Abstract
This study set out to answer the question, “what attributes of luxury hotels in Auckland do guests consider important when giving a five-star online rating on TripAdvisor?” The findings revealed seven important factors: personalised service, efficient staff, comfortable rooms, high standard of cleanliness, central location, facilities for relaxation and enjoyment, and beautiful ambience. These factors were present in both phases of the two-phase mixed-methods approach using netnography and semi-structured interviews. It was expected that the findings would reveal these important attributes, however, they extended understandings of luxury hotels beyond tangible aspects (e.g. cleanliness, central location), by indicating that experience is important in luxury hotels. Two original models on luxury hotel attributes are presented. The first framework, the Important Hotel Attributes (IHA) model (Figure 6), shows how the significant attributes of luxury hotels are interconnected. This model shows that guest perceptions, as well as benchmarking, influence how luxury hotel guests consider each attribute. The second framework, the Attributes Delivering the Luxury Experience (ADLE) model (Figure 7), is a blueprint of factors that lead to a luxury hotel experience. This adds new knowledge by defining high service quality as the combination of important attributes that bring satisfaction. These attributes were revealed as dynamic and supporting each other to provide satisfaction. Positive emotions were associated with the attributes of luxury hotels, and were key to delivering a holistic luxury hotel experience.
