STR and STR Global package hotel industry data. I like to read HotelNewsNow.com to see hotel industry trends and average room rates, although to get detailed information about hotel brands and places requires paying for information. I stick with the free stuff.

One of the valuable STR resources for me is the chain scale hotel list that categorizes hundreds of USA and global hotel brands on a scale of six market segments from economy to luxury. Hotel brands are placed on the scale solely using average daily rate as the factor. Note: the average daily rate data was added March 7 based on Smith Travel Research data for January 2012.

• Luxury = $262 ADR
• Upper Upscale = $148 ADR
• Upscale = $112 ADR
• Upper Midscale = $94 ADR
• Midscale = $73 ADR
• Economy = $50 ADR

Any specific hotel may have a large rate differential from another hotel in that brand, but the average rate says something about the brand overall across the hotel chain and across the USA and globe.

STR and STR Global have moved some hotel brands to a higher chain scale based on 2011 average daily rates.

• Best Western Premier moved from upper-midscale to upscale. Best Western launched a rebranding campaign in 2011 to distinguish the better hotels in the 4,000+ global chain.

All the other chains operate several different hotel brands across different market segments and Best Western finally got into the game with three tiers of Best Western, (3,000 or so hotels), Best Western Plus (1,000+ hotels) and Best Western Premier (over 100 hotels). The numbers given here are just rough estimates based on past data I have seen.

Best Western Premier moves to upscale hotels. My stay last year in Napa was a great room in an old motel style building. The room was definitely upscale.

Napa, California Best Western Premier Hotel Ivy

Hotel Ivy Napa, Best Western Premier Hotel.

Hotel Ivy Napa, Best Western Premier.

• Country Inns & Suites moved from midscale to upper-midscale. That is a huge accomplishment for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group working to become a more recognized name in the chain scale competition.

Upper midscale includes brands like Hampton Inn, Clarion, Best Western Plus, Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

Candlewood Suites, La Quinta and Ramada are examples of hotel brands in the midscale segment.

Hyatt Place, Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn and Four Points are in the higher upscale segment. The bad news for Club Carlson members is this chain segment change indicates rates are rising at Country Inns.

Loyalty Traveler note: This post originally had seven hotel brand changes based on a HotelNewsNow.com article (media arm of STR and STRGlobal). I received an email on March 7 stating HNN will issue a correction on their article and only Best Western Premier and Country Inns are changing in the hotel chain scale. I deleted references to the other hotel brands originally included in this post.

Smith Travel Research provides hotel data and trends for the hotel industry. There were some interesting pieces of data in the blogs yesterday from STR analysts.

At the end of 2010, the year of hotel recovery, the only US market to raise room rates more than 5% during the year was New York City with a 7.5% increase in average room rates to $232.95. The data for 2011 will be compiled by STR and published in a few weeks. The initial data shows strong demand for hotels in the top 25 markets of the US, but the recovery has not spread to other less popular markets in the country.

• There are about 5,000,000 hotel rooms in the U.S. (4,878,220 at end of 2010).
• Online travel agencies account for 10% of a typical hotel’s bookings.
• Nearly 30% of hotels (1.5 million) in the US are not affiliated with a major hotel brand.
• Conversions to chain brands are expected to continue at high rate in 2012.
• Financing for new hotels is tight and the the most significant growth area for 2012 is in luxury hotel construction.
• New hotel construction in the economy to upper midscale hotel market segment is slowing down compared to 2010.
• 72% of hotel requests are for suburban (35%), small metro/town (25%) and interstate (12%) locations.
• 14% of hotel requests are for urban hotels.
• 9% of hotel requests are for resorts.
• 5% of hotel requests are for airport hotels.

Hotel Market Segment requests in the US

• 2% of hotel requests are for luxury hotels (Fairmont, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, W Hotel, Park Hyatt, InterContinental).
• 6% upper-upscale hotels (Embassy Suites, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Westin, Sheraton).
• 10% upscale hotels (Aloft, Cambria Suites, Courtyard, Crowne Plaza, DoubleTree, Four Points, Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt House, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites).
• 21% upper midscale hotels (Hampton, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn, Best Western Plus)
• 13% midscale hotels (Best Western, Candlewood Suites, Country Inn & Suites, La Quinta Inn, Quality Inn, Ramada)
• 15% economy hotels (Days Inn, Extended Stay America, Motel 6, Red Roof Inn, Travelodge).
• 33% independent hotels in all hotel market segments.

Link: STR US Chain Scales

Top 10 most-requested chains:

• Independent

• Holiday Inn Express (IHG Priority Club)

• Comfort Inn (Choice Privileges)

• Hampton Inn (Hilton HHonors)

• Best Western (Best Western Rewards)

• Days Inn (Wyndham Rewards)

• Super 8 (Wyndham Rewards)

• Courtyard by Marriott (Marriott Rewards)

• Quality Inn (Choice Privileges)

• La Quinta Inns & Suites (La Quinta Rewards)

Where are the popular places to stay?

