This Hotel Chain Has Been Announced As The Worst In The UK, For Fifth Year Running

Bad hotel rooms really are the stuff of travelling nightmares – suspiciously stained carpets, dirty shower curtains and loud neighbours that leave you just wishing for your own bed.

And now the worst offending hotel chain in the UK has been revealed – Britannia Hotels.

It should perhaps be no surprise as this particular destination has come out bottom of the ranking for large UK hotel chain, seeing as it has done for the past four years.

For over half a decade, the annual Which? travel survey has revealed that Britannia is the worst in the country, unable to score more than two stars in any single category. The chain also received an overall customer satisfaction rating of just 33%.

Alex Neill, Which? Managing Director of Home Products and Services, said: “Our survey shows that after five years at the bottom of our survey, Britannia shows no signs of improving the poor experience it offers its guests.”

The findings were based on 4,000 anonymous responses from Which? members. The scores took into consideration cleanliness, comfort of the beds, price and other factors.

An undercover Which? investigator attested that Britannia was not up to standard when they visited, finding a cracked sink and lumpy mattress.

Not only did Britannia, which has 54 branches across the UK, fail to make the grade but it is also charging, on average, £2 more than Premier Inn, with guests reporting paying £78 per room.

And unfortunately for Britannia, trying to justify those prices gets a little tricky when Premier Inn finished at the top of the table with 79% and five stars for bathrooms, bedrooms and comfort of the bed.

Alex Neill said: “Once again, Premier Inn shows the rest how to do it – clean rooms and fantastically comfortable beds all at a reasonable cost, showing you don’t necessarily get higher standards for higher prices.”

Other high scorers include: Ibis Budget in second place, with a customer score of 71%, while Radisson Blu, Crowne Plaza and MacDonald shared third place, with a score of 70%.

The lower scoring hotels include: Days Inn Hotel, at 49% customer score; Old English Inn at 55%; and Premier Inn’s rival Travelodge at 58% – in the bottom half of the table. 

Which? also carried out a separate survey into small and medium hotel chains, finding that Malmaison came out on top and EasyHotels finished in last place.

HuffPost UK has contacted Britannia Hotels for comment and will update this article with a response.