Britannia Hotels Ltd.

Consumer group Which? has ranked hotels based on customer feedback – with pub chain Wetherspoons given a ‘great value’ gong and Premier Inn losing Recommended Provider status as it slips down the list

The Britannia Hotels chain has been ranked the worst place to stay for the 12th year running in a poll, as Wetherspoons beat Premier Inn and took home the ‘top value’ prize.

Consumer group Which? gave Britannia, with more than 60 sites, a lowly customer score of just 44%. It managed just one star out of a possible five for the quality of its bedrooms and bathrooms.

One Britannia customer at the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone, Kent, described witheringly as a “total dive”. Another said they had three nights booked but left after one because of the poor service, room and food.

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Britannia’s chain include a number of historic and landmark hotels. They include Liverpool’s famous Adelphi, which scores just 2.6 out of possible five on Tripadvisor as the website says guests “frequently cite noise issues due to thin walls”. Britannia’s Grand Hotel in Scarborough gets an even lower 2.4 on Tripadvisor, which says rooms are “basic and dated, with mixed reports on cleanliness.”

The firm’s hotel in London’s Docklands has been the scene of protests amid reports it was being used to house asylum seekers. It has been given a score of 2.8 on Tripadvisor. The Britannia group is controlled by tycoon Alex Langsam, who also owns holiday camp Pontins and was criticised after its Southport’s site sudden closure in early 2024.

The Mirror confronted Mr Langsam at the time at his 10-bedroom mansion in Cheshire. But when asked if he had anything to say to the workers who left in tears, he claimed: “It’s nothing to do with me, I am nothing to do with Pontins.”

Top in the Which? large hotel category was a pub chain with 35 inns. The Coaching Inn Group received a customer score of 81%, with “often historic buildings located in beauty spots or market towns where they aim to be ‘the best venue in town’.”

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon, which has over 50 hotels across the country, was also praised. It came fifth and was the only chain to be awarded a Which? Great Value badge. At just £70 for an average night’s stay, Wetherspoons got four stars for value for money and the majority of other categories, including customer service. One guest commented that the hotel was “clean, comfortable and good value”.

It came above Premier Inn, which slipped to seventh in the large chain table, and lost the Which? Recommended Provider status. While customers still ranked Premier Inn’s beds as some of the most comfortable in the survey, some guests told Which? their stay wasn’t good value and suggested that standards were slipping.

One guest said that “Premier Inn has lost its way. Prices no longer budget levels and service is no longer a priority”. An average night’s stay is £94. Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “A night away should be a real treat but with hotel prices climbing, finding a hotel chain that consistently offers comfort, good customer service and a charming location at a fair price has become harder. “

A spokesperson for Premier Inn said: “At Premier Inn we help millions of people have a great night’s sleep and sell over 20 million room nights every year to families, leisure and business guests. We’re pleased that the 2,746 Which? members who answered for Premier Inn as part of this summer survey awarded us five stars for bed comfort and that they also rated our customer service and cleanliness highly.

“Whether it’s our estate-wide roll-out of brand new, high-quality beds all with a choice of soft or firm pillows, providing relaxing shower products in every room or keeping our food and drink menus updated with new offers to tempt and excite customers, we’re continually investing in our guest experience. We are always looking to improve and welcome comments and feedback– indeed we actively seek them through our own customer surveys. We will certainly pay special attention to address anything that feedback suggests we need to.”

Britannia Hotels was contacted for comment.

A recent visitor to a hotel dubbed the UK’s worst said their room was dirty, had stained walls and smelt of sewage with no ventilation – although remarkably they found one aspect of the premises ‘magnificent’

It was always going to be a bit of a risk staying at what has in recent years been labelled the worst hotel in the UK by other appalled guests. However one plucky visitor decided to see if the reviews really were justified at the Grand Hotel in Scarborough.

Sadly they claim their stay there pretty much lived up to expectations with a dusty room, dirty toilet and foul smell coming from the bathroom, which they didn’t want to get undressed in.

The restaurant was also a let down with ‘stale’ food, ‘dirty cutlery’ and staff struggling to clear up the mess left behind by other diners. However there was one part of the large Victorian building that surprised them with its beauty.

Posting under the name Angiebarbara, the appalled traveller shared their thoughts on Tripadvisor in a critique entitled ‘The not so grand!’. They had visited the beach front hotel, which overlooks Scarborough’s harbour and South bay in August this year and had clearly read the large volume of poor reviews previously written. “Unfortunately the many not so great reviews are true and I had to see it first hand to believe it,” they wrote before going into great detail about what they discovered.

