In this week’s installment of our segment analysis series from ReviewPro’s 2018 Hotel Brand Reputation Rankings, we look at the Upper Midscale segment. Drawing from 15 million reviews of 32,359 branded hotels in the U.S. and Canada, the report identifies the best and worst performers and trends related to brand reputation. (Check out our previous posts about the Upscale, Upper Upscale and Luxury segments.)

Ranking by Global Review Index™ (GRI)

The upper midscale chain scale is home to some of the largest brands in this study, including Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, Best Western Plus and Comfort Inn. A hearty congratulations to Drury Hotels, which has brands occupying the top the rankings.

The top performers in this segment are comparable to and in some cases even exceed their peers in the upscale segment. However, brands in the upper midscale segment are significantly more diverse in terms of online reputation, with GRI™ values ranging from as high as 94.1% (Drury Plaza Hotel) to as low 67.6% (Howard Johnson). The majority of brands have improved since the previous period, with 25 of 31 brands increasing their GRI™ scores.

Rankings by Department Index

Many brands in the upper midscale segment score extremely well in service ratings, with eight brands achieving a service index above 90%. By comparison, in the upscale segment, only a single brand (Best Western Premier) exceeds this threshold.

Here are the top upper midscale brands:

Service
Drury Plaza Hotel 95.0%
Drury Inn & Suites 94.0%
Oxford Suites 93.9%

Value
Drury Plaza Hotel 92.4%
Drury Inn & Suites 92.0%
Oxford Suites 91.1%

Rooms
Drury Plaza Hotel 94.4%
Drury Inn & Suites 94.1%
Home2 Suites by Hilton 92.6%

Cleanliness
Drury Plaza Hotel 96.6%
Drury Inn & Suites 94.5%
Oxford Suites 94.3%

Review Source Indexes

Thanks to more than doubling its review volume compared to the previous period, Google is now the source with the highest volume of reviews for brands in the upper midscale segment. Mirroring the trend in the other chain scales, TripAdvisor contributed about 20% less reviews than in the previous period, accounting for only 15.9% of all reviews in this segment. Meanwhile, Hotels.com and Expedia are playing catch-up with TripAdvisor. Hotels.com now owns 13.5% of the review market while Expedia increased the number of reviews by an impressive 41%.
To find out how your brand ranks among competitors, download the free report.

 

Management Responses

Upper midscale brands have similar response strategies as brands in the upscale segment. They respond to a lower percentage on TripAdvisor and Google but to a larger share on Booking.com. Overall, upper midscale brands tend to respond less to reviews and to take longer to do so. According to a separate ReviewPro report, it takes them on average 7 days to respond (6.5 days to respond to negative reviews) whereas upscale brands respond within 5.85 days on average. However, response rates in the upper midscale segment have improved 3.9% compared to the previous period, much more so than upscale brands (+ 0.2%).

Google now generates a higher volume of hotel reviews than any other review source in many regions of the world. Has your Google review strategy adapted to the trend? To learn more check out our webinar, Everything You Need to Know About Google Reviews.

To find out how your brand ranks among competitors, download the free report.