Ouch, Siesta Key ranks among worst hotel service in the nation, study shows

Melissa Pérez-Carrillo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read
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Does a room with a paradisal view make up for poor hotel service? Apparently not.

Despite being recognized for having one of the best beaches in the country and in the world by Tripadvisor, Siesta Key was ranked the 4th worst city for hotel service out of 20 cities, according to a study from Planetware.

The study analyzed nearly 8 million hotel reviews from more than 9,000 hotels across 95 U.S. cities to determine those with the worst hotel reviews, worst hotel service, and the common complaints made.

Based on their methodology, they took the millions of hotel reviews and formed a percentage of all analyzed hotel reviews in a given city that were 1-star or 2-star reviews. Rankings for worst hotel service were based on the frequency of keywords mentioned in bad reviews.

What other Florida cities made the list for worst hotel service?

Five Florida cities made the top 20 list for worst hotel service:

  • Miami Beach - 1

  • Key West - 10

  • Panama City Beach - 12

  • Fort Lauderdale – 15

  • Daytona Beach – 19

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What city had the worst hotel reviews?

Topping the list for the most one and two-star reviews at 20% is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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What other cities made the list of worst reviews?

The top 15 cities with the worst reviews are:

  • Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

  • Atlantic City, New Jersey

  • Virginia Beach, Virginia

  • San Jose, California

  • South Padre Island, Texas

  • Memphis, Tennessee

  • Tampa, Florida

  • San Antonio, Texas

  • Kansas City, Missouri

  • Columbus, Ohio

  • Indianapolis, Indiana

  • Lexington, Kentucky

  • Pheonix, Arizona

  • Nashville, Tennessee

  • Galveston, Texas

What are the most common bad reviews left for hotels?

Nationally the most common bad reviews left for hotels:

  • The smell of smoke

  • Lack of toilet paper

  • Bed bugs

  • Thin walls

  • Poor service

  • Broken or dirty toilet seats

  • Third-party booking services

  • Musty smells

  • Black mold

  • Broken hair dryer

How do I make sure I’m booking a good hotel?

As for cleanliness after you book, nonprofit founder Christopher Elliott offered tips for USA Today in 2021 on how to tell if your room is actually clean, such as:

Read online reviews. User-generated online reviews are a great source of cleanliness ratings. He recommends a zero-tolerance policy at a time like this, adding if he sees just one review that suggests the hotel isn't taking sanitation seriously, he usually books elsewhere.

Pay attention to high-touch surfaces. At a hotel, that would be the doorknobs and TV remotes. Often, they aren't cleaned between guests, says Roman Peysakhovich, CEO of Onedesk, a commercial cleaning company. "This carries serious risks in terms of passing germs." His advice: Clean them yourself as a precaution.

Look for real evidence of cleaning. Some hotels place seals on the door, and others shrink-wrap your TV remote in plastic. He wrote that the two most proven methods are looking for dirt and dust and giving the room a sniff test. If you smell a faint odor of cleaner and don't see any dirt, that's usually a good sign.

Contributing: Samantha Neely, Fort Myers News-Press

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Siesta Key ranks among worst hotel service in the nation, study shows