Market Metrix, a leading provider of hospitality data, has recently released its Market Metrix Hospitality Index. The index, based on 30,000 customer interviews conducted each quarter, provides feedback on a variety of consumer concerns, including customer satisfaction, likelihood of repeat business, and, of course, strength of loyalty program.

“Strength of program” measures the relative success of a brand’s loyalty program compared to other programs in the industry, on a 100-percentage-point scale. The measure combines the percentage of guests who are members of a brand’s loyalty program and the importance of that program to the guest in selecting that brand.

Of the luxury hotels (including, for example, Intercontinental and Le Meridien), the runaway winner is W Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest), earning a full 13 percent. Among the upscale hotels (Loews, Hyatt, Wyndham, Hilton) top honors went to Marriott, with 14 percent.

For the “upper mid-scale hotels” (Holiday Inn, Radisson Doubletree) HHonors gets the nod, with Hilton Garden Inn racking up 15 percent.

In the mid-price range (Best Western, Red Lion), Marriott Rewards came through again, with 12 percent.

Not surprisingly, hotels that scored well in strength of program also convinced their customers to return. Forty-two percent of W customers, 59 percent of Marriott customers and 55 percent of Hilton customers indicated that they were “very likely to return.”