New York City leads the nation for most requested city and market and 39 of the top 50 most requested hotels. No surprise there with Big Apple tourism coming from around the globe.

Fairmont Princess Scottsdale, Arizona is the most requested hotel outside of NYC.

Personally I prefer small towns. And it just so happens that the most requested zip code for hotel industry trends is Carmel, California (93921), population 3,938 and located next to my hometown of Monterey.

Link: Hotel News Now – The Trends in STR’s 2011 Trend Reports.

Mission Ranch, Carmel-by-the-sea, California

The Elysian is currently the #1 hotel of 165 hotels in Chicago ranked on TripAdvisor.com. A food critic I met last month in Chicago raved about dining at Ria, a 2011 two Michelin star restaurant at the Elysian.

Elysian Hotel Chicago is #1 on TripAdvisor 12-15-2011.

New York will see the fifth Conrad Hotel in North America open in 2012 in the Manhattan financial district adjacent to the headquarters of Goldman Sachs. Apparently the market segment for Conrad is contemporary aesthetic luxury while Waldorf aims for traditional luxury market.

Hilton is looking to expand its presence in the U.S. with key luxury properties in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington D.C.

Source: Hotels News Now

The hotel industry generally ranks the world’s biggest hotel brands by different criteria than Loyalty Traveler. The hotel industry ranks hotel brands by the total number of rooms worldwide. That is the hotelier’s viewpoint since more rooms creates the potential for more money.

My viewpoint as a traveler is whether I will be able to find a hotel in a particular hotel brand in the location I am visiting.  I generally only need one or two rooms for my hotel stay. As a traveler I care less about whether a hotel has 100 rooms or 1,000 rooms and more about the number of hotels in my preferred brand for geographic coverage.

Therefore, Loyalty Traveler ranks hotel brand size by the number of hotels rather than the number of rooms. This results in a different hotel brand ranking order than will be found for most hotel chain size surveys.

When it comes to the number of hotels in a hotel brand you can forget about your upscale Hyatt’s and Hilton’s and Marriott’s being the leaders. There are no upscale market segment brands in the top 20 global hotel brands when ranked by number of hotels.

Marriott Hotels (550 hotels) and Hilton Hotels (540 hotels) just miss the Top 20 cut coming in at #21 and #22 respectively with the distinction of being the highest ranking upscale brands worldwide.

The Benefits of Economy and Mid-scale Hotels

Free internet and complimentary breakfast are the two most desired benefits for upscale hotel travelers. In recent years there has been a move among loyalty programs to add these benefits for elite members of Marriott Rewards, Hilton HHonors, Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport.

Travel in the economy hotel market segment pretty much guarantees you will have access to free internet and most of the top brands also offer a free breakfast as a benefit for all hotel guests. Downsizing your hotel brand may upsize your savings in more ways than room rate.

Family-Friendly Hotel Brands  

One of the biggest value benefits of the major economy/mid-scale hotel brands is a policy at six of the Top 20 Hotel Brands to let kids stay free in the room with an adult family member. This policy is extended to a high age limit of 19 years old for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express which offers some interesting possibilities for taking Mom, Dad or Uncle Bob on spring break.

Children Stay Free Policies can be big savings for big families. Bring the sleeping bags.

Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express = Children 19 and under stay free in same room with adult guest.

La Quinta Inn = Children 18 and under stay free in same room with adult guest.

Super 8 = Children 17 and under stay free in same room with adult guest.

Motel 6 = Children 17 and under stay free in same room with adult guest.

Premier Inn (U.K.) = Children 15 and under stay free.

“Honey, I Just Fed the Kids!”

Some hotel brands even offer free restaurant meals to kids when an adult orders off the regular menu. The age limit is a bit lower than 19 for this benefit.

Holiday Inn (U.S. and Canada only) – ‘Kids Eat Free’ policy allows up to four children age 12 and under to eat free from kids menu any time of day when adult guest pays for meal from regular menu.

Premier Inn (U.K.) – free breakfast for up to two children (15 or under).

Loyalty traveler note on hotel numbers and Choice International hotel brands count:

The source of hotel numbers is primarily hotel brand website checks February 8-10, 2011 and data from the most recent financial reports. Choice Privileges only reported domestic properties in its Sep 30, 2010 financial statement. There were 1,140 international Choice Hotels Sep 30, 2010. This is the only detail on international franchised Choice Hotels properties I located without making a hand count by country.

My website checks indicate these 1,140 international hotels are primarily Comfort Inn & Suites and Quality Inn & Suites properties with about 150 Clarion and a handful of EconoLodge and Sleep Inn properties. Australia and New Zealand have more than 200 Choice Hotels.

