The Standard · Index · v1.0 · July 2026

The Sales-Ready Index US50: America's hotel brands, scored on what they actually promise sellers

We ran 50 US business-transient hotel brands through the 15-check Sales-Ready standard — scored entirely on public commitments: published brand standards, app capabilities, stated programs and policies. The result: not one brand clears the certification bar on its promises alone. One — Crowne Plaza — touches 80 on raw points, and still fails on the published dimension rule: 1 of 3 on Quiet & Rest. The average is 54.

Direct answer: This is a commitment audit, not a field test. A check scores Yes only when the brand's own published standard commits to it; anything unstated, loyalty-fine-print, or “varies by property” scores No — the same “unknowns are risks” rule sellers should apply when booking. On-property execution is a different question, and it is exactly what Sales-Ready Certified™ measures.

The ranking

#	Brand	Score /100	Q·C·W·H·A (of 3)	What the public record says
1	Crowne Plaza IHG	80	1·2·3·3·3	WorkLife room standard (desk + task lighting + outlets) and the Sleep Advantage program — the only brand scoring on both work and rest commitments.
2	Westin Marriott	73	2·2·1·3·3	Heavenly Bed sleep program is a genuine rest commitment; work commitments stop at the standard desk.
3	Courtyard by Marriott Marriott	67	1·2·1·3·3	Built for business transient: desk standard, lobby work zones, meeting space brand-standard, elite late-checkout guarantee published.
4	Delta Hotels Marriott	67	1·2·1·3·3	Positioned as seamless business travel; the published commitments match Courtyard's, no more.
5	Hyatt Regency Hyatt	67	1·2·1·3·3	Convention-grade meeting space standard and the Globalist guarantee; quiet and connectivity uncommitted.
6	Marriott Hotels Marriott	67	1·2·1·3·3	The full-service template: desk, meeting space, lobby, elite 4pm guarantee. Nothing published above the template.
7	Renaissance Marriott	67	1·2·1·3·3	Lifestyle skin on the full-service skeleton — the business commitments are the parent's, not the brand's.
8	Sheraton Marriott	67	1·2·1·3·3	The Community/Studios workspace redesign is a rare public commitment to lobby-as-workplace; elite 4pm guarantee published.
9	AC Hotels Marriott	60	1·2·0·3·3	Design-led lounge hosts a conversation well — but the brand famously minimized in-room desks, and it costs three points here.
10	Aloft Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Tactic meeting rooms are a real bookable-space commitment — undercut by no desk standard and a lobby designed to be loud.
11	Cambria Choice	60	0·2·2·3·2	Marketed squarely at business travelers: desk, outlets-as-feature, meeting space standard. Choice's app trails the majors on early check-in.
12	DoubleTree Hilton	60	0·2·1·3·3	Full-service basics committed — desk, meeting space, app admin — nothing published for quiet or demo-grade connectivity.
13	EVEN Hotels IHG	60	1·2·1·2·3	Wellness rooms include a committed rest angle; work commitments are standard-issue.
14	Element Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Wellness positioning stops short of a sleep guarantee; work commitments are the extended-stay basics.
15	Embassy Suites Hilton	60	0·2·1·3·3	Two-room suites are a published hosting advantage — a semi-private meeting in your own room — plus meeting space standard.
16	Fairfield Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	The reliable floor: desk, early breakfast, app checkout, elite guarantee. Floor, not ceiling.
17	Four Points Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Honest business basics: desk, breakfast hours, app admin. Nothing published above the floor.
18	Hilton Garden Inn Hilton	60	0·2·1·3·3	Desk standard, meeting rooms brand-standard, and Hilton's app (checkout, folio, room selection) carries the admin dimension.
19	Hilton Hotels & Resorts Hilton	60	0·2·1·3·3	The flagship commits to everything except the two things sellers ask about first: quiet and a working connection.
20	Holiday Inn IHG	60	0·2·1·3·3	The mid-market workhorse: desk, meeting rooms, early breakfast, full app admin. The floor most brands should envy.
21	Hyatt House Hyatt	60	1·2·1·2·3	Extended-stay suites work well; the brand publishes nothing on hosting space or connectivity beyond standard Wi-Fi.
22	Hyatt Place Hyatt	60	1·2·1·2·3	Cozy Corner + desk standard and Globalist 4pm guarantee; bookable meeting space varies by property, so it scores No.
23	InterContinental IHG	60	0·2·1·3·3	Luxury-business positioning, standard-issue commitments. Club lounges exist; none are promised.
24	Residence Inn Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Suites with real work surfaces and elite late-checkout; no committed meeting space or sound program.
25	SpringHill Suites Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Suite layouts give room to work; brand publishes nothing on sound, lighting, or bookable space.
26	TownePlace Suites Marriott	60	1·2·1·2·3	Home-office-style suites give it the work points; nothing committed for client-facing needs.
27	Canopy by Hilton Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	A desk survives the lifestyle treatment; meeting space and quiet don't make the brand book.
28	Hampton by Hilton Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	Desk standard and the strongest budget-tier app admin; no quiet, hosting, or connectivity commitments.
29	Home2 Suites Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	The Working Wall is a real published work-surface commitment; hosting and quiet aren't.
30	Homewood Suites Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	Extended-stay desk standard and Hilton app admin; quiet, hosting, and connectivity uncommitted.
31	Kimpton IHG	53	0·2·1·2·3	Design-forward with real desks — but boutique variance means bookable meeting space can't be promised brand-wide.
32	Motto by Hilton Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	Micro-rooms trade the desk for square footage; the co-working common area is the stated answer. On the road, it isn't.
33	Moxy Marriott	53	1·2·1·1·3	Outlets everywhere and 24/7 grab-and-go — and a brand book that removed the desk and turned the lobby into a bar. Built for fun, scored for work.
34	Tempo by Hilton Hilton	53	0·2·1·2·3	Markets a smartly designed room and delivers the desk; everything else is the Hilton baseline.
35	citizenM citizenM	53	0·2·1·2·3	Kiosk check-in/out is genuinely fast and societyM spaces exist at some properties — but the room's work surface is a ledge, by design.
36	Holiday Inn Express IHG	47	0·1·1·2·3	Desk and early breakfast committed; single-tier Wi-Fi with no published faster option costs the fallback point.
37	Hotel Indigo IHG	47	0·2·0·2·3	Neighborhood-story rooms make no work-surface promise. Charm is not a commitment.
38	Staybridge Suites IHG	47	0·1·1·2·3	Extended-stay suites with real work surfaces; single-tier Wi-Fi costs the fallback point.
39	Tru by Hilton Hilton	47	0·1·1·2·3	Outlets are a marketed feature; the mobile chair-and-surface concept is not a desk, and it shows in the score.
40	Wingate by Wyndham Wyndham	47	0·1·1·3·2	The rare midscale brand with meeting space as a stated pillar — a business identity it actually commits to.
41	avid hotels IHG	47	0·1·1·2·3	Publishes a sleep-quality pitch and bedside outlets; makes no desk promise. Honest economy, scored honestly.
42	Candlewood Suites IHG	40	0·1·1·1·3	A workspace in every suite and a lobby that barely exists — built for solo work, not hosting.
43	Comfort Inn & Suites Choice	40	0·1·1·2·2	Choice's app carries checkout and receipts down-market; the room promises stop at the desk.
44	Country Inn & Suites Choice	40	0·1·1·2·2	Residential-friendly and desk-committed; nothing published for hosting, quiet, or connectivity.
45	La Quinta Wyndham	40	0·1·1·2·2	Desk and breakfast committed; single-tier Wi-Fi and a thinner app hold the score down.
46	Omni Omni	40	0·2·1·3·0	Meeting-heavy full service undercut by a thin published app stack — the admin dimension goes uncommitted.
47	Drury Hotels Drury	33	0·1·1·3·0	Famous free hot food and real meeting rooms — beloved in practice, thin in published digital commitments.
48	Best Western Plus BWH	27	0·1·1·2·0	Desk and breakfast committed; the app stack publishes no checkout, folio, or receipt promises.
49	Sonesta Select Sonesta	27	0·1·1·2·0	Courtyard's floor plan without Courtyard's app stack — the admin dimension is entirely unpublished.
50	Extended Stay America ESA	20	0·1·1·1·0	A desk and a kitchen, and almost nothing else in writing. Price is the product; the Index scores promises.

Dimensions: Quiet & Rest · Connectivity · Work Surface · Client Hosting · Admin Speed. Scored 50 brands · July 2026 · v1.1 (expanded from the original 25 to the US50; v1.0 scores unchanged). Soft/collection brands (Autograph, Curio, Tribute, Unbound) are excluded by rule: “varies by property” is their entire model, and the No-rule would zero them unfairly.

What the Index found

Even the winner fails on quiet. The top-scoring brand misses certification not on points but on the dimension rule — which is the rule working as designed. Not one of 50 brands publishes a bookable quiet-room program. Only four (Crowne Plaza, Westin, EVEN, avid) commit to sleep or sound in any form. The single input that most decides meeting-day performance is the one the industry refuses to promise.

Nobody commits to a demo-grade connection. Every brand includes Wi-Fi; zero brands publish a standard a seller could plan a screen-share around. The column scored 0-for-50 — the clearest open lane in hospitality marketing.

The desk divide is the ranking. The brands that kept the desk (Crowne Plaza, Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn) own the top of the table; the brands that designed it out (Moxy, Tru, citizenM, AC) hold the bottom. The trade press called removing desks a style choice. Sellers experience it as a tax.

Admin is solved; the room isn't. App checkout, instant folios, and emailed receipts are near-universal — the majors have quietly won the last 20 minutes of the stay. The gap has moved upstream, into the room and the lobby.

Method, in full

The instrument is the same published 15-check standard used for certification and the free self-assessment:

Quiet-room program
Sleep/sound program
Published late-checkout guarantee
Demo-grade Wi-Fi commitment
Premium/faster tier published
In-room Wi-Fi standard
Desk in every room, by standard
Work-lighting standard
Outlets as a brand feature
Work-capable lobby by design
Bookable meeting space standard
Food/space open before 8am
App checkout with instant folio
Auto-emailed receipts
Credible early check-in process

Each check scores Yes only on documented public evidence — brand-standard pages, official app feature lists, published programs, stated policies. Elite-tier guarantees count where the brand publishes them; “available at participating properties” does not. This deliberately measures the floor a brand will put its name to, which is what a traveler can rely on sight-unseen. It does not measure how any single property performs on a Tuesday — no public-record audit can, and we won't pretend otherwise. That measurement exists: it's the on-site evaluation, and its criteria, pass bar, and revocation policy are published.

To the 25 brands scored

Every score above is correctable with evidence. If your published standard commits to a check we scored No, send the documentation to rachel@thesalestraveler.com — verified corrections update the Index within 7 days and are noted in the changelog. And if your properties outperform your brand book, the path to proving it is the same one everyone gets: the evaluation. Passing changes your listing. Nothing else does.

How certification works → The airline Index Score a property yourself

THE INDEX DESK — Hotels: the US50 · The Executive Tier · Airlines · Workspaces · Sales AI — same method, five markets: scored on published commitments only.