As you can see, the disparity between the “flexibility” and “health” grades from some programs was huge. Best Western, for example, scored a B+ for its health policies, but an abysmal D for its flexible booking policies.
Hyatt took top overall marks thanks to its consistent customer-first policies across many categories and dates. Hilton, Marriott, and Radisson also performed consistently, but not uniformly.
On the other end of the spectrum, Choice and Wyndham disappointed across all criteria we considered.
Note: These rankings are current as of July 24, 2020, and do not reflect any changes since.
Health and social distancing
Winner: Hyatt (Grade: A)
Runners-up: Best Western, IHG and Marriott (Grade: B+)
We compared each program across six criteria, based on the official policies stated on the hotel websites:
- Social distancing: Specific policies that ensure appropriate social distance between guests in common areas.
- Rooms blocked: Policies that ensure that guest rooms are not accessed for a specific number of days between reservations or after cleaning by staff.
- Low contact check-in/out: Features such as mobile check-in and express checkout, which minimize contact between guests and staff.
- Staff wear masks: Specific policies (not recommendations) that require staff to wear masks.
- Guests wear masks: Published policies that require hotel guests to wear masks even in states where it is not required.
- Trained local health leader: Each hotel assigned an on-staff, trained health coordinator or leader.
- Staff health checks: Specific policies (not recommendations) such as temperature checks to help screen staff.
- Enhanced cleaning procedures: As mentioned above, we considered whether a hotel had published a cleaning policy but did not compare the specifics of these procedures.