The results are in for the J.D. Power 2016 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study. Overall, guest satisfaction improved for a 4th consecutive year. And satisfaction is higher for guests that are part of hotel rewards programs.
Luxury brand hotels, like Ritz-Carlton, had the biggest jump in customer satisfaction. And Ritz-Carlton also had the highest satisfaction score of any hotel brand in the last 20 years!
Ritz-Carlton Hotels Ranked as the Top Luxury Brand for a 2nd Consecutive Year. I’ll Show You How to Earn Free Stays at Ritz-Carlton and the Rest of the Top-Rated Hotel Brands
I’ll explain how you can get free stays at the top-rated hotel brands!
8 Top-Rated Hotel Brands
Link: J.D. Power 2016 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study
The study measured guest satisfaction for 8 hotel segments by gathering responses from more than 63,000 guests in Canada and the United States who stayed at a hotel in North America between May 2015 and May 2016.
The survey reviewed 7 key measures including:
check-in / check-out
cost & fees
food & beverage
guest room
hotel facilities
hotel services
reservation
Here are the top-rated hotels for each segment:
Economy / Budget: Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham (4th consecutive year)
Extended Stay: Home2 Suites by Hilton
Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (2nd consecutive year)
Midscale: Wingate by Wyndham (2nd consecutive year)
Upper Extended Stay: Hyatt House
Upper Midscale: Drury Hotels (11th consecutive year)
Upscale: Hilton Garden Inn
Upper Upscale: Omni Hotels & Resorts (2nd consecutive year)
Although they were not top rated, several IHG hotel brands like InterContinental and Holiday Inn Express were also ranked highly.
In a moment, I’ll show you how to get free nights at these hotels!
Hyatt House Has Free Breakfast
Million Mile Secrets team member Harlan has stayed at a few Hyatt House hotels, which was the top rated hotel in the Upper Extended Stay segment.
He liked the free and reliable in-room Wi-Fi. Hyatt House hotels usually have free breakfast with a few hot food items, served buffet-style. So you can get a big breakfast and save money if you’re traveling with friends or family.
In his experience, they also have nice pools and a small fitness room. This means you can enjoy hotel amenities without paying more for a higher-end hotel.
Hilton Garden Inn Has Made to Order Breakfast
And team members Jasmin and Keith have both stayed at different Hilton Garden Inn hotels in Calgary, Houston, and Las Vegas.
They enjoyed the made-to-order breakfasts. And they usually have nice outdoor pools.
Hilton Garden Inn Was the Top Rated Upscale Hotel Brand. Many Hilton Garden Inn’s Have Great Pools, Like This One in Las Vegas!
Mixed Feelings About Microtel Inn
Jasmin and Keith have also stayed at different Microtel Inn & Suites hotels, which was top rated in the economy and budget segment. Their experiences were very different. Jasmin thought the Microtel felt cheap and wouldn’t stay there in the future.
But Keith enjoyed his stay at the Microtel Inn & Suites South Bend where he stayed for a weekend to see a Notre Dame football game.
Because folks can have different opinions of hotels, I recommend using TripAdvisor to read detailed reviews about a hotel before booking your stay!
Use Points for Free Stays at Top-Rated Hotels
If you don’t have enough points to book a hotel stay, here are some ways to quickly increase your point balances!
The best way to earn free stays at these hotel brands is to earn points through their credit card sign-up bonuses. You’ll often earn enough points for multiple free nights! Spend on items you’d be buying anyway with your new card and you’ll earn a big welcome bonus.
And certain hotel cards give you a free night each year you keep your card open!
Just be sure you ALWAYS pay your bill on time and in full!
Hilton
Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points
Transfer Citi ThankYou points
Sign-up bonuses from the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card, Hilton HHonors Card from American Express, and Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express
Transfer airline miles like Hawaiian Airlines or Virgin Atlantic
Hyatt
Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Sign-up bonus of 2 free nights from the Chase Hyatt card
Marriott / Ritz-Carlton
Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Buy Marriott points
Sign-up bonus from the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier credit card
Sign-up bonus from the Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Wyndham
Sign-up bonus from Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards card
For smaller chains like Drury Hotels, you can use the miles from the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard to save on your stay.
To find hotels that can be booked with points, I use Hotel Hustle (which even shows you if rooms are actually available!) or AwardMapper.
Or you can book your stay through hotels.com and use your 10th night free at the hotel you want. Or when you shop at Orbitz, collect Orbitz Orbucks points that you can use to stay at independent hotel brands.
Bottom Line
There are many ways to earn points for free stays at many of the top-rated hotel brands in the J.D. Power 2016 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study.
You can earn credit card sign-up bonuses or transfer points from certain airlines or credit cards for free stays at hotel brands like Hilton, Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, and Wyndham. Or you can use sites like hotels.com and and Orbitz to earn rewards for free stays at independent hotel brands.
Which is your favorite hotel brand on the list?
* If you liked this post, why don’t you join the 20,000+ readers who have signed-up to receive free blog posts via email (only 1 email per day!) or in an RSS reader …because then you’ll never miss another update!
Related Stories
Hot! $487+ Round-Trip to Hong Kong From 4 Cities, $310 New York to Paris
Family Travel: Use Points, Get Free Breakfast at These Fastest-Growing US Hotels
Family Travel: What to Look for When Booking Your Hotel