A recently published hotel guest survey by J.D. Power and Associates states hotel guest satisfaction is up over the past year. 

Embassy Suites came out on top of the guest satisfaction survey for the upscale hotel market segment for the third year in a row.

Here are my reasons why I think the Embassy Suites brand is so popular.

1.       Larger rooms – these rooms will hold a family. The abundance of kids is what I consider the major detraction of Embassy Suites, but if I had kids I would be much more inclined to stay.

2.       Cooked breakfast is complimentary. Most of the midrange priced hotels offer complimentary breakfast, but few have cooked-to-order service. Few upscale hotels offer complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast unless you are high-level elite.

3.       Happy hour reception. I sat in an Embassy Suites recently and watched the bar go through a keg of beer and a couple of cases of wine during the two hour manager’s reception. Considering the bar tab would have been $50 for many of the guests and they could get a big buzz for about $5 in tips is a high value proposition for many guests. The pool was a zoo at this time with all the kids.

Embassy Suites provides value for many types of guests and thus the brand ranks high in guest satisfaction.

The J.D. Power survey also finds increasing guest desire for comfort and value-related amenities like pillow choices (feather pillow for me thanks); free parking ($60 to park? I only paid $89 for the room); and complimentary internet.

One of the big trends of the past year is free internet. InterContinental Hotels Group is giving free internet to Ambassador members  beginning August 1 thru October 31 at more than 80 properties worldwide. Hyatt Hotels began offering free internet this year to elite members. And Hyatt Hotels is giving complimentary elite status to anyone who asks.

The interesting aspect of the J.D. Power survey is the finding that overall guest satisfaction is up this year across most hotel market segments while guest satisfaction with the hotel room declined across all hotel market segments.

Hotel guests are satisfied with the great deals, but I think many are missing out on the room upgrades available to elite frequent guests.

The hotel industry is abuzz this week with survey results indicating travel loyalty program participation is declining in 2009.  Results of a new Colloquy survey showed only 48% of respondents would be “disappointed” if their travel loyalty program was discontinued.

Obviously, these are travelers who do not use their frequent flyer program or hotel frequent guest programs effectively, or perhaps they just are not frequent travelers. 

Three population segments stand out in their use of travel loyalty programs:

1)      Affluent heads of households with incomes of $125,000 or greater

2)      Young adults of 18 to 25

3)      Core women 25 to 49 with incomes $50,000 to $125,000

These are three economic sectors of the population. Why would affluent persons, relatively poor young people, and core women have travel loyalty programs in common?

I think the affluent know savings comes from buying in bulk and they can afford to do it. The Costco style of travel is my plan too. I spend more on travel than I should budget from our household income, but I do that because I know there is a much higher return on my investment in hotel stays by maintaining high elite frequent guest status with one or two hotel loyalty programs.  (I am far from affluent by the $125,000 definition. I am more of a core woman demographic in man’s clothing.)

I get upgraded frequently to hotel rooms I otherwise could not afford given the frequency of my travel.

Young people and core women have the need to get good value out of a limited pool of travel dollars. I assume a large proportion of women are heads of households and desire travel with their family. Remember these are women in the $50,000 to $125,000 income bracket. They have money to travel, but not enough money to overspend on travel.

I write about travel deals and show how a person who uses hotel loyalty programs with a plan can obtain much higher value per travel dollar.

San Francisco is an expensive city, but I’ve managed to stay in 4-star and 5-star hotels for an average of about $70 per night for nearly 20 hotel stays this year through strategic use of hotel loyalty programs.

Bloggers on BoardingArea.com show readers how to earn low-cost miles and travel in First Class around the world at a fraction of a published fare. And you can travel twice as often, or take a family member in economy class if you want to stretch the miles you’ve earned.

I sure would like to a survey focused solely on frequent guest elite members. I think the results would show high importance on the value of frequent guest loyalty programs and a high degree of importance and satisfaction with hotel loyalty programs. 2009 has been a great year for elite frequent guests in my opinion. Fewer guests have impacted hotel services with staff layoffs and restaurant closures, but lower hotel occupancy provides more complimentary room upgrade opportunities for elites.

Loyalty travelers may be in the decline, but loyalty travelers are far from disappearing.