The relationship of reliability and recovery to satisfaction and return intent at the hotel unit level

The core constructs of reliability and recovery are important in the study of a high quality of service. This research explores the relationship of reliability (a problem-free hotel stay) and recovery (satisfaction with hotel recovery efforts to reported problems) to overall satisfaction and intent to return to the hotel. The research presents the results in a reliability-recovery matrix presentation and finds that significant differences exist in overall satisfaction and intent to return, depending on placement in the matrix quadrants. The research also provides an argument for the presence of service culture in a hotel property due to the significant distribution of hotels within the matrix quadrants; there are an unequal number in each quadrant, with significantly high numbers of hotels in the high reliability/high recovery and low reliability/low recovery quadrants.