“The rooms are dirty with dust, holes and spills up the walls, creaky floors and filthy windows that don’t open and have no air con or ventilation and are tiny and constricted. When you first walk in the smell really hits you and especially as you open the bathroom door. All I can describe the smell of is raw sewage and the stuffiness of the room makes it overbearing,” they said, adding that the beds were “small with sunken matresses and hard pillows”.

They were so disgusted by the “tiny” bathroom itself that they didn’t want to undress in there, preferring to keep their footwear on instead. They said it: “Had ground dirt in the walls and flooring, rusty taps and mouldy shower and brown stains on the ceiling. The toilet was stained. The shower was missing a glass panel, not that I’d have attempted to undress in there, it was bad enough walking in with my shoes on,” they fumed.

Elsewhere in the hotel, they found ‘unclean’ cutlery and glasses in the dining room at breakfast with staff unable to keep up with the clearing required, so the reviewer, “had to brush the seats before sitting down and dodge the debris on the floor”. The food itself didn’t fare any better with, “dry, stale bread and puddings” and “discoloured vegetables”.

Although the imposing building is Grade II listed, the front of the premises has little “kerb appeal”, according to the guest, who said it was littered with dustbins and “overflowing rubbish and bird excrement covering them and the paths”. The ‘unwelcoming’ seating area was also covered in bird mess too they said.

However they did flag that it was a “shame” the entrance to the building let down the south side because the views there were surprisingly “magnificent”. They concluded their scathing review by advising the management to spend a whole lot of cash to improve visitor experience. “If you’re looking for basic standard accommodation do not stay here at the not so grand hotel,” they wrote. “In my opinion this hotel needs several million pounds spent on it to restore its reputation and quality. Shame on whoever has let such a beautiful piece of Baroque style architecture turn to rubble!”

The property is owned by Britannia Hotels, which bought it in 2004. It did actually invest a whopping £7million refurbishing it and in 2017 it was named by Historic Britain as one of the top ten places, buildings and historical sites that tell the story of England and its impact on the world. When it was opened in 1867 it was the largest hotel and brick structure in Europe and was designed in a V shape to honour Queen Victoria. It was during this period that the hotel was a favourite among the elite in society.

These days though, business doesn’t seem to be quite as positive, with a poor 2.4 Tripadvisor rating and 4,325 people rating it terrible. Others that have recently stayed there have also shared their thoughts. One raged: “Avoid this vile hotel! We got put into room 1010 which is in the basement. The hotel had a vile smell, it was dirty, in need of renovation, and downright vile. The windows were full of dirt and bird muck and you couldn’t see out of them, the wardrobe had coat hangers slung on the floor with an old ironing board slung in there, there were cobwebs hanging down from the ceiling. I would not put my dog in that basement never mind human beings.”

Another advised to “avoid” it all costs: “The whole place is filthy, ignorant receptionists and terrible food,” they wrote. “Do not go here, clearly needs some new management. Credit to the lads on the bar, they were actually polite and showed some professionalism.”

However there is the occasional happy camper, with one being “pleasantly surprised” after hearing of its reputation: “After reading the reviews I wasn’t expecting much but everything was good,” they posted. “My room was spacious and clean. The bathroom looked newly fitted. I also had a sea view. The ground floor was beautifully decorated, where the reception, ballroom, bar etc are situated. The food was good. Breakfast and evening meals are self service. A spectacular building.”

Other positive reviews point to the hotel’s location near to the centre and the seafront. Some love the nostalgic charm of the building itself, while others find that aspect means it looks shabby and needs refurbishment.

The General Manager often replies to the reviews, which presumably takes up a large portion of his day. He posted a “genuinely sorry” message to Angiebarbara apologising for all the issues they encountered during their stay. “Cleanliness, comfort, and service are areas we take seriously, and it’s clear from your comments that we fell short in several respects,” they wrote addressing the complaints, adding: “Your observations regarding the condition of the room, the food quality, and the upkeep of the property have been noted and will be reviewed with our management and operational teams.”

Mirror Online has contacted Britannia Hotels for comment.

An expert braved a mini tour of the UK’s ‘worst hotel chain’ properties and reportedly found a tissue in a kettle, scum in a pool, a view of an overflowing skip and mismatched, tired furniture were among the delights waiting to greet him

After a hotel chain was named the worst in Britain for the 11th consecutive year, a curious expert decided to investigate to see if things were really that bad at their numerous properties across the country in prime locations.