Choice Hotels total hotel numbers for Days Inn and Quality Inn are from TopHotelChains.com Sep 2010. Hotel numbers for U.S. properties are taken from Choice International financial statements for Sep 30, 2010.

Loyalty Traveler Survey of the Top 20 Hotel Brands in the World

Loyalty Traveler Top 20 Hotel Brands by Number of Hotels Feb 11, 2011

Tip: Click on the spreadsheet picture to open in a new window and see in full size. (You may need to click on picture again in new window to magnify size).

Please add a comment if there are other noteworthy features and benefits for these 20 brands; particularly some first-hand knowledge of Mercure and Ibis would be appreciated for these non-U.S. hotel brands.

These hotel accommodations are also a good alternative to Embassy Suites for families seeking a cheap hotel location with plenty of room. Weekend rates at extended stay hotels are typically about 50% of the weekday rates when business travelers are filling rooms. The drawback is these hotels are usually near business parks and may require a drive to get to markets and shopping malls.

The advantage of extended stay locations include the ability to save big on food expenses by grocery shopping and cooking at the hotel rather than dining out frequently. Some extended stay hotel properties even have outdoor barbeque grill facilities.

Another common feature of extended stay hotels are recreational facilities for games like basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, pools, ping-pong tables and pool tables. Some or none of these facilities may be present at any specific location. Check with the hotel. My general observation though when visiting extended stay properties is at least a couple of sports areas are available to enhance the social atmosphere of a property where some guests are on site for several consecutive weeks.

The main drawback as a hotel loyalty program member when staying at extended stay properties is the lower earning tier typically applied.

Priority Club Rewards only earns points at 5 points per $1 spend when staying at Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. This is 50% earning rate compared to Holiday Inn Express at 10 points per $1.

Marriott Rewards members also earn points at only 50% rate for stays in Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites. Marriott’s extended stay brands earn points at the rate of 5 points per $1 spend whereas all other brands earn 10 points per $1.

Hilton HHonors members earn full points credit when staying at Homewood Suites, however, members choosing fixed miles only earn 100 miles per stay with most airlines and several international airlines do not earn any miles for Homewood Suites stays. 

JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Segment Satisfaction Index

Sources:

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study press release

JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Market Segment Full Ratings Report

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Market Segment Ratings

There are only seven hotel brands rated in the JD Power Extended Stay Market Segment.

The study indicates Hyatt Summerfield Suites, Hawthorn Suites (Wyndham), MainStay Suites (Choice), and Studio 6 (Accor) have too few hotels to rate in the index.

Extended Stay Hotel Brands by Number of Hotels

Residence Inn (Marriott Rewards) = 589 hotels (June 18, 2010). Residence Inn locations.

Extended StayAmerica = 363 hotels in U.S. and Canada. Locations. Extended Stay Deluxe brand includes another 109 hotels.

Candlewood Suites (IHG Priority Club) = 273 hotels in North America. Candlewood Suites locations.

Homewood Suites (Hilton HHonors) = 230 hotels. Homewood Suites e-directory.

TownePlace Suites (Marriott Rewards) = 190 hotels (June 18, 2010). TownePlace Suites locations.

Staybridge Suites (IHG Priority Club) = 180 hotels (June 30, 2010). Staybridge Suites hotel locations.

Homestead Studio Suites = 132 hotels in U.S. and Canada. Locations.

These Extended Stay hotel brands were too small for JD Power ratings.

Hawthorn Suites (Wyndham Rewards) = 77 hotels in U.S. Hawthorn Suites locations.

Suburban Extended Stay (Choice Privileges) = 63 hotels in U.S.

Studio 6 (Accor) = 62 hotels in U.S. and Canada. Studio 6 locations.

MainStay Suites (Choice Privileges) = 36 hotels in U.S.

Hyatt Summerfield Suites (Hyatt Gold Passport) = 35 hotels. Hyatt Summerfield Suites locations.

Homestead Studio Suites and Extended Stay America are hotel brands under the same parent company – Extended Stay Hotels. Extended Stay Hotels does not operate a points-based hotel loyalty program. The company has a direct marketing approach to hotel loyalty. Get $10 off your next stay just by signing up to receive email discount offers and promotions for the hotel brands in the 700+ hotel chain Extended Stay Hotels.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 13)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 15)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Satisfaction ratings (Aug 16)

Mini-Golf at Staybridge Suites Sunnyvale, California

These JD Power economy-budget brand circle ratings are quite useful to me for helping choose a budget hotel brand. I honestly can’t remember the last time I stayed in one of the eleven brands listed in the JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study for the Economy/Budget segment.

When I drove cross-country three times in the 1990s I am sure I visited several of these brands. Those road trips in the 90s were one of the motivators for getting into loyalty travel as a means to better hotel stays.

