A recent survey of hotels in North America finds that the recent hiring spree by the hotels in the United States has brought instantaneous results in terms of greater customer satisfaction.

Hotels across the United States are seeing a large-scale return of business as travellers begin filling rooms with the same vigour as in the pre-pandemic era. According to recent data, the average hotel occupancy in the US is on track to reach 63.8 pc this year, just behind the 2019 level of 65.9 pc.

The studies say that business and leisure travellers are packing into hotels throughout North America for a second consecutive year.

With the guests returning in large numbers, other studies show that hotels have responded to greater occupancies by ratcheting up staffing and doubling down on customer service.

According to the J D Power 2023 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index (NAGSI) Study, staff service garners the highest level of satisfaction among all guest experience factors measured.

The survey says that driven in large part by a hiring surge in the leisure and hospitality sector during the past 12 months, new and returning hospitality workers are providing a generally positive hotel stay experience.

“Hotel hiring continues to increase, and leisure and hospitality is the ‘rock star’ among industries reported in monthly U S Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures. This boost in hotel staffing is showing up in the form of high customer satisfaction scores. Staff service is now the highest-scoring factor in this study across all hotel segments from economy to luxury, underscoring the critical role that frontline staff play in defining the guest experience,” says Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J D Power.

The survey says that high scores for hotel staff linked to low problem incidence as overall satisfaction with hotel staff is 701 on a 1,000-point scale, making it the single highest-scoring factor in this year’s study. Hotel staff play a key role in avoiding and resolving problems, with 86 pc of hotel guests saying they experienced no problems during their stay.

Another key aspect of the stay is creating a perfect lobby. The survey says that guests’ experience with hotel lobbies/common areas can positively affect overall satisfaction, but it plays out differently in various hotel segments. Among luxury hotel guests, for example, it is important to have a lobby that is modern and unique. In upscale hotels, particularly upscale extended stay hotels, guests are looking for a lobby that is welcoming and inviting.

Another unsurprising outcome of the survey relates to the customers’ perception of value for money which remains crucial to satisfaction. It says that value for price paid given quality and service received is still top of mind for hotel guests. Overall satisfaction among guests who rate the value for price paid of their guest room as excellent or perfect, on a scale of poor to perfect, is 302 points higher than among guests who do not.