Key Metrics to Measure Hotel Guest Satisfaction

Before we jump into the metrics, let’s first define what guest satisfaction means in the hotel industry. Guest satisfaction encompasses how a guest feels about their entire stay experience, from booking to checkout. This includes their experience on your website, in your lobby, in their guestroom, at your restaurant, and even any digital or phone communication with your staff. So, how do you measure it? Hoteliers can draw guest satisfaction insight from several different metrics:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS asks guests to rate how likely they would recommend your hotel to a friend or coworker, on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being most likely to recommend. 

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): CSAT measures a guest’s satisfaction with a product or service, and it’s typically expressed on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best rating, or as a percentage from 0% to 100%, with 100% being most satisfied.

• Online Reviews and Ratings: Reviews are one of the most popular ways for hoteliers to measure guest satisfaction. Sites like Google and Tripadvisor ask guests to review their stays with a rating on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being best) and a short text review. Expedia and Booking.com use a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best) and ask for a short text review too.

• Repeat Guest Rate (RGR): Your repeat guest rate, which is the percentage of guests who have stayed with you at least once before, can tell you a lot about how guests feel about your hotel. If you have a high repeat guest rate, then guests like your hotel and want to keep coming back. If very few guests return for another stay, then you might be dropping the ball somewhere along the guest journey.

• Average Length of Stay (ALOS): Like repeat guest rate, average length of stay can illustrate if guests love staying at your hotel. If you have a long length of stay coupled with a high repeat guests rate, then it’s clear that guests feel at home at your property.

Methods for Collecting Guest Satisfaction Data

Now that you know what to measure, how do you gather the data? The best way to get guest satisfaction data is to ask for it. One common way to solicit feedback from your guests is to send surveys or feedback prompts throughout the stay journey: after completing the checkout process on your website, upon check-in, during the stay, and after check-out are all good opportunities to ask how things are going. Surveys can be sent via email, SMS, or even on an in-room tablet (or on-screen after the checkout page on your booking engine). The important piece is that all of this data flows to a central database where you can analyze it.

Even if you don’t send your own guest satisfaction surveys yet, you can gain insight from reviews that guests post on third-party sites, like Expedia, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, and Google. OTAs like Expedia and Booking.com send review reminders to their users on your behalf, and Google and Tripadvisor are popular enough that some people post reviews with any sort of prompting. It’s possible to monitor these third-party sites manually, but to make the process more efficient, you can leverage a reputation management tool like Revinate or TrustYou to import the data for you. You can also collect guest satisfaction data on social media by monitoring comments, tags, or messages to your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other online profiles, or by asking guests for their thoughts via an Instagram Q&A or a Twitter poll.

Guest Survey Tools to Automate Feedback Collection and Analysis

It is important for hotels to use survey tools to measure guest satisfaction because they provide an opportunity to gain direct feedback from guests about their experience at the hotel. Survey tools allow hotels to collect and analyze data on guest satisfaction levels and areas for improvement, enabling them to make data-driven decisions to enhance the guest experience and increase customer loyalty.

By using survey tools, hotels can gain insights into their customers' needs, preferences, and expectations, allowing them to tailor their services to meet those needs and exceed expectations. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction levels, positive reviews, and ultimately more bookings and revenue.

Survey tools also enable hotels to identify areas of improvement that may not be immediately apparent, such as staff training, facility maintenance, or changes in amenities and services. By addressing these issues proactively, hotels can prevent negative experiences and improve the guest experience, leading to increased guest satisfaction levels and customer loyalty.

Survey tools can help hotels benchmark their guest satisfaction levels against industry standards and competitors, providing a useful metric to track progress and identify areas for improvement. This can help hotels stay competitive in a crowded market and ensure they are meeting customer needs and expectations.

Survey tools are an important tool for hotels to measure guest satisfaction levels, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance the guest experience and increase customer loyalty.

Analyzing Guest Satisfaction Data

Once you’ve built a pipeline of guest satisfaction data, you can analyze it to better understand the guest experience and how it has evolved over time. It’s important to look at guest satisfaction data quantitatively and qualitatively. Looking only at changes in your average scores over time won’t tell you what you need to improve upon; reading the actual reviews written by guests will add color and context to the numerical scores.

When you’re analyzing data, you should look for any trends or patterns in the data. Do you get lower scores during certain times of year? Do guests who stay in one room category give lower scores than other room categories? But identifying trends isn’t enough to make changes that will boost your scores (and RevPAR!). Dig deeper to find the root cause: maybe your low scores over the summer are because your front desk is so busy that guests experience long wait times. Or maybe your low-scoring room category is incorrectly listed as having a king bed instead of a double bed on your website. Based on these findings, you can then set goals and targets for improvement.

Implementing Improvements Based on Guest Feedback

After identifying some trends and patterns in your data, you have some nice opportunities to make changes to your operations that should boost your guest satisfaction scores. To make the biggest impact, try to address the most common complaints or issues first. If one in five reviews mentions slow service at your restaurant, it might be time to invest in a mobile ordering system to speed things up. Or if many reviews cite lack of helpful communication from your hotel before check-in, you can leverage CRM software to automate your communication process. While some complaints can be addressed in a relatively cheap and easy manner, some issues might require capex investment or a longer timeline, like renovations or refurbishments. However, if guests mention they wish your hotel had a gym, a pool, or a restaurant, rather than building these amenities out, consider a partnership with a local fitness club or cafe that gives your guests special access to their facilities. Thinking outside the box and utilizing technology can save time and money while boosting guest satisfaction.