Sources: JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study press release

                JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Market Segment Full Report

Loyalty traveler commentary:

The economy/budget segment of hotels is dominated by Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.

Wyndham Rewards is the major economy/budget segment hotel loyalty program with six of the eleven JD Power rated brands of Microtel Inns and Suites, Howard Johnson Express, Super 8, Days Inn, Travelodge and Knights Inn. One of the better features of Wyndham Rewards is the good points-to-miles exchange rate for converting Wyndham Rewards points into airline miles.

EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn are hotel brands participating in Choice Privileges. The primary disadvantage with these budget brands is a 50% reduction in points earned for stays. Most Choice Privileges hotel brands earn 10 points per $1, but only 5 points per $1 is earned with EconoLodge and Rodeway Inns. Wyndham Rewards earns 10 points per $1 for all its economy/budget brands.

Red Roof Inn and Americas Best Value Inn are independent chains with their own loyalty programs.

Motel 6 is the ugly stepchild of French-based Accor Hotels. Motel 6 currently has a limited time offer participating in Accor’s A-Club hotel loyalty program for the opportunity to redeem 2,000 A-Club points for $60 cash vouchers valid at North America Motel 6 properties through October 31, 2010. In general, Motel 6 and Accor’s European budget brand hotels do not participate in the Accor A-Club hotel loyalty program.

Hotel Brands ordered by Number of Hotels in North America

Super 8 Motel (Wyndham Rewards) = 2,137 hotels; mostly in North America, although growing rapidly in China. (ADR = $56.67) Super 8 is the largest economy hotel brand in North America. Free breakfast, free internet and loyalty points or miles are added benefits of this JD Power three circle rated brand.

Days Inn (Wyndham Rewards) = 1,858 global properties (ADR $62.24). Properties offer free internet and most offer a complimentary breakfast and swimming pool.

Motel 6 (Accor A-Club limited participation) = 1,000+ properties in North America. Motel 6 locations.

Americas Best Value Inn (Value Club) = 900 hotels in North America. Hotel locations search. Hotel Directory. Americas Best Value Inn hotel loyalty program – Value Club does not appear to be a points-based program, but rather a value-added on stays program which is common to luxury and independent upscale market brands. Value Club rates give a 15% room discount to members and an opportunity for a complimentary upgrade and late checkout.

EconoLodge (Choice Privileges) = 785 hotels (2010 ADR $51.21). Free wi-fi, continental breakfast and USA Today on weekdays.

Howard Johnson Inns and Express Inns (Wyndham Rewards) = 500+ hotels globally. (ADR = $61.22) Howard Johnson Hotels and Inns operate in three different market segments with some properties in the midscale and some in the economy segment in North America. Internationally in Asia and Latin America the brand tends to be positioned in the midscale to upscale market. I was unable to locate a breakdown of this brand by market segment.

Howard Johnson Hotels USA Directory (pdf)

Howard Johnson Hotels Canada Directory (pdf)

Travelodge (Wyndham Rewards) = 460 hotels in North America. The brand is mostly an economy segment hotel in the U.S. but midscale with food and beverage market segment for hotels in Canada.

Rodeway Inn (Choice Privileges) = 381 hotels (2010 ADR $47.06). Free local calls, continental breakfast, and morning newspaper on weekdays.

Red Roof Inn (RediCard Rewards program) = 345 hotels in  36 states. This brand has slight familiarity due to its promotion earlier this year for 1 cent room rates. Red Roof Inn locations.

Knights Inn (Wyndham Rewards) = 340 hotels in North America. This chain falls squarely in the budget hotel market segment with an average daily rate at $42.46, significantly below the other Wyndham Rewards hotel brands. You apparently get what you pay for with a JD Power hotel guest satisfaction rating of two circles and ranked last on the economy/budget hotel segment report.

Microtel Inns and Suites (Wyndham Rewards) = 320 hotels in North America. (ADR = $56.72) This brand has won the JD Power Hotel Guest Satisfaction Award for Economy/Budget brands 9 years in a row, achieving the only JD Power 5 circle rating for an economy/budget hotel brand in the 2010 study. Microtel Inns founded in 1989 are newly constructed properties rather than rebranded hotels which may account for the overall high satisfaction with the brand.

The Microtel brand was purchased by Wyndham in July 2008. A Microtel Inn promotion is currently in play to celebrate the JD Power achievement. Book a Microtel Inn room between August 9 and September 12 and you could win a free night, a $25 Visa gift card or a $50 Visa gift card. Nine prizes in each category for 27 prizes each week to be awarded.

Microtel promotion link and more details of the promotion can be found in this August 9 press release.

Data sources:

Wyndham Hotels property numbers and ADR data taken from this Wyndham Hotels 2009 10K Report.

