Although we’ve always been taught to “never judge a book by its cover,” we often need to make quick decisions and base those decisions off of minimal – and sometimes superficial – information. The hotel star rating is a quick way for customers and travel agents to assess your property based on the basic amenities and quality of the property in comparison to competitors.
If a customer is looking for a little bit of luxury on their overnight stay, they will pass over a two-star property. In contrast, if a guest is looking for a no-frills place to rest their bones after a long drive, they will most likely ignore four- and five-star properties to save on some cash.
Star ratings may vary between travel sites. Hotwire calculates their star ratings by adjusting average ratings from other top traveler sites based on customer feedback for each individual property. But other OTA’s may use an entirely different calculation. This makes consistency an issue, but if you offer quality amenities and a clean property, it is likely that your rating will not vary greatly between sites.
Paying attention to your star-rating really does impact your property. Ratings are important because:
- Customers are drawn to concise, succinct information.
- You can use your rating as a marketing tool.
- If a three-star hotel jumps up to a three and a half-star hotel, the revenue from each room per day would increase by about 2 percent.
- Even though specific calculations vary between OTA’s, it’s a universal way to communicate the quality of your property.
- They classify your property’s quality.
- Your rating can be affected by guest feedback of OTA’s and distribution channels.
- They separate your property from local competition.
- With a higher rating, you can secure higher priced bookings.
- They are often the first thing customers see.
- They play a major role in how guests decided between properties within a certain location.
Your guests aren’t just seeing stars when they look at your property’s rating. Those numbers mean something and can affect your bottom line. So take pride in your property and see your rating go up – along with bookings, revenue and positive feedback. Soon you will be the shining star of the bunch.
You can read our blog posts on Ways to Provide better Customer service to your guests and how guest behaviour is changing the way we look at cloud.