Hotel guest satisfaction in North America continues to climb, with year-over-year improvements across every hotel segment in the JD Power 2026 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study,SM released today. Now marking its 30th year, the study has tracked the evolution of guest expectations and hotel performance across three decades, finding that hotel owners’ continued investments in guest rooms, property upkeep and service are driving today’s higher guest satisfaction levels.
“For 30 years, JD Power has provided the industry with unbiased guest satisfaction benchmarks against which hotel chains and brands drive continuous quality and service improvement. This year’s study results show that hotels are firing on all cylinders. In every hotel segment, guests are having better experiences due to positive interactions with hotel staff, higher quality food and beverage and guest room improvements,” said Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at JD Power. “Improvements in courtesy from front desk staff, responsiveness to guest requests and the maintenance and upkeep of shared amenities such as pools and fitness centers, among others, are all elevating perceptions of the guest experience. At the same time, the study results reveal artificial intelligence (AI) tools are beginning to reshape the hotel discovery process.”
Following are some key findings of the 2026 study:
- Industry-wide guest satisfaction improves across every touchpoint: Overall hotel guest satisfaction improves 13 points (on a 1,000-point scale) to 665 this year, with year-over-year increases observed across all dimensions of the hotel stay, led by value for prices paid (+18 points on a 1,000-point scale), food and beverage satisfaction (+14) and the hotel facility satisfaction (+14). Notably, this improvement comes in the context of the average daily rate (ADR) for a U.S. hotel room rising about 1% year over year1.
- AI tools start to influence research: The study now measures the proportion of hotel guests using AI tools for hotel research and shows that AI-based research is concentrated among younger generations. Among those using AI tools in the hotel research process, Gen Y2 accounts for 49% and Gen Z accounts for 23% of all users.
- Today’s extras are tomorrow’s expectations: Smart TVs with streaming capabilities continue to transition from a premium guest room amenity to a standard expectation, with availability increasing to 74% and guest usage rising to 62% (both up 2 percentage points year over year). Guests are also placing greater emphasis on health and wellness, identifying daily housekeeping (46%), filtered water stations (30%) and fitness centers (21%) as “need to have” amenities.
Index Ranking
The following hotel brands rank highest in overall guest satisfaction in their respective segment:
Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (785) (for a second consecutive year)
Upper Upscale: Kimpton (738)
Upscale: Drury Hotels (761) (for a second consecutive year)
Upscale Extended Stay: Hyatt House (728) (for a fifth consecutive year)
Upper Midscale: Hampton by Hilton (704) (for a second consecutive year)
Upper Midscale/Midscale Extended Stay: Home2 Suites by Hilton (700) (for a fourth consecutive year)
Midscale: Tru by Hilton (695) (for a fourth consecutive year)
Economy: Microtel by Wyndham (637) (for a fourth consecutive year)
Economy Extended Stay: WoodSpring Suites (587) (for a fourth consecutive year)
To view the complete rankings, visit: http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2026060
Now in its 30th year, the North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study measures overall hotel guest satisfaction based on performance in seven core dimensions (in alphabetical order): check-in/check-out; hotel connectivity; hotel facility; food and beverage; guest room; staff service; and value for prices paid. The 2026 study benchmarks the performance of 104 brands across nine hotel segments and is based on responses from 44,787 branded hotel guests for past 30-day stays between May 2025 and May 2026.
For more information about the North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/north-america-hotel-guest-satisfaction-study/.
About JD Power
JD Power delivers mission-critical data, analytics and intelligence that help businesses improve customer experience and operational performance with confidence and clarity. Using proprietary, comprehensive data–including millions of consumer interactions and authoritative automotive datasets–combined with advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and deep industry expertise, JD Power enables leaders to respond to market shifts, make smarter decisions and drive measurable performance improvements.
As an objective source of deep insight into real-world customer interactions with brands and products, JD Power provides the independent intelligence organizations need to anticipate change, strengthen customer engagement and advance growth. Learn more at JDPower.com.
1 Source: CoStar/STR
2 JD Power defines generational groups as Pre-Boomers (born before 1946); Boomers (1946-1964); Gen X (1965-1976); Gen Y (1977-1994); and Gen Z (1995-2008). Millennials (1982-1994) are a subset of Gen Y.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260714657289/en/
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