the hotel, while 79 per cent will promote the hotel to other travellers. In addition, satisfied customers gave an average score of 7, a rate much higher compared with the hotel industry’s average 3.5 score.

JD Power, a global marketing information service company, is known for its surveys on buyer satisfaction, product quality and customer behaviour for businesses ranging from cars to advertising and marketing firms.