JD Power published the 2026 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study on 14 July 2026. The study marks its 30th year.
The 2026 edition benchmarked 104 brands across nine hotel segments. It rests on 44,787 responses from branded-hotel guests reporting on stays between May 2025 and May 2026. Satisfaction is scored across seven dimensions: check-in and check-out, hotel connectivity, hotel facility, food and beverage, guest room, staff service, and value for prices paid.
Industry-wide satisfaction rose 13 points to 665 on the 1,000-point scale. Every dimension improved year over year. Value for prices paid gained 18 points, food and beverage gained 14, and hotel facility gained 14. The average daily rate for a U.S. hotel room rose about 1 percent over the same period, per the study.
The amenity list moves
The study measures smart TVs with streaming capability. Availability reached 74 percent of respondents and usage reached 62 percent, both up 2 points year over year.
Guests named three amenities as need-to-have. Daily housekeeping drew 46 percent, filtered water stations drew 30 percent, and fitness centers drew 21 percent.
Fitness centers and pools sit in a cost line the property already carries. A pass prices the hours a guest uses them, and the upkeep behind the amenity is the item the guest now scores.
Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at JD Power, put the facility gain on "the maintenance and upkeep of shared amenities such as pools and fitness centers".
Where the research starts
Among guests who used AI tools in hotel research, Gen Y accounted for 49 percent and Gen Z for 23 percent.
Stokes said the results "reveal artificial intelligence (AI) tools are beginning to reshape the hotel discovery process".
The segment leaders
The Ritz-Carlton led luxury at 785, a second consecutive year. Kimpton led upper upscale at 738. Drury Hotels led upscale at 761, a second consecutive year. Hyatt House led upscale extended stay at 728, a fifth consecutive year.
Hampton by Hilton led upper midscale at 704, a second consecutive year. Home2 Suites by Hilton led upper midscale and midscale extended stay at 700, a fourth consecutive year. Tru by Hilton led midscale at 695, a fourth consecutive year. Microtel by Wyndham led economy at 637, and WoodSpring Suites led economy extended stay at 587, both a fourth consecutive year. Eight of the nine leaders carry a consecutive-year run in their segment.
Hilton's three wins
Hilton announced on 18 September 2026 that Hampton by Hilton, Tru by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton each finished highest in their segments. Hilton's own material states that 15 Hilton brands were evaluated and 11 performed at or above their segment average. The public index does not itemise brands by parent company, so the count stands as a company figure.
The index lists one winning brand per segment. It carries no scores for the other 95 benchmarked brands, so a brand's distance from its segment average is not public.