TROY, Michigan—According to the J.D. Power 2025 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark, guest satisfaction declined significantly year over year in the areas of food and beverage quality and facilities maintenance as management companies contended with increasing operating costs.
“In hotels where the owner is not operating the property, guest satisfaction ultimately rests with third-party management companies that operate on behalf of hotel owners,” said Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power. “While these companies are all focused on bringing a level of standardization and consistency to the guest experience, we’re starting to see some challenges emerge where guest satisfaction is faltering, particularly for quality of food and beverage and hotel facilities upkeep, which can often indicate rising costs.”
The following were some of the key findings of the 2025 benchmark:
- Food and beverage satisfaction declines: More than three-fourths (77 percent) of guests in branded hotels run by the largest third-party management companies chose to dine in the hotel, up from 73 percent in 2024. Yet, guest satisfaction declined significantly for quality of food, cleanliness of dining area(s), food and beverage presentation, and ambiance.
- Hotel facilities maintenance in focus: Guest satisfaction with the appearance of hotel exterior and grounds, and maintenance of pools, fitness centers, and laundry areas also declined significantly in this year’s benchmark.
- Staff service and guest room appearance deliver on guest expectations: In other critical operational areas for third-party hotel management companies, such as staff service and overall appearance and condition of guestrooms, guest satisfaction was on par with 2024.
The North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark was redesigned for 2025, so overall satisfaction index scores are not comparable with previous years.
The benchmark, now in its sixth year, evaluated guest satisfaction with branded hotels that were operated by the largest third-party management companies. It was based on seven dimensions (in order of importance): guest room; hotel staff service; value for prices paid; check-in/check-out; hotel facility; food and beverage; and hotel connectivity. The benchmark included third-party hotel operators with more than 14,000 branded hotel rooms under management. The 2025 benchmark was based on 5,022 guest responses for branded hotel stays from May 2024 through May 2025.