Choice Privileges data taken from Choice Hotels 2010 Q2 June 30 financial results.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 13)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 15)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

This is the segment of hotels where loyalty points can be high value redemptions. There are a couple of large chains in this hotel market segment like La Quinta, AmericInn, and Drury that only have one big midscale limited service hotel brand. I need to create some hotel loyalty program reviews for these chains.

Source: JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study press release

JD Power Mid-Scale Limited Service Hotel Market Segment Report

Some time has passed since I stayed in a midscale limited service hotel. I really do not make many trips where I can’t find a higher market segment hotel at a good price. Two years ago when traveling up the west coast from California to Vancouver, British Columbia, I was able to break up my Starwood Hotel stays separated by 800 miles or highway between San Francisco and Portland with Interstate 5 freeway layovers at Holiday Inn Express hotels in Yreka, California and Ashland, Oregon for just 5,000 points per night on PointBreaks Awards. I purchased 10,000 points from Priority Club for $125. The award nights cut the $125 per night rate at these two hotels by half. Keep in mind Priority Club PointBreaks awards when taking a trip to some out of the way places and seeking a hotel night for under $65. Holiday Inn Express is the most widespread midscale limited service brand in the U.S. 

The highest JD Power consumer rating of five circles only goes to one Midscale Limited Service brand – Drury Inn & Suites. Here is a hotel brand I am not familiar with at all since the 120 Drury Hotels do not extend to the west coast. The last time I did a roadtrip through middle America was 1996. Next time I drive I-70 across Kansas and Missouri I’ll be on the lookout for a Drury Hotel or perhaps on my trip to Chicago in October I will find a Drury Hotel. Drury Gold Key Club is the hotel loyalty program. I will need to look into this program to determine the value of points.

Drury Hotels map link:

Mid-Scale Limited Service Hotel Brands Ordered by Number of North America Hotels

Holiday Inn Express (IHG Priority Club) = 1,874 hotels in the Americas (June 30, 2010); 2,000+ hotels globally. Holiday Inn Express Directory. This brand grows at the rate of a new opening every one or two days with over 400 more HI Express hotels currently in the Americas growth pipeline. Holiday Inn Express is positioned to outgrow Best Western in the USA as the largest domestic hotel brand over the next couple of years.

Hampton Inn (Hilton HHonors) = about 1,700 hotels.  Hampton Inn locations.

Comfort Inn (Choice Privileges) = 1,446 domestic hotels (June 30, 2010) ; 2,000+ hotels globally. Comfort Inn locations.

La Quinta (La Quinta Returns) = 750+hotels in U.S. and Mexico. La Quinta Returns has free nights in six tier levels of hotels from 6,000 to 24,000 points. La Quinta Hotel Directory.

Fairfield Inn (Marriott Rewards) = 641 hotels. Fairfield Inn locations downloadable directory. 

Comfort Suites (Choice Privileges) = 621 hotels domestic (June 30, 2010). Comfort Suites Hotel Directory.

Country Inn & Suites (Carlson Hotels Goldpoints Plus) = 500+ hotels; almost all in North America. Country Inn & Suites Directory (August 2010 pdf)

Sleep Inn (Choice Privileges) = 392 hotels. Choice Hotel Directory.

Springhill Suites (Marriott Rewards) = 267 hotels (June 30, 2010). SpringHill Suites locations. 

Baymont Inn & Suites (Wyndham Rewards) = 244 Hotels in U.S. and Canada. Baymont Inn locations. 

AmericInn (AmericInn Easy Rewards) = 215 hotels in 22 states. This is another brand primarily located in middle America. Hotel locations.

 Source: http://www.americinn.com/Home

Wingate (Wyndham Rewards) = 150 hotels.  Hotel locations.

Drury Inn (Drury Gold Key Club) around 120 hotels. Great brand for Kansas travel. Drury Inn & Suites locations.

Ramada Limited ( Wyndham Rewards).  I was unable to locate the number of properties between Ramada Limited and Ramada full service (restaurant) among the 920 properties in 47 countries. Most Ramada Hotels (about 800) are in the U.S.

Over the next month I will try to develop some overview posts for La Quinta, AmericInn and Drury Hotels loyalty programs.

Links to Related Loyalty Traveler commentary for different hotel market segments covered in JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Satisfaction Index:

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 13)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Satisfaction ratings (Aug 16)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

JD Power’s 2010 Guest Satisfaction Survey ranks Midscale Full Service hotel brands. This type of hotel is usually designated Midscale with Food and Beverage (Midscale F&B) in hotel market segment data. The JD Power survey categorizes two classes of Midscale Hotels with the Full Service Segment and Limited Service Segment.

