Best and worst UK hotel chains 2014
Research from Which? has revealed a massive gap in customer satisfaction between the best and worst UK hotel chains.
Members told us of 5,894 hotel stays in the last year, and rated 29 chains on nine categories including cleanliness, customer service and value for money.
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Sofitel took top spot with a customer score of 83%. It received maximum ratings in seven of our nine categories including quality of bedrooms, bathrooms and cleanliness.
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Britannia Hotels retains the bottom spot for the second year running with an abysmal customer score of 33%. Members commented on ‘run down’ hotels that are ‘well past their best’.
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Premier Inn, the most-used chain, comes near the top of the table going from strength to strength with an increase in last year’s customer score from 76% to 82%.
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Travelodge, the second most-used chain, still languishes near the bottom of our table. However, it does appear to be closing the gap with its rival, raising its customer score from 50% to 60%. This could be down to a £57m modernisation programme.
Which? travel editor Jill Starley-Grainger, said:
“It can be a bit of a lottery staying with popular UK hotel chains as there’s such a massive gap in standards between the best and worst. Hotels that have fared badly need to look at their customers’ feedback and learn where they need to up their game.”
In a separate investigation we calculated the cheapest month to have a weekend break. We looked at a range of popular UK hotel chains in five major UK cities and found September was the cheapest month on average for a hotel stay. The most expensive months varied depending on the city.
Notes to editors:
1. In August 2014, we asked Which? members to complete an online survey about their experiences of staying at a chain hotel in the UK. Our customer scores are based on 5,894 member experiences. Only hotel chains rated by at least 30 members are included.
2. To calculate the hotel prices by month, we took average prices for a standard double room for Friday to Saturday night stays based on September 2013 to August 2014 data.
3. Both investigations can be found in the full article here.