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. The study found that hotel owners’ continued investments in guest rooms, property upkeep and service are driving the higher guest satisfaction levels.

Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at JD Power, said, “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 results, she said, “show that hotels are firing on all cylinders.” In every hotel segment, said Stokes, “guests are having better experiences due to positive interactions with hotel staff, higher quality food and beverage and guest room improvements.

“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,” said Stokes, “are all elevating perceptions of the guest experience.” At the same time, she said, “the study results reveal artificial intelligence (AI) tools are beginning to reshape the hotel discovery process.”

Key findings of the study included:

• Industrywide 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 (up 18 points on a 1,000-point scale), food and beverage satisfaction (up 14) and hotel facility satisfaction (up 14). Notably, this improvement comes in the context of the average daily rate (ADR) for a US hotel room rising about 1% year over year.  
• 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.
• 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 Y accounts for 49% and Gen Z accounts for 23% of all users.

The following hotel brands rank highest in overall guest satisfaction in their respective segment:

Luxury: The Ritz-Carlton (for a second consecutive year): 785
Upper Upscale: Kimpton: 738
Upscale: Drury Hotels (for a second consecutive year): 761
Upscale Extended Stay: Hyatt House (for a fifth consecutive year): 728

Upper Midscale: Hampton by Hilton (for a second consecutive year): 704

Upper Midscale/Midscale Extended Stay: Home2 Suites by Hilton (for a fourth consecutive year): 700

Midscale: Tru by Hilton (for a fourth consecutive year): 695
Economy: Microtel by Wyndham (for a fourth consecutive year): 637

Economy Extended Stay: WoodSpring Suites (for a fourth consecutive year): 587

The study measures overall hotel guest satisfaction based on performance in seven core dimensions: check-in/checkout; 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.