Shiji has released its Q3 2026 Guest Experience Benchmark, based on 11.9 million hotel reviews and 45.7 million guest mentions worldwide. The headline finding is a split: the Global Review Index rose to 87.0%, up 0.2 percentage points year over year, while the share of positive guest mentions fell from 70.5% to 69.8%. Shiji says reputation scores alone are becoming an incomplete measure of the guest experience.
Hotels are answering faster
Average global review response time dropped to 3.1 days in Q3 2026, from 5.6 days in Q3 2024. Across three-, four- and five-star hotels, average response times now sit between 2.9 and 3.2 days. The global response rate reached 68.1%, though nearly one in three reviews still gets no reply. Shiji links the acceleration in part to wider use of AI-assisted reputation tools.
Where reviews are written is shifting
Ctrip doubled its share of global hotel reviews from 3% to 6%, and from 12% to 19% in Asia. In North America, Expedia rose from 41% to 45% of reviews. Shiji argues hotels need to watch which platforms shape reputation in each market, not only the overall score. Five-star hotels still lead reputation scores globally, but three- and four-star properties are closing the gap.
NPS and survey behaviour
Global Net Promoter Score edged up from 55.74 to 56.26. Five-star hotels recorded a global NPS of 62.29, while three-star properties fell to 50.89. Latin America improved most, from 51.41 to 54.47. One outlier flagged for further checks: NPS among five-star hotels in North America fell from 57.39 to 39.85. Post-stay surveys showed a 57.1% email open rate and 9.7% response rate, but a 95.1% completion rate once guests start a questionnaire. Regionally, Asia led GRI at 90.1%, followed by Africa and the Middle East (86.5%), Europe (86.0%), North America (85.7%) and Oceania (84.3%).
Jessica Kurtz, Director, Pre-Sales & Global Enablement at Shiji, said the interesting story is what sits under the scores: faster replies, shifting platforms and falling positive sentiment even as scores rise. Connecting review sentiment, operational feedback and channel data helps hotels see where the guest experience is changing.
Originally published by Shiji: Hotel Ratings Are Rising, but Guests Are Becoming Less Positive, Shiji's Q3 2026 Global Benchmark Finds