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index - Midscale Full-Service Hotel Brands

Graphic is from JDPower.com 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Press Release

JD Power Midscale Full Service  Ratings report 

Nine major hotel loyalty programs are represented in the midscale full service segment. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Starwood make the four and five circle ratings for their Midscale F&B brands. 

Hilton Garden Inn and Hyatt Place ranked high with a top Power Circle Rating 5 from JDPower.com ratings. Marriott Courtyard and Starwood’s Four Points come in at the level 4 rated brands. IHG Priority Club is not represented until level 3 Power Circle Rating with Holiday Inn. 

I have stayed frequently in these brands and I guess I prefer Hyatt Place for the room design over a typical Hilton Garden Inn room but I’ll take HGI for the food. Some Four Points have great beer deals. The basic Marriott Courtyard is usually a comfortable lobby. In general I favor the upscale hotels, but I drop down to visit these brands when the price is right and the option works out best for the location. 

Wyndham, Holiday Inn, and Best Western receive three circles in the JD Power ratings.

Holiday Inn has been going through a $1 billion make-over for the past two years. At over 800 hotels in North America the brand is iconic in the hotel world and still growing strong. The disparity between Holiday Inn hotels around the U.S. is a concern, however, international Holiday Inn properties tend to be more in the upscale market in many locations. 

Wyndham Garden Hotels have a three circle rating although this brand is limited in number of hotels with fewer than 20.

Best Western is a solo hotel brand with over 2,200 hotels in the U.S. alone and almost 200 hotels in Canada. Best Western is midscale franchise brand with a wide variety of hotel properties mostly in the form of conversions of existing hotels.

Choice Hotels and Wyndham vie for least desirable mid-scale hotel brands with each representing two of the bottom four ranked chains in the mid-scale full service market. Quality Inn and Clarion Hotels are Choice Privileges brands.

Curiously the Clarion brand ranked slightly lower in guest satisfaction than the Quality Inn brand. Clarion Hotels as a brand was created in the 1980s from the high-end Quality Inn properties.  

Ramada Inn and last ranked Howard Johnson are Wyndham Rewards brands.

Hotel Brands Ranked by Number of Hotels in North America

Best Western (Best Western Rewards) = 2,400+ hotels in North America; 4,000+ globally. 

Quality Inn (Choice Privileges) = about 984 hotels in North America. Quality Inn and Suites locations.  

Holiday Inn (IHG Priority Club Rewards) = 880 Americas; 1,300+ hotels globally

Courtyard by Marriott (Marriott Rewards) = 780 hotels US; 850+ globally.                                                                              Marriott Courtyard Hotel Directory (pdf) 

Ramada Inn (Wyndham Rewards) = 910 hotels globally

Hilton Garden Inn (Hilton HHonors) = 500+ hotels globally; almost all in North America. Hilton Garden Inn Hotel locations: Downloadable PC or Mac HGI e-directory.

Howard Johnson (Wyndham Rewards) = 500+ hotels; almost all in North America.

Clarion Hotels (Choice Privileges) = 175 hotels in North America; 250+ globally. Clarion hotel locations.

Hyatt Place (Hyatt Gold Passport) = 160 hotels. Hyatt Place Hotel Locations 

Four Points by Sheraton (Starwood Preferred Guest) = about 113 hotels North America; 166 hotels globally. Four Points Hotel locations. 

Wyndham Garden Hotels (Wyndham Rewards) = about 20 hotels. Wyndham Garden locations.

Links to Related Loyalty Traveler commentary for different hotel market segments covered in JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Satisfaction Index:

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 15)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

JD Power’s Guest Satisfaction Survey does not differentiate between upscale and upper-upscale hotel market segment brands; a distinction made in many hotel data reports.  

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study - Upscale Hotel Segment

JDPower.com 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Press Release

JDPower.com 2010 North America Upscale Hotel Guest Satisfaction link

Omni Hotels (Omni Select Guest) takes number #1 as the only upscale segment brand to receive the highest five circle ranking, but with only 45 locations this brand has limited geography. The Omni Hotels I have been to in San Francisco and Colorado have been high hotel quality and could fit suitably in the luxury category. Omni Select Guest ran a promotion in May 2010 giving loyalty program members a complimentary BOGO certificate for free weekend night (Loyalty traveler May 6, 2010) .

The number of properties in a hotel chain is a primary consideration when choosing a hotel loyalty program and aiming for elite status with all the additional benefits received with hotel stays like upgrades, bonus points, and welcome gifts. Omni Hotels may rank five circles in the JD Power consumer ranking, however, 45 locations may not cover your annual hotel stay needs. When you travel around you need a hotel loyalty program that earns in lots of places! 

Upscale Hotel Brands by Number of Hotels in North America  

Marriott Hotels (Marriott Rewards) = 354 Hotels in North America based on most recent 2010 Q2 financial report. Marriott Hotel locations. 

