Survey: Value, Comfort Most Important In Hotel

  • March 2, 2010
A Hilton Garden Inn survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. reveals that when booking a hotel for a "big day," the majority of Americans surveyed value a comfortable bed just as much as they do like a good hotel rate.

About 80% consider the best value for the rate most important, followed by 76% who think a comfortable bed is the most important amenity to consider when booking a room.

"Whether for business or pleasure, Hilton Garden Inn understands how important big days are to our guests, which is why we've developed the 'Big Day' theme across all of our marketing efforts," says Jim Cone, Hilton Garden Inn, vice president brand marketing.

The hotel chain is introducing a new look in its magazine ads reflecting the theme, says a Hilton Garden Inn spokesperson, who added that the "Big Day" theme has been used for several years.

The survey also revealed that Americans consider both personal and business-related "big days" important. The most popular personal occasions involved spending time with others including road trips with family/friends (64%), family reunions (49%), wedding anniversaries (43%), graduation celebrations (42%) and significant other's birthdays (40%) while trade shows/conventions (35%), job interviews (22%) and client presentations (14%) topped the business-related occasions list.--Tanya Irwin

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1 comment about "Survey: Value, Comfort Most Important In Hotel".
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  1. Doug Pruden from Customer Experience Partners, March 3, 2010 at 10:54 a.m.

    This article tells us that low price (80% of respondents) is most important to hotel guests followed closely in importance by a comfortable bed (76% of respondents). I didn't see the questionnaire, but I'm not sure that's what the data should be telling us.

    "Value" doesn't mean just price. Don't take my word for it, check the dictionary. Value is actually a measure of the total experience provided at the price charged. (Webster's defines "value" as worth, merit or usefullness.)

    Yes, for some consumers the best value is the very lowest price. For others a long list of factors such as cleanliness, security, guest services, amenities, decor, and yes, even a comfortable bed are part of the value equation. That's why for some consumers the Ritz-Carlton is a good value, while for others it's Motel 6.

    A research study that compares "value" to a "comfortable bed" misses this point. Some of the study respondents that chose "best value for the rate" where likely thinking of the full experience. To them, no matter what the price, without that comfortable bed it wouldn't be a good value.

    "Value for the rate" is a double-barrelled factor (actually worse). To support the findings posed in this article the tradeoff exercise factors should have included "lowest cost" and "comfortable bed".

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