There’s a lot to gripe about these days when it comes to the general travel experience: checked bag fees, ticket change fees, forgot-to-fill-up-your-tank-before-returning-your-rental-car fees (did we mention there are a lot of fees?). Surprisingly, though, guests report overall high satisfaction with hotel costs and fees, according to an annual survey from J.D. Power and Associates.
So what are hotel guests complaining about? Just about everything else.
When asked how they feel about check-in/check-out, food and beverage, hotel services, and hotel facilities, guests reported the lowest levels of satisfaction since 2006. Guest rooms also rated within one point (on a 1,000-point scale) of recent lows. While a surly clerk at check-in might not be enough to ruin your whole vacation, it could keep you from returning to that hotel brand on a future stay.
One fee that guests do find flaw with is paying for hotel Wi-Fi. Those that had to pay to use the Internet scored their satisfaction with hotel costs and fees 76 points lower than those who could surf for free. We wonder – how many of those disgruntled guests are grumbling online about paying for Wi-Fi while doling out a fee to use the hotel Internet?
Readers: what are your biggest gripes about hotels?