Full text can be accessed at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2012-0183Purpose – This study attempts to answer the following questions: can the Big Five factors (BFF) of personality facilitate a social comparison (SC) of hotel guests? Can the BFF explain the emotional responses of hotel guests? Do SC and consumption emotions mediate the influence of personality on hotel guests' levels of satisfaction? Design/methodology/approach – Data from a survey of hotel guests, which yielded an effective sample of 564, was subjected to a series of multiple regression analyses. The Baron and Kenny approach was employed to test mediating impacts. Findings – The five factors of personality explain significant variations in consumption emotions and SCs of hotel guests. Apart from consumption emotions, SC was found to influence hotel guests' satisfaction significantly. Further, greater guest satisfaction was a partial mediator of the effect of positive consumption emotion on revisit and word-of-mouth intentions but constituted only a partial mediator of negative consumption emotions on word-of-mouth. Research limitations/implications – The results offer managerial insights into marketing strategies, design, and operational and human-resource management. Originality/value – Few studies have integrated personality and customers' consumption emotions with satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This research gap has been compounded by a lack of research on SCs that might further explain personality-customer responses and behavioral intentions. This study fills this gap by reporting on a survey of hotel guests that provided data on these relationships. Theoretically, the findings justify the value of personality and SCs in hotel settings.