Hotel guests finally rate a mention

SYDNEY 26 March 2003 – Consumers worldwide have ranked Australian hotels to be of a higher quality than that of their international counterparts, a global accommodation survey has found.

Of the Australian properties surveyed, consumers granted two, four and five star hotels a higher average rating – across five key categories – than the ratings received by global hotels bearing equivalent stars. While the accommodation quality in three star Australian hotels were perceived to be on equal footing with their star counterparts in other parts of the world (in all categories).

The survey – ‘Rate a Hotel’ – conducted by Australia’s largest online accommodation provider, HotelClub.net (www.hotelclub.net), is an ongoing survey, which in the last six months has received over 12,000 responses from consumers worldwide assessing accommodation quality. The results are then used to provide independent advice to assist future guests’ purchasing decisions.

Five key criteria – cleanliness, facilities, service, location and price – are rated by hotel guests according to a scale of one to five, one being unsatisfactory and five outstanding. An average is then computed based on the results. Due to technical complexities, other general comments are invited and taken on board, but do not contribute to the actual rating.

To date the survey has revealed consumers globally have ranked cleanliness in three star properties as top, followed by location, price and customer service. In comparison, four-star guests ranked location first closely followed by cleanliness and customer service. Cleanliness levels topped again with five star guests followed by location, facilities (gym, spa etc) and customer service with price coming in last.

Lower star rating properties (2-2.5 star) faired best overall with 79 per cent of surveyed consumers who have stayed at these properties giving an “above average” rating (3 out of 5) across all categories – indicating consumers perceive lower star rating properties to be high value.

For top end properties, on average, two in 10 reviewers perceived the quality of accommodation to be outstanding across all five categories.

Ms Chloe Lim, HotelClub.net’s Head of Sales and Marketing said: “The aim of the Rate a Hotel Program is to create a community of frequent hotel visitors who exchange information and advice – ultimately improving the consumer experience on HotelClub.net and in the properties the site features. Such reviews are also beneficial for the property as they are receiving, honest constructive feedback. There have been some very surprising results.”

All users who have booked and stayed in a property via HotelClub.net are emailed the ‘Rate a Hotel’ review form upon checkout. Alternatively HotelClub.net members can elect to review hotels through their Member Account.

A recent survey* of more than 31,000 online Households indicates that 65 per cent of community users rate the opinions of other consumers as important or somewhat important influences on their purchasing decisions.

HotelClub.net offers close to 5,000 accommodation varieties (two to five star) in 700 cities and 35 countries worldwide.

Quality of hotels, ranked by global consumers
3 Star hotels
1. Cleanliness
2. Location
3. Price
4. Service
5. Facilities

4 Star Hotels
1. Location
2. Cleanliness
3. Service
4. Price
5. Facilities

5 Star Hotels
1. Cleanliness
2. Location
3. Facilities
4. Service
5. Price

Source: www.HotelClub.net’s global “Rate a Hotel” survey

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For further information please contact:

Lisa McCoy / Nicole Reading
Icon Communications
Tel: 02 9231 1103
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Chloe Lim
Head of Sales and Marketing
HotelClub.net
Tel: +61 28295 0431
Fax: +61 29299 8860
Email: [email protected]

About HotelClub.net
Hotelclub.net is Australia’s largest online accommodation provider. A full accommodation provider, HotelClub.net is a “full service” website offering hotel bookings for up to 12 months ahead. It offers a choice of over 4,500 hotels – at savings of up to 60% – in 33 countries and 700 cities worldwide. It is the only Australian website to feature downloadable maps of hotel locations. HotelClub.net a global online travel/accommodation service and features its services in five languages, English, French, German, Chinese and Spanish. Its head office is in Sydney and customer and product offices in UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain and Germany . Personal and corporate memberships to HotelClub.net are available that provide additional discounts and services.