Corporate Travel Buyers Name Ritz-Carlton As Top Luxury Brand

Photo: NoRud

The Ritz-Carlton has come out on top as the preferred luxury hotel brand of corporate travel buyers.

The newly released Business Travel News 2016 Hotel Survey named Ritz-Carlton as the top brand in the luxury tier, improving from its second-place spot last year. It received the highest rankings in consistency, physical appearance and in-room personal amenities, as well as for its meeting facilities.

Ritz-Carlton also was ranked the highest luxury brand by J.D. Power in its 2016 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, released in July.

Fairmont scored second in the luxury tier, beating out Four Seasons, JW Marriott and Grand Hyatt, according to BTN. The brand earned high marks for its sales staff, data quality and business amenities, in both public spaces and in-room.

BTN’s 2016 Hotel Survey, released this month, polled 316 corporate travel buyers on brands across seven tiers: luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper mid-price, mid-price, upscale extended-stay and midscale extended stay. They rated the brands on as many as 12 attributes. Overall, respondents seemed to be rewarding brands that embraced both technology and service.

Top brands in each tier were:

• Upper Upscale: Marriott and Westin (tie)
• Upscale: Crowne Plaza
• Upper Midprice: Hampton by Hilton
• Midprice: La Quinta
• Upscale Extended Stay: Residence Inn
• Midscale Extended Stay: Extended Stay America