Britannia Hotels has consistently been awarded the dubious title of worst hotel chain in surveys conducted by consumer magazine Which? Many of its individual properties also have low to average scores on Tripadvisor where visitors have left scathing reviews.

Guest complaints include issues with cleanliness, tired furniture, poor service and barely edible food. It comes after a Brit abroad slams all-inclusive hotel food asking ‘what on earth is this?’

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Travel writer Gavin Haines wanted to see if the reports and findings were accurate and if things were really that bad on site. He stayed at three different hotels belonging to Britannia and it’s safe to say what he experienced certainly backed the research and reviews.

He had contacted Which? editor Rory Boland about the “abysmal” overall customer satisfaction ratings and was advised not to even bother visiting. “With over a decade of dismal reviews, our results suggest that Britannia should be avoided at all costs,” he was told.

Despite this he braved a stay at the Royal Bath in the traditional coastal town of Bournemouth. The grand hotel has a rich history – it was opened in 1838 on Queen Victoria’s Coronation Day and was the first hotel in the town.

It is set in its own landscaped grounds with spectacular views out to sea, which, its dedicated wedding website claims, makes it the perfect spot for your special day.

However Gavin found the venue’s interior special in a very different way. “The mismatched furniture looks like it was sourced in haste from a house clearance shop and makes me feel homesick,” he writes in the Telegraph.

“While the views make me want to call the Samaritans (if we can reasonably describe a rusty air conditioning unit, some broken guttering and fag ends on an enclosed flat roof as views).”

He couldn’t even bring himself to make a brew to improve his experience because the kettle had tissue inside it, “for reasons I’d rather not speculate on”.

One of the Royal Bath’s selling points is its spa with a heated indoor pool, steam room and gym. Unfortunately this also let the side down with a reported “line of scum” clinging to the tiles in the pool.

On Tripadvisor, where the hotel has a 2.6 score out of 5, one recent review backed his slimy discovery. In July this year, one visitor was looking forward to a spa day with high tea that had been booked by a friend but was incredibly “disappointed” by what they encountered.

“The Spa and pool was shabby, dated with missing tiles and broken lockers,” they revealed. “Nobody was at the desk so we had to wait to be allowed in. The crescent shaped pool was full of kids and toddlers, a tiny jacuzzi and sauna which were full and there were not enough loungers to accommodate everyone and hardly creating a peaceful luxurious experience!”

The high tea was more of a low point as well with, “sweaty cheese and curling bread”. When it came to Gavin’s dining experience, he did note that there probably wasn’t anywhere else in the popular town where you could get a three course meal for £15 in such grand surroundings, but you “get what you pay for”.

In his case it was a rock hard bread roll, overcooked and undercooked (quite a feat) carrots in the beef stew and a glow in the dark dessert.

Unfortunately his nights at other properties in the group were on par. The “ironically named” Palace Hotel in Buxton (3 out of 5 on TripAdvisor), like the Royal Bath, is a beautiful old building in a classical style set in five acres of gardens.

Sadly he didn’t get to admire these out of the window of his room that was “so cold I didn’t want to get out of bed”. Instead he was met with the choice view of an overflowing skip and old furniture dumped in a grotty car park.

While other visitors were similarly disappointed with the hotel, with many on Tripadvisor complaining of dirty rooms with poor facilities, there were those who appreciated its faded grandeur: “This hotel has lots of character & charm, yes parts are dated but that adds to its beauty,” shared one.

Another agreed: “For me the grandness of the building and the aspect looking out of the town was wonderful. Room didn’t have a window – as a result I had the best night’s sleep – didn’t know what time it was! I’d visit again – can put up with a bit of outdatedness for the charm and style of the place.”

Meanwhile, Gavin’s not-so-magical mystery tour had more delights in store at the Grand Burstin, Folkestone (2.7 out of 5 on TripAdvisor). The hotel made headlines in 2022 when chunks of its facade blew off, plummeting below onto a coach in the car park. Two people were injured. The year before a family cut short their stay there and likened it to Fawlty Towers – the disastrous hotel in John Cleese’s classic comedy.

So Gavin probably arrived with some understandable fear and trepidation, which would have been entirely justified but here he was treated to rose petals in his room.

However it seemed these weren’t a romantic welcome token from a thoughtful housekeeper and instead, “had presumably featured in a recent low-budget dirty weekend”. The spa facilities here were described as “scuzzy” and evoked “verruca socks”.

With plenty of Tripadvisor reviews of the various properties calling out their tired appearance, there are also those that highlight improvements that have been made, especially at the Royal Bath