Staying on top of survey scores

It is essential for hotels to be super tuned with guest satisfaction scores in real time because customer satisfaction is the foundation of success in the hospitality industry. Hoteliers need to understand their guest satisfaction levels and continually measure customer satisfaction through satisfaction surveys, customer feedback, and online reviews to increase guest satisfaction, customer retention, and ultimately their bottom line.

In today's digital age, social media and online reviews are crucial sources of information for potential customers, making it essential for hotels to monitor guest satisfaction in real time. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth can increase a hotel's customer base and loyalty, while negative reviews can harm a hotel's reputation and deter potential guests.

By measuring customer satisfaction metrics such as CSAT, NPS, customer effort score, and benchmark against industry standards, hoteliers can gain insights into their customer journey, identify areas for improvement, and respond quickly to negative experiences to ensure customer needs and guest expectations are met.

Real-time monitoring of guest satisfaction can help hotel staff to be customer-centric and increase guest satisfaction by anticipating guest needs and proactively addressing potential issues during check-in and post-stay. Survey templates and mobile devices can help to increase response rates and provide immediate feedback, enabling hoteliers to respond to guest feedback and increase guest satisfaction levels in real time.

By creating a positive experience and responding quickly to negative experiences, hotels can increase customer loyalty and retain happy customers. Ultimately, being in touch with guest satisfaction scores in real time is essential for hoteliers to measure customer satisfaction, improve the guest experience, and increase their bottom line.

Guest satisfaction is crucial to a hotel’s success; if guests aren’t satisfied, your hotel will suffer from low review scores online, minimal repeat business, and decreased ADR. On the flip side, focusing on collecting, analyzing, and learning from guest satisfaction data can lead to a plethora of benefits, from longer average length of stay, a stronger online reputation, and higher ADR. With the right technology and process, you can make guest satisfaction data a core part of your hotel operations.

Hotel Survey Template 1: Large Luxury Resort

Thank you for choosing to stay with us at our [RESORT NAME]! We value your opinion and would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete this guest post-stay survey.

1. How was your overall experience during your stay at our resort?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

2. How satisfied were you with the cleanliness and maintenance of your room?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

3. How was the quality of service provided by our staff?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

4. How satisfied were you with the amenities provided by our resort, such as the pool, spa, and fitness center?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

5. How was the quality of the amenities provided by our resort, such as the pool, spa, and fitness center?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

6. How satisfied were you with the variety of activities and entertainment available at our resort?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

7. How satisfied were you with the quality of the activities and entertainment available at our resort?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

8. How satisfied were you with the food and beverage options available at our resort?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

9. How was the quality of the food and beverage options available at our resort?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

10. How satisfied were you with the variety of food and beverage outlets available at our resort?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

11. How satisfied were you with the value for money for the food and beverage options available at our resort?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

12. Did you have any specific dietary requirements that were not met by our food and beverage outlets?

• Yes
• No

If yes, please specify:

13. Were there any additional amenities or services you wished were available at our resort?

• Yes
• No

If yes, please specify:

14. Would you recommend our resort to others?

• Yes, definitely
• Yes, with some reservations
• No, I would not recommend it

Thank you for your time and feedback. We appreciate your support and look forward to welcoming you back to our resort in the future.

Hotel Survey Template 2: Small Bed & Breakfast

Thank you for choosing to stay with us at [B&B NAME]. We value your opinion and would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete this guest post-stay survey.

1. How was your overall experience during your stay at our bed and breakfast?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

2. How satisfied were you with the cleanliness and maintenance of your room?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

3. How was the quality of service provided by our staff?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

4. How satisfied were you with the breakfast provided at our bed and breakfast?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

5. How was the quality of the breakfast provided at our bed and breakfast?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

6. How satisfied were you with the amenities provided by our bed and breakfast, such as the Wi-Fi and parking?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

7. How was the quality of the amenities provided by our bed and breakfast, such as the Wi-Fi and parking?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

8. How satisfied were you with the location of our bed and breakfast?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

9. How likely are you to recommend our bed and breakfast to others?

• Very likely
• Likely
• Neutral
• Unlikely
• Very unlikely

10. Were there any areas where we could improve our services to make your stay more comfortable?

• Yes
• No

If yes, please specify:

11. Would you consider staying with us again in the future?

• Yes
• No

Thank you for your time and feedback. We appreciate your support and hope to see you again in the future.

Hotel Survey Template 3: Business/Convention Hotel

Thank you for choosing to stay with us at [BUSINESS HOTEL]. We value your opinion and would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete this guest post-stay survey.

1. How was your overall experience during your stay at our hotel?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

2. How satisfied were you with the cleanliness and maintenance of your room?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

3. How was the quality of service provided by our staff?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

4. How satisfied were you with the Wi-Fi and internet connectivity provided by our hotel?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

5. How was the quality of the Wi-Fi and internet connectivity provided by our hotel?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

6. How satisfied were you with the business facilities provided by our hotel, such as meeting rooms and business center?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

7. How was the quality of the business facilities provided by our hotel, such as meeting rooms and business center?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

8. How satisfied were you with the location of our hotel in the metropolitan area?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

9. How was the noise level at our hotel during your stay?

• Very quiet
• Quiet
• Neutral
• Noisy
• Very noisy

10. How likely are you to recommend our hotel to others?

• Very likely
• Likely
• Neutral
• Unlikely
• Very unlikely

11. Were there any areas where we could improve our services to make your stay more comfortable?

• Yes
• No

If yes, please specify:

12. Would you consider staying with us again in the future?

• Yes
• No

Thank you for your time and feedback. We appreciate your support and hope to see you again in the future.