People Are Paying More To Stay In Hotels - And They're Happy About It

Each year it seems like hotel prices keep shooting up, with the price of an average hotel room rising about 3% in 2012 alone.

But even though hotel prices keep rising, a new study by J.D. Powers shows that hotel guests are not only satisfied with their hotel stays, but they're actually the happiest they've been in seven years.

J.D. Powers surveyed over 68,700 guests who stayed in a North American hotel — including everything from luxury hotels to budget properties — in 2012. They measured how satisfied people were with the hotel based on their experience with reservations, check-in/check-out, guest rooms, food and beverage, hotel services, hotel facilities, and cost and fees.

Overall guest satisfaction got a 777 on a 1,000-point scale, up 20 points from 2012. This is the highest score for the industry since 2006, showing that hotel guests are more satisfied with their stays today than they have been in years.

"The fact that guest satisfaction has turned a corner is great news for an industry that has struggled to sufficiently meet guest expectations in the past few years," said Rick Garlick, global travel and hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power. "Many hotel chains are finally benefitting from the long-term investments they have been making to improve their properties in terms of staffing, rooms and facilities."

The results also show that guests are most satisfied when they have positive interactions with hotel staff members, meaning that hotel service is still of the utmost importance.

On the other hand, guests were most dissatisfied with hotels when they had issues with Internet connectivity or access, showing that Internet service is one of the most important amenities to guests.