Four Seasons gained a GRI score of 93.2%, making it the best performing Large Luxury Brand (those with 20 hotels or more), while Library Hotel Collection – with a GRI of 96.1% - was the best performing Small Luxury Brand (20 hotels or less).

Others in the top 10 Large Brands listing were Mandarin Oriental, Belmond, Park Hyatt, St Regis Hotels & Resorts, Anantara Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.

Those in the top 10 Small Brands also included Oetker Collection, Innotality, Spicers Retreats, GHM, Constance Hotels and Resorts, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, Capella Hotels & Resorts and The Peninsula Hotels.

Belmond Palacio Nazarenas in Cuzco and Spicers Peak Lodge in Maryvale, Queensland came out as the best performing individual properties, both with a GRI of 98.1%.

These were followed by Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort; The Oberoi Vanyavilas Ranthambhore; The Privilege Floor @Lotus Blanc; Aria Hotel Budapest; Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons; Cocoa Island by COMO; Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru; and Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square.

The survey also showed an increase in the number of reviews guests at luxury hotels are posting, with each hotel receiving on average 1,008 reviews, up from 836 in the previous year’s study. Guest satisfaction also improved with 83% of reviews being positive, an increase of 3% on the previous year.

 
The findings appear to show that on the whole, guest satisfaction with small luxury brands is slightly higher than the big players. Small brand satisfaction improved year-on-year from 92.2% to 93.7%, but the top 25 large luxury brands was lower in comparison, with almost no change at 90.1%.

RJ Friedlander, chief executive of ReviewPro said: “Savvy hoteliers are aware of the shift from online reputation management to overall guest satisfaction improvement. The intelligence we offer provides hotels and brands with the insight needed to prioritize operational and service improvements to enhance the guest experience.”

In turn, he added, as the number of positive reviews increases, a property’s online reputation will also improve, “allowing hoteliers to increase room rates and RevPAR”.

TripAdvisor was the largest online review source for luxury hotels, generating 26% of total reviews followed closely by Booking.com with 25%. Ctrip overtook Facebook to become the third largest review source.

China had the largest number of Top 100 rated luxury properties (increasing from 14 to 23 within a year), followed by Maldives (11) and UK (6).

However, 17% of reviews for luxury hotels were still either neutral or negative, the report found.

Luxury hotels responded online to 41.5% of reviews, which represents an increase from the previous period (38.7%) but also indicates that there is "room for improvement".

Elements that tended to rate less positive in comments were "value", followed by "internet", "bathroom", "room" and "facilities", suggesting these are areas where guests perceive hotels are still falling short.