Drury Inn wins top rating for customer satisfaction

When it opened in Sikeston, Mo., in 1973, the first Drury Inn featured a nightly rate of $10.88.

Over the past 30 years, that rate has gone up, but so has the stock of what has become Drury Inns Inc. -- a regional corporation now based in St. Louis with more than 100 hotels in 17 states.

Along with that regional success has now come a tradition of national accolades. Market Metrix recently announced that trend will continue for at least one more quarter, by rating Drury Inns as a nationwide leader in its class in the second quarter of 2004. For the ninth time in the past 11 quarters, the leading market research firm for the hospitality industry rated Drury as the top-rated midscale hotel chain without food and beverage service in terms of customer satisfaction.

"When you get right down to it, companies stay in business by offering a product or service that customers value," said Eric Strand, vice president of sales and marketing for Drury Hotels, the parent company of Drury Inns. He said the No. 1 ranking is an encouraging reminder that the Drury team is focused on what's important.

Market Metrix tabulates these rankings from data received through its survey of 30,000 travelers throughout the United States. It then splits the hotels into categories according to size and services, and ranks them accordingly. In addition to finishing atop its midscale category, Drury's 88.8 score in customer satisfaction slotted it sixth among all hotels. Seventy hotel chains were rated in the survey.

Strand said that although these ratings aren't a specific company goal, they reflect the satisfied, loyal customers whose happiness is the primary objective. Company president Chuck Drury said his company achieves this through central control and ownership.

"We don't franchise because we don't want any confusion in the organization as to who the real customer is," Drury said.

trehagen@semissourian.com

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