UK's best and worst hotel chains revealed

The rankings come as hotel prices have risen by an inflation-busting 13% on average this year, according to ONS figures, meaning even budget stays are not as cheap as they once were. Photo: Alamy (Sally Anderson)

Intercontinental Hotel Group's (IHG.L) Indigo chain and Premier Inn’s satellite brand, Hub by Premier Inn have been rated the top spots in a ranking of Britain's best hotels by consumer champion Which?.

More than 5,000 people rated their hotel stays for the annual hotel survey, with respondents invited to rate their experiences at 28 large and nine small hotel chains across the UK.

Guests scored their stays out of five stars across 10 categories including cleanliness, customer service, bed comfort, how well description matched the reality and value for money. An overall customer score was calculated combining overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend.

No chain managed a full five stars for value for money, many still managed to impress.

Multiple respondents praised the Hub hotels for their ‘convenient’ locations, and while customers did note the rooms were ‘extremely compact’ they nonetheless concluded that they were ‘efficient’ and ‘well designed’, particularly for shorter stays. The chain scored a full five stars for cleanliness, bed comfort and the description matching the reality, and scored four stars for its bedrooms, bathrooms, customer service, and communal areas and décor.

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The rankings come as hotel prices have risen by an inflation-busting 13% on average this year, according to ONS figures, meaning even budget stays are not as cheap as they once were.

The majority of hotel chains (78%) in the consumer champion’s survey were reported as costing well over £100 a night for a room on average – including some of the most poorly rated. With prices spiralling, finding the right hotel for your money is increasingly important.

In third place was budget pub chain Wetherspoons with a customer score of 73%. With respondents reporting they paid £84 a night on average, it is among the cheaper options in the survey - and scored four stars for value for money.

Premier Inn also secured Which? Recommended Provider status, and was rated five stars for its bed comfort, and four stars for its bedrooms, customer service, cleanliness, value for money and how well descriptions matched the reality.

“With prices at many hotels rising further this year, finding good value, budget accommodation is increasingly difficult," said Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel. "For those looking for a reasonably priced stay, there are big differences between the best and worst chains, with the likes of Premier Inn and Wetherspoons distinguishing themselves from the pack."

Britannia finds itself at the bottom of Which?’s tables for the eleventh consecutive year, with a score of just 48%. The chain scored a dismal one star rating for its bedrooms, bathrooms and quality of the wi-fi, and scored no higher than two stars in any of the remaining categories – including cleanliness.,

Though many of the chain’s properties have illustrious histories – Winston Churchill was once a guest at the famous Grand Hotel, Scarborough – many now offer but a faint glimpse of what one guest described as their ‘faded elegance’. One respondent said the hotel was ‘awful… so filthy that we cleaned the whole accommodation ourselves.’ Another lamented their stay was ‘like something out of the sixties,’ while another guest concluded they’d ‘never stay in a Britannia again’.

Just ahead of Britannia, with mediocre joint scores of 56% were Travelodge and Mercure.

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