A new report from Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) informs this debate by suggesting a return on investment (ROI) analysis to determine which amenities are the best ones to offer. The research is described in: “Hotel Brand Standards: How to Pick the Right Amenities for Your Property,” by Chekitan S. Dev, Rebecca Hamilton, and Roland Rust.
From their ROI analysis they have learned that some amenities are great at attracting first-time guests, while others have a significant impact on generating repeat business. In addition, they found that guests generally overestimate their likelihood of actually using various amenities. This means that a marketing survey that asks potential guests about their intended amenity use may not provide an accurate estimation of their actual use.