Ritz-Carlton tops in Best Customer Experience Survey

The Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort at Rose Hall, Montego Bay, as viewed from the sea. File

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., has added another prestigious accolade with the announcement by The Luxury Institute of the results of the 2007 Luxury Hotels & Resorts Luxury Customer Index. The company, with 61 hotels and resorts around the world, and plans to open 30 more over 36 months, scored the number one rating for 'Best Customer Experience'. The Ritz-Carlton is a two-time winner of Brand Reputation (Luxury Brand Status Index) and has now earned the highest scores in the Customer Experience Survey, a national online sample of wealthy American consumers with a minimum household income of US$150,000.

Fourteen leading lodging brands were rated in The Luxury Institute annual survey, "In the most competitive luxury goods and services categories, such as luxury hotels and resorts, wealthy consumers continue to tell us in our impartial surveys that the best experiential brands don't just do the extraordinary things. First and foremost, like the Ritz-Carlton, they execute the fundamentals of luxury extraordinarily well - over and over again," said Milton Pedraza, chief executive officer, of the New York-based Luxury Institute.

pleased with the results

"We are especially pleased that The Luxury Institute survey results showed the Ritz-Carlton brand scoring significantly above the benchmarks on nearly all customer experience and outcomes metrics in the research. The fact that we scored so well when it comes to meeting customer needs, as well as for perceived price worthiness, is third party recognition that our corporate philosophy and commitment to the guest remains our biggest strength as a brand," said Simon F. Cooper, president and chief operating officer of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

About The Luxury Institute:

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings and research

institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guides and educate high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. Publications include the monthly Wealth Report, the Luxury Brand Status Independent Surveys, the Luxury Best Practices surveys, The Luxury Consumer Experience index surveys and the Luxury Website Effectiveness Index surveys.