City or beach hotel? Location as a determinant of customer satisfaction and room rate

This research aims to reveal that accessibility of hotels to major points of attraction in the urban–territorial continuum of Catalonia, with its urban and coastal landscapes, has a direct impact on the dependent variables of customer satisfaction and average room rate.

The study collected data from 84 of 4-star hotel establishments, divided into urban and coastal hotels. Both coastal and urban hotels were differentiated depending on their distance to, the beach and the urban city center, respectively. Customer satisfaction and average room rate data were retrieved from online review platforms.

The study proves that hotels located in the urban–territorial continuum of Catalonia have different behaviors in terms of customer satisfaction and hotel pricing according to the variables of distance and landscape. The study shows that room rate and customer satisfaction are both higher in urban landscapes than in coastal landscapes. Urban hotels present significant differences in their levels of customer satisfaction and room rates depending on their location in the city of Barcelona. However, coastal hotels do not represent significant differences in room rates depending on their location, although they do represent significant differences in terms of customer satisfaction.

The originality of this study is based on how a dynamic urban–territorial model consisting of Barcelona and the Maresme coast, the hotel location and distances to main interest points impact in the variables of customer satisfaction and average room rate.