PurposeThis paper aims to describe the detailed process of development of a reliable scale to measure customer perceptions of the upscale hotel servicescape that could then be used as a basis for intra- and inter-hotel comparisons and to examine relationships with other variables, such as emotions, satisfaction and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA review of the existing service and hospitality literature provided a range of dimensions and attributes of the hotel servicescape, which were used as the basis for a Q-sort technique to determine the content adequacy of newly developed and existing items. Testing the emergent items was carried out through a questionnaire that was distributed at five luxury upscale hotels in London providing 612 fully valid responses, which, using a split sample, were subjected to both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to explore the dimensionality and reliability of the instrument.FindingsAlthough the Q-sort suggested four key dimensions, the outcome of the factor analyses revealed five dimensions with high reliability – aesthetic quality, functionality, atmosphere, spaciousness and physiological conditions. “Aesthetic quality” appeared to be the most important factor, followed by “functionality”, “atmosphere”, “spaciousness” and “physiological conditions”.Research limitations/implicationsAs this study was conducted with customers of upscale luxury hotels in London, the resulting scales need to be further tested in other hotel segments and in other locations.Practical implicationsThis study provides upscale hotel managers with an effective measurement tool, which will enable them to benchmark their operation and make improvements that could lead to a better impression and evaluation of their hotel. The scale has a variety of potential applications and can serve as a framework for further research in the hotel industry.Originality/valueIn spite of the wide interest in and importance of the servicescape in hotels, there are only a few studies dealing with this subject in the hotel context. This study provides a new tool for measuring customers’ perceptions.
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