For most of us, it's been quite a while since we left our homes for any extended period of time, let alone even thought about booking a hotel room. And while we don't recommend putting yourself or others at risk by rushing to book your next trip, the reality is that the country is opening up more and more each day. With more people getting vaccinated and feeling increasingly comfortable with the idea of venturing out into the world again, we decided to find out where people like to stay when they travel and, on the other end of the spectrum, where they don't. So, at Best Life, we crunched the numbers to determine the most unpopular hotel chain in America.
In order to narrow down a list of countless hotels that operate in the U.S., we choose the three largest brands from each of the five biggest hotel operators: Wyndham, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Hyatt. From there, we consulted the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an independent agency that scores hotel chains based on interviews with recent guests and other industry data, with a score of 100 representing the peak of customer satisfaction.
Next, to factor in insights from hotel guests directly, we looked at where each brand ranked in popularity on a consumer poll of 61 hotels conducted by YouGov, as well as how many stars each chain received based on consumer reviews published on business ranking site Best Company.
Finally, we gave each metric a weighted value before plugging them into our exclusive algorithm to see how each hotel chain scored on our 100-point scale Bad Stay Index, where 100 is the worst score possible. Read on to discover the most unpopular hotel chain in the country, and for another ranking essential to travelers, This Is the Most Unpopular Airline in America, According to Data.
Editor’s note: “N/A” indicates that data was not available for that particular metric. We adjusted the algorithm to ensure that each hotel was scored fairly and accurately.
15 | Hampton Inn
Ken Wolter/ShutterstockACSI score: 81 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 4 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.4 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 0.00
14 | Courtyard by Marriott
Mizantroop/ShutterstockACSI score: 80 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 6 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 3.94
And before you reach for a cold beverage in your hotel room's minibar, find out what is The Most Unpopular Soda in America, According to Data.
13 | Hilton Garden Inn
Helen89/ShutterstockACSI score: 82 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 16 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 6.90
12 | Holiday Inn Express
Brett Hondow/ShutterstockACSI score: 79 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 7 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 8.77
11 | Holiday Inn
JHVEPhoto/ShutterstockACSI score: 76 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 2 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.4 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 16.80
10 | Candlewood Suites
Jonathan Weiss/ShutterstockACSI score: 76 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: N/A
Best Company consumer rating: 4.8 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 18.25
9 | Hyatt Regency
Ken Wolter/ShutterstockACSI score: 78 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 14 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 19.22
8 | Residence Inn
JHVEPhoto/ShutterstockACSI score: 78 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 26 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.4 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 34.49
7 | Fairfield Inn
Jay Yuan/ShutterstockACSI score: 79 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 36 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 39.29
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6 | Hyatt Place
JHVEPhoto/ShutterstockACSI score: 76 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 28 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 42.21
5 | Hyatt House
David Tonelson/ShutterstockACSI score: N/A
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 35 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 48.52
4 | Homewood Suites
JHVEPhoto/ShutterstockACSI score: 78 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 44 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 4.6 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 49.54
3 | La Quinta
Ken Wolter/ShutterstockACSI score: 75 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 21 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 3.6 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 56.13
2 | Days Inn
ehrlif/ShutterstockACSI score: 66 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 15 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 3.1 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 93.57
1 | Super 8
Jonathan Weiss/ShutterstockACSI score: 68 out of 100
YouGov consumer poll ranking: 32 out of 61
Best Company consumer rating: 3.3 out of 5
Bad Stay Index Score: 100.00
And for consumers' least favorite place to get their daily caffeine fix, This Is the Most Unpopular Coffee Chain in America.
