Marriott Hotels has outperformed other rival brands as the most preferred hotel in London by gaining top points for room satisfaction, friendliness of staff and cleanliness, according to a survey conducted by Hotel Industry Magazine’s data centre partner, LJ Research Hotel Monitor.
The survey, which was conducted on 5,000 visitors who stayed in hotels or serviced apartments in London in 2012, was designed to find out visitors’ thoughts on their accommodation, their satisfaction level and differences between hotel chains.
The research found that visitors were mostly satisfied with the hotels in London, with Marriott being the most preferred and Travelodge the least.
The most influential factors in choosing accommodation were good public transport links and proximity to the city centre, with 42% and 33% of visitors giving these as the reasons behind their choice of hotel, respectively.
Branding and website reviews turned out not to be influential when choosing accommodation in the city.
Most of the London hotels fared well for cleanliness, room satisfaction and friendliness of staff; however, ratings for value-for-money were fairly low, potentially posing a threat for city hotels in the future.
LJ Research research director Sean Morgan was quoted by the Hotel Industry Magazine website as saying that the London hotel market is very important for the UK tourism industry.
"For many visitors coming in to the UK it is their first touch-point and hence can have a significant impact on their overall experience, especially important given the city acts as a gateway to the rest of the UK," Morgan added.
"Most recent trends are positive news for the UK tourism industry with London visitors mostly satisfied with the service they receive; however, satisfaction scores for some critical aspects such as cleanliness, ‘satisfaction with room’, ‘friendliness of staff’, and ‘value for money’ are lower in London compared to other cities in the UK.
"It is, of course, very interesting to note the differences between hotel chains. Marriott hotels in particular seem to have been extraordinarily successful in training their staff and investing in their product to offer a great experience."
