How the pandemic will affect hotel guest satisfaction

The 2020 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study from J.D. Power was cut short because of COVID-19, but the results still show that cleanliness and pre-stay communications are top of mind for hotel guests.

The data for this year's study ended early, said Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power.

"The study that was just released started last June in 2019 and then as things started happening this spring, we ended up collecting data through March, but then we stopped our data collection because at that point a lot of travel had shut down, hotels were closing, you had states that were having stay-at-home orders," she said.

While this year's data is "a reflection of the world we were in," Stokes said the results still apply to guest satisfaction in the current environment and may be even more important to guests.