Hilton Hotels (Hilton HHonors) =  330 hotels is a rough estimate due to the difficulty of finding a simple listing of hotels as with other hotel websites. This Hilton link requires a search by each country or state. Hilton Hotel locations.

Sheraton (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 212 hotels in North America; 440 hotels worldwide. Sheraton Hotel locations.  

Embassy Suites (Hilton HHonors) has 200+ hotels, nearly all in North America. Embassy Suites hotel locations.

Doubletree (Hilton HHonors) = about 200 hotels, nearly all hotels in brand are in North America. Doubletree Hotel locations.

Crowne Plaza (IHG Priority Club) = about 200 hotels in North America. Crowne Plaza locations. 

Radisson (Carlson Goldpoints Plus) = about 170 in North America; 430 hotels globally. Radisson Hotel locations.   

Westin Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 132 hotels in North America; 200+ hotels globally. Westin Hotel locations.  

Hyatt Hotels (Hyatt Gold Passport) = about 140 hotels in North America. Hyatt locations.  

Renaissance Hotels (Marriott Rewards) = about 90 hotels in North America. Renaissance Hotel locations. 

Delta Hotels = 45 hotels in Canada. Delta Hotel locations.  

Aloft Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 40 hotels in North America and five international locations. Aloft Hotel locations.

Hotel Indigo (Priority Club) = 39 hotels North America and 9 international. Hotel Indigo locations.

Wyndham Hotels (Wyndham Rewards) = 29 hotels in North America. Wyndham Hotel locations.  

Loyalty traveler Commentary on upscale hotel brands:

Hilton HHonors members may not have much action on the luxury front with limited locations for Conrad and Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotels in North America (around 20), but HHonors members have plenty of choice with access to the most properties in the upscale segment for over 700 hotels in North America with Embassy Suites, Hilton and Doubletree.

Embassy Suites ranks as the #2 hotel brand in the upscale segment. In my opinion the allure of a guaranteed suite and free breakfast makes these hotels too family friendly for my taste. Pools are kid zones and breakfast buffet requires paying attention to the little-hand food contaminators pawing the selections. The breakfast zone at an Embassy Suites makes me feel like I am at home fending for my seafood dinner with three cats pacing around me.   

Marriott Rewards members have a good selection of upscale hotels in North America with Marriott and Renaissance brands reaching 450 hotels. 

Starwood Hotels ranks with three brands in Aloft, Westin and Sheraton with about 400 hotels in North America. 

Interesting to see the high guest satisfaction with Starwood’s Aloft. The Aloft cookie-cutter room design is great for a solo business traveler needing a place to sleep and get some work in, but the hotel is not the kind of place I would wish to spend a vacation. The design is visually appealing with vibrant colors but lacks a geographical hotel character. If you have been to one Aloft, then you have seen them all and the only guest surprise in a new location comes in the form of your room window view of Portland Airport or Denver Airport or …. 

IHG Priority Club has Hotel Indigo and Crowne Plaza with around 250 hotels which leaves a gap in the competition with Hilton, Marriott and Starwood for the upscale market segment. IHG has a particularly strong presence in the midscale (3,000+ hotels with Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express) and Luxury markets (InterContinental Hotels is largest global chain brand). I have not been to a Hotel Indigo yet. “Press Trip” is resounding in my head.

Hyatt has around 130 hotels in Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Resorts and Hyatt Vacation Clubs in North America. Hyatt Hotels ranked below the JD Power average for the upscale hotel brand segment. I can’t really rationalize this result except to say that many of the Hyatt properties are older and were designed as large conference style hotels and perhaps this is a detractor to many travelers. I generally find Hyatt to be a solid upscale brand. 

Radisson has around 170 hotels in USA and the company has embarked on a major upgrade campaign for the North America brand and image. The loyalty program keeps improving and has a good value proposition in benefits. 

Delta Hotels ranks poorly in the 2010 JD Power index in 15^th and the bottom of the ranked upscale hotel brands. Fortunately these 45 or so hotels are in Canada or unfortunately depending on which side of the border you are a frequent guest. I know nothing about this brand personally. I’ll need to do some homework on the brand and check their hotels out the next time I am in Canada. 

Crowne Plaza, Doubletree and Sheraton take the JD Power Guest satisfaction short straws.  Granted there are some poor quality locations but that is to be expected considering the size of these three brands. Each brand has around 200 hotels in the US and together these three brands have twice the number of domestic hotels as the 15 major luxury brands discussed in the luxury segment Loyalty Traveler post. I have stayed at some very nice hotel properties with each of these hotel brands.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts ranked above the average and earned three circles  for the upscale market segment. The  consumer guest ratings are comparable to Hilton, Hotel Indigo and Hyatt.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index and hotel market segments:

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 13)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Brands (August 15, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index - Luxury Segment

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study link.

