First-ever report on the top-rated luxury hotel brands based on reviews

This is a landmark study on the luxury hotels and brands with the best online reputation according to ReviewPro's online reputation score: the Global Review Index™ (GRI).

The research is based on the analysis of 839,593 online guest reviews published during 2013 for the hotels that industry tracker STR Global classified as ‘luxury'. A total of 1,692 properties and 84 brands in all five continents were analyzed. The number of guest reviews of luxury brands increased 35% over 2012.

ReviewPro divided the study into three areas: large brands (for groups with more than 20 properties), small brands and individual hotels. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, with properties in India, Indonesia, Dubai, Mauritius, Egypt and Saudi Arabia took the #1 spot in the ranking for large brands, with an impressive 94.7% GRI score. Four Seasons and Orient Express, scoring 92.3% and 92.1% respectively, followed.

The large brands that experienced the most significant improvement of their online reputation score in 2013 were Orient Express, Jaz Hotels and Kempinski Hotels. This was no small feat considering that a landmark study by Cornell University proved that a 1% increase in the Global Review Index™ can lead up to a 0.89% increase in a hotel average daily rate (ADR), a 0.54% increase in occupancy and a 1.42% increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR).

For small brands, Constance Hotels and Resorts, with seven properties in Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives and Madagascar took the top spot. Constance's 93.7% GRI ranked above Capella Hotels, a close second with a 93.6% score, and Montage and Firmdale Hotels tied at 93%.

In the individual hotel ranking, Orient-Express Hotels, #3 in the large brands classification, took the first and second spot: Palacio Nazarenas, its boutique hotel in Cusco (Peru) based in a historic former palace and convent, scored a record 99.2% GRI, while its luxury train Northern Belle came in second place. Individual properties from Rosewood, Oberoi and Four Seasons completed the Top 5. From a geographic standpoint, India (13%), United States (11%) and China (11%) had the largest number of top rated luxury properties.

ReviewPro's report also shows that TripAdvisor was the #1 review source for luxury hotels in 2013, followed by Booking.com and Ctrip. English was the preferred language in luxury hotel reviews, with Chinese, German, French and Japanese completing the Top 5.

According to RJ Friedlander, CEO of ReviewPro, “As luxury brands worldwide compete to deliver superior guest experiences, the insight provided by online reputation and social media analytics is a key to their success. The key is to separate the signal from the noise across all leading review sites, OTAs and social media platforms to continually improve guest satisfaction and increase revenue.”

2013 Top 5 large luxury hotel brands according to their Global Review Index™
source: ReviewPro

1. Oberoi Hotels 94.7% (Oberoi Amarvilas pictured above)
2. Four Seasons 92.3%
3. Orient Express 92.1%
4. Park Hyatt 91.3%
5. Taj Hotels 91.0%

2013 Top 5 small luxury hotel brands according to their Global Review Index™
source: ReviewPro

1. Constance Hotels 93.7%
2. Capella Hotels 93.6%
3. Montage Hotels 93.0%
Firmdale Hotels 93.0%
4. Andaz Hotels 92.8%
5. Raffles Hotels 92.6%

2013 Top 5 individual hotels according to their Global Review Index™
source: ReviewPro

1. Palacio Nazarenas, Orient-Express, Cusco 99.2%
2. Northern Belle, Orient-Express 98.4%
3. A Rosewood Resort, Jumby Bay 98.2%
The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore 98.2%
5. Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle 98.0%