Hub71 startup Atiom launches new report revealing what GCC travelers value most in 2025 hotel stays 

The Hotel Service Index: 2025 GCC Edition, released by AI-driven behavioral platform Atiom, a Hub71 startup, spotlights the region’s highest-rated hotels and uncovers emerging patterns in guest expectations. The data shows that the highest-scoring hotels such as Vida Emirates Hills and Crowne Plaza Riyadh outperform competitors not just through luxury, but through repeatable service excellence, guest recognition, and personal touches.

This latest edition of the Hotel Service Index found:

Guest service beats reputation: Luxury hotels and legacy brand names in hospitality do not top every ranking. Instead, hotels where guest reviews called out great service rose to the top – even at lower tier hotels.

Individual staff members make all the difference: In the instance of one top ranking hotel, a member of the hotel’s staff was mentioned by name 14 times in sampled reviews, demonstrating just how crucial your people are to your property’s success.

Personal touches drive more reviews: Service excellence creates a positive experience, but personalization inspires guests to leave a review. Where guests felt personally attended to, positive reviews followed.

"The hospitality industry in the GCC and wider MENA region is undergoing a major transformation, presenting a huge opportunity for hoteliers," says Kerry Healy, Chief Commercial Officer for Middle East, Africa, Turkey, and Asia-Pacific (Premium, Midscale, and Economy Brands), "With rising demand and rapidly evolving guest expectations, today's travelers are seeking highly personalized experiences tailored to their unique needs. In an increasingly competitive landscape, it's more important than ever for hotel leaders to ensure their teams are delivering consistently high service standards and deeply understand what guests expect in each market."

This edition of the Hotel Service Index is the first that Atiom has created especially for the Middle East and North Africa region, and focuses on GCC countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain).

The top 10 hotels in the United Arab Emirates as revealed by Atiom’s Hotel Service Index: 2025 GCC Edition are:

1. Vida Emirates Hills

2. Conrad Dubai

3. Radisson Blue Hotel, Ajman

4. Al Khoury Courtyard Hotel

5. Vida Dubai Marina & Yacht Club

6. Rove Trade Centre

7. Ramada by Wyndham Downtown Dubai

8. Kempinski The Boulevard Dubai

9. Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa

10. The WB Abu Dhabi, Curio Collection by Hilton

The report offers analysis of the hospitality industry’s rapid growth in the region, what makes today’s travelers take the initiative to leave positive reviews, and what hospitality leaders in the region can do to drive loyalty now and prepare for ever-increasing guest expectations and traveler volumes. It also offers market-specific analysis with each region’s ranking to provide the actionable insights hoteliers need to move up in the rankings.

Commenting on the launch of the Hotel Service Index: 2025 GCC Edition, Matthew Spriegel, CEO of Atiom, said: “It’s never been timelier for MENA’s hospitality leaders to consider what drives positive guest experiences as they gear up for a record summer season and growing regional traveler volumes, with markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia forecast to receive over 60 million combined visitors in 2025. Guest expectations are evolving faster than ever, and in order to stay ahead, hospitality professionals must have a means to identify and measure the components of what makes a truly exceptional experience. By bringing rigor to professional growth, soft skill development, and engagement, properties and their service teams can create the kind of sustainable, repeatable, guest service that drives long-term loyalty.”

In 2023, the UAE alone welcomed over 28 million international visitors. The largest share of visitors came from Western Europe (19 percent), with South Asia and GCC tourists just behind (18 and 16 percent respectively), accounting for an incredible 12 percent of GDP.  Greater regional numbers paint an even clearer picture of the challenge and opportunity for the GCC’s hospitality industry: 2024’s tourism numbers to the Middle East reached 29 percent above 2019 levels, outperforming all over regions globally.

The report was built by conducting a complete analysis of publicly available reviews for hotels from the region’s most popular online travel platforms. Each property’s score and subsequent rank is the result of aggregating the one hundred most recent reviews of each property from TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google Maps, Expedia, Booking.com, and Hotels.com. Atiom evaluated reviews for the following categories: attention to detail, butler service, customer care, customer service, exceptional service, friendly staff, guest experience, guest recognition, hospitality, housekeeping excellence, housekeeping praise, welcoming atmosphere, personal touches, personalised experience, room service excellence, service excellence, resolving service issues, service quality, special touches, staff attitude, and staff recognition.