JD Power Luxury Segment Satisfaction link.

The JD Power luxury segment chart led me to estimate the number of properties for each luxury hotel brand. The result shows luxury hotel brands are a small population in the overall hotel market in North America.  

Here are 15 luxury hotel brands ranked by number of properties in North America. The number of hotels was estimated by a simple count and may include some hotels scheduled to open this year. Links to property locations are included for each brand.

Ritz Carlton (Marriott Rewards redemption) = about 45 hotels in US, Mexico and Caribbean. Hotel Locations.

Four Seasons (no published loyalty program) = about 35 hotels in North America. Four Seasons  Hotel Locations. 

InterContinental Hotels (IHG Priority Club and Ambassador Club) has about 37 hotels in North America. InterContinental Hotel locations. 

Fairmont (Fairmont President’s Club) about 30 hotels.  Fairmont Hotel locations.

W Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest) has about 20 hotels in North America. W Hotel locations.

JW Marriott (Marriott Rewards) 19 hotels in North America. JW Marriott hotel locations.

Loews (You First) has hotels in 17 cities. Loews hotel locations.

Waldorf-Astoria Collection (Hilton HHonors) 17 Hotels in North America. Several of these properties opened in the past year. I suspect WAC brand will be included in the JD Power luxury list for 2011. Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotel locations.

The Luxury Collection (Starwood Preferred Guest) 18 Properties, although three properties are in one location at The Phoenician Scottsdale. The Luxury Collection Hotel locations.

Millennium Hotels (M&C Loyalty Club) = 13 hotels in North America. Millennium Hotel locations. This brand is prevalent in New Zealand/Australia. 

Le Meridien (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 10 hotels in North America Le Meridien Hotel locations. 

St. Regis (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 8 hotels in North America.  St. Regis Hotel locations. 

Sofitel (Accor A-Club)= 9 hotels in North America.  Sofitel Hotel locations.

Park Hyatt (Hyatt Gold Passport) has only 5 North America locations. Park Hyatt Hotel locations.

Conrad Hotels (Hilton HHonors) has 5 hotels in North America. Conrad Hotel locations.

Globally the largest luxury brands in this selection are InterContinental Hotels (about 175 hotels), Le Meridien (about 100 hotels) and Sofitel (131 hotels). These brands have the vast majority of their hotels outside North America. These three brands, two of which do not rank in the JD Power luxury hotel brands for North America, surpass Ritz-Carlton (80 hotels) or Four Seasons (85 hotels) global portfolio in number of hotels.

Ritz-Carlton is a Marriott brand that partially participates in Marriott Rewards. You do not earn Marriott points for paid stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels, but you can use points for free nights at Ritz-Carlton Hotels. Marriott changed their award chart this past year to go to a 5^th night free redemption program for all their hotel brands, except Ritz-Carlton hotel awards are still progressively discounted for longer stays. The longer you stay the less Marriott points per night needed. A Tier 1 Ritz-Carlton Hotel costs 45,000 points for a one night stay, but only 25,000 points per night at 175,000 points for a seven night stay. This is a substantial savings on a seven night points stay at a Ritz-Carlton.  

One of the best values in the Marriott Rewards points catalog is PointSavers discounts for Ritz-Carlton stays.

Noticeably absent from the JD Power list of North America luxury brands is Hilton Worldwide’s Waldorf Astoria Collection. The rapid expansion of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection this past year now places the brand at 24 hotels globally with 17 in North America. These numbers will likely place Hilton’s luxury brand on the JD Power list in the next year or two. Conrad Hotels are still limited to just five locations in North America and 19 hotels worldwide.

InterContinental, W Hotels, and Loews are rated two JDPower circles. I am not too familiar with Loews having only been to two locations. I really like the Loews Lake Las Vegas (formerly a Park Hyatt), but I wonder if that property will survive with the closing of the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas a few months ago?

W Hotels are trendy but not what I consider a luxury hotel brand in terms of service and facilities. I like the hotels for their ambience, but the typically small room size is a big detractor for the typically high price. When I am paying for a luxury hotel I want at least 500+ square feet of room space to lounge around in and the typical W Hotel room is well short of that size.

InterContinental Hotels are a better loyalty program value if you buy in to Ambassador membership for the extra benefits. The annual rate for new members increased in July to $200 or 32,000 Priority Club points.

Fairmont Hotels are great if you travel across Canada and the west coast. Fairmont President’s Club only requires ten stays for top elite membership with some nice benefits. You should sign up for FPC membership just to receive the monthly special rate offers even if you are not positioned for earning elite status.  There are some high value rate discounts for loyalty members sent each month in email.

Loyalty Traveler related post: August 10 Overview of JD Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Brand Ratings (Aug 11, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Brand Ratings (Aug 13, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Brands (August 15, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)