Britain's Most Luxurious Hotels: James Martin makes appearance

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The worst hotel chain has been named as Britannia – for the ninth year running. The UK’s consumer champion Which? asked members to rate 24 large hotel chains and six small boutiques in 10 categories, based on 2,600 stays. While Britannia took last place, Premier Inn topped the list. 

When booking a hotel, there are several things to look out for; a free breakfast buffet, friendly staff and clean bedsheets are just some. 

Many guests also look at reviews of the hotel and another’s experience can influence whether or not a booking is made. 

But which hotel chain can you rely on when choosing accommodation in the UK? 

Thousands of Which? members were asked to discuss their experiences of staying in large and small hotel chains and the results are in. 

According to Which? to be considered a chain hotel, the hotel group must have a minimum of five UK properties. 

Large hotel chains have 31 or more properties in the group worldwide, while small chains have a maximum of 30 properties in the group worldwide.

Readers rated everything from the beds to the service, as well as rating the Covid-19 safety measures the hotel had put in place. 

Britannia was the worst-rated in the survey for the ninth year in a row. 

Which? explained: “It’s upped its game slightly since last time, but still scored a lacklustre 49 percent overall.” 

Britannia has the potential to be a great hotel as it owns historic buildings in great locations; Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt stayed at the Adelphi in Liverpool, as did Frank Sinatra.

One guest complained of “small and basic rooms” with “no soap or shampoo” and “bags of rubbish outside the main entrance”. 

Which? gave their verdict: “Stay elsewhere. Anywhere else.” 

The average price paid for a stay at a Britannia hotel was £99. 

Express.co.uk has contacted Britannia for a comment. 

The second worst hotel was Mercure, scoring 52 percent from Which? customers. 

According to Which?, while some guests praised Mercure hotels’ “central locations”, many felt that the standards in the chain had fallen.

One guest wrote: “Mercure are not as smart as they used to be – there are some poor quality properties in their portfolio. However, they can offer good value.”

A spokesperson for Mercure responded: ‘We are surprised to see our position in this survey, it does not reflect the high standard of guest experience which we strive for and we will take action to address these comments.” 

The average price paid for a stay at a Mercure hotel was £114. 

As for the best large UK hotel chain, Premier Inn scored 79 percent with Which? customers. 

Despite Premier Inn’s trademark decor being more “functional” than “romantic getaway”, its extra cosy king-size beds with a choice of pillows (firm or soft) earn it five stars for bed comfort. 

Which? added: “Enhanced cleaning, sanitising points and one-way systems saw it clinch top marks in our survey for cleanliness and Covid measures too. 

“The phrases ‘consistent’ and ‘reliable’ were used repeatedly to describe Premier Inn in our survey. 

“And in these turbulent times, guests were happy to find rooms that were exactly as they expected, especially as the brand had one of the lowest average prices per night in our survey.” 

The average price paid for a stay at a Mercure hotel was just £66. 

Crowne Plaza was named the second best hotel, while Sofitel was third, Radisson Blu fourth and Weatherspoons Hotels took fifth. 

Hilton missed out on the top five coming in sixth while Holiday Inn was seventh. 

As for the best small and medium hotel chain, Hotel Du Vin topped the list with an 80 percent customer score. 

Q Hotels was placed bottom on the table with a 59 percent customer score. 

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