Egencia, Expedia’s online travel agency (OTA) dedicated to businesses, has just published its ranking of the favorite hotels for business travelers.

Hotel rankings are like airline rankings: the important thing about a ranking is not so much its result as what it says about the intentions of the person making it.

You will notice that no information is available on the methodology used. Is this a survey of Egencia customers? From an evaluation done by Egencia? From ratings given by travelers?

What are the favorite hotels for business travelers?

In short, you will learn that the preferred hotels for business travelers in Paris are:

CitizenM Paris Gare de Lyon
Hotel Victor Hugo Paris Kléber
Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile
OKKO Hotels Paris Porte de Versailles
CitizenM Paris la Défense
OKKO Hotels Paris Rueil-Malmaison
Evergreen Laurel Hotel Levallois-Perret
CitizenM Paris Charles de Gaulle

In London :

Ambassadors Bloomsbury
Dorsett Shepherds Bush
M by Montcalm Shoreditch London Tech City
Point A Hotel London Kings Cross – St Pancras
The Strand Palace Hotel
The Tower Hotel
TheWesley
Thistle Barbican Shoreditch

The ranking is available here. And I advise you to go and read it not for what it says but for what it does not say.

When you look at the properties listed, I find it strange, to say the least, that not one of them in the world belongs to one of the Marriott brands, which is the largest hotel group in the world and which is full of brands dedicated to this clientele.

One might say that being the biggest doesn’t mean being the best, and there isn’t a city in the world where a Marriott-owned hotel doesn’t find favor with the business traveler.

Or maybe it’s Marriott that doesn’t find favor with Expedia.

When Egencia’s marketing goes after a bulky partner.

You all know that OTAs like Expedia, Egencia, Booking etc. charge substantial commissions to hoteliers whose margins they cut. On the other hand, when you are Marriott and after the acquisition of Starwood you have 5500 hotels, more than a million rooms with an offer essentially positioned on the top of the range and business tourism, you start to have the arguments to discuss with Egencia. When we see the number of businesses that have special contracts with Marriott, it would indeed be a shame for Egencia to lose this clientele.

And, oh surprise,Expedia, the parent company of Engencia, is engaged in a very tense negotiation with Marriott regarding the commissions of the online agency.

Pressure tactic in the negotiation, petty attitude, retaliation? In short, this biased ranking means absolutely nothing other than the fact that Expedia is ready to do anything to the hoteliers who would resist it.

In other words, don’t take this into account at all when choosing your next hotel (even though there are some excellent hotels).

Photo : business traveller at the hotel by elwynn via shutterstock