BBB analyzed its vast data store of information about the hotel and vacation rental industry. Learn what makes customers happy and where you should spend the most effort toward improving your property.
While hotels and vacation rental homes are not the same, many of the things consumers like and dislike about them are similar.
Hotels tend to be larger-scale businesses, often corporate-owned or franchised. Vacation rentals are more often single properties owned by individuals or even owner-occupants. Vacation rentals may or may not use property management companies or web portals such as VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) to assist them.
What consumers like about hotels and vacation rentals
What do happy customers like about hotels and vacation rentals? BBB analyzed more than 700 positive customer reviews of hotels and vacation rentals to find out. Narratives pertaining primarily to handling cancellations or not describing an overnight stay were excluded.
The number one trait mentioned, especially for vacation rentals, was service. As shown in the graph, service was mentioned 32% of the time for vacation rentals and 21% for hotels.
Things like quiet rooms, comfortable beds, spacious layouts and pet friendliness comprised less than one percent of the mentions.
When service is combined with friendliness, 40% (vacation rentals) and 35% (hotels) of traits mentioned praise the staff directly, rather than the facilities.
For facility-related features, we see cleanliness in the top spot, cited as 19% of positive traits for both hotels and vacation rentals. We see aesthetics, which includes both attractive decor in the rooms and attractive views from the rooms, as the second-most popular, with 11% and 15% for vacation rentals and hotels, respectively. Amenities are not far behind, and then location.
From this analysis, we can see that happy customers who write positive reviews want good, friendly service and they want clean rooms that are attractive. Prices only comprised a small number of mentions, indicating that lower prices don't necessarily win fans who write great reviews.
Examples from the reviews:
The house on the Oregon Coast was sparkling clean, and everything was exactly as described. When we had an issue accessing the WiFi, all we had to do was text them and they promptly helped us. Lots of good communication and nice to know that they were available 24/7.
This was a great company and very responsive to our inquiries. The property was clean and looked the same as in the pictures provided. It is definitely a property I would visit in the future.
The home we rented was sparkling clean. Everything was beautifully laid out and we had the time of our lives! They were extremely responsive with every interaction. I loved the location! It was a tranquil paradise. We are definitely booking again!!
Importance of cleanliness in hotels and rentals
In an analysis of negative customer reviews, cleanliness was the number one concern.
The appearance of being clean comprised about one-quarter of all hotel and vacation rentals.. The category includes such things as:
Stains on carpets, bedding, furniture.
Mold and mildew on tiles, walls, ceilings.
Human and pet hairs, blood, and other bodily residues found.
Any type of insects: bedbugs, roaches, ants.
Dirt, grime, dust, sand on surfaces.
Leftover items such as dirty socks from previous occupants.
Cigarette butts, loose pills, used syringes and other medical paraphernalia.
Often the consumers reported being switched to other rooms, requesting management to send housekeeping services, or having to clean themselves. Sometimes the consumers mentioned trying to get partial refunds. Some consumers even mentioned checking out of the hotel because of the lack of cleanliness.
Our findings suggest that, among all issues of service and facilities in this industry, cleanliness is the most important. If consumers don't get a clean rental, they are most likely to file a negative review.
Example from the reviews:
We showed up to a filthy house… Hair left in the showers and on toilet seats, along with undetermined stains on the toilet seats. All counter tops in the kitchen were sticky. Found dishes put away in the cupboards with crusty food left on them…We had to put towels on the sofas and chairs…Several rooms had bedding that had stains as well. We spent the first day there just cleaning and washing everything. We also informed the rental company of this when we arrived but got no reponse [sic] from them for several days.
How opinions differ on hotels and vacation rentals
Further analysis of negative customer reviews showed some interesting differences between opinions on hotels and opinions on vacation rentals:
Rudeness was mentioned much more often for hotels than for vacation rentals.
Poor service was mentioned more often for vacation rentals than for hotels.
Disrepair was mentioned much more often for vacation rentals than for hotels.
It's also interesting which factors are NOT found to be significantly different between the two industries: cleanliness, billing/refunds, safety, noise.
What accounts for these differences? There are several possibilities for something like rudeness. It could be because there is more interpersonal interaction with front desk staff in a hotel setting. It could be that hotel staff are more likely to be salaried employees, rather than owners, so perhaps they are less motivated to be tactful.
When it comes to disrepair and service, lower marks for vacation rentals could be due to a lack of professional/corporate oversight to ensure standards of quality.
Physical spaces in hotels and vacation rentals
Within the negative reviews, specific physical spaces were most often associated with problems.
Bedrooms and items in bedrooms (beds, sheets, blankets, pillows, etc.) were the most commonly mentioned. Some of these were simply general mentions such as "we rented a three bedroom house for our vacation," but many of them described finding hairs, blood stains, or other filth in the beds.
Usually the one thing a traveler needs most in a rented room is a bed. When the bed is dirty, it’s more than an annoyance – to many consumers it can also feel like an invasion of personal space and safety.
Bathrooms and associated fixtures (toilets, showers, tubs, etc.) were the second most commonly mentioned. Many of these negative narratives also mentioned filth: mold, mildew, etc. Bathrooms are also a very personal and private space for consumers, and dirtiness in those spaces makes them feel very uncomfortable.
The third most common physical attribute mentioned was doors, including locks and keys. Many narratives expressed frustration with either being unable to access their rooms, or their doors not locking properly, creating safety concerns.
Kitchens and kitchen appliances also received a fair number of mentions. Consumers expressed frustration with dirtiness, insufficiently stocked supplies, broken coffee makers, broken microwaves, etc.
The lesson from this analysis is that hotel owners and vacation rental owners should focus first on the spaces of high concern. While it's nice to have a clean couch and living area and a functional TV, consumers are most sensitive to bedrooms and bathrooms. Those areas should be kept the cleanest, well stocked, and in good repair. When these elements are lacking, consumers are most likely to write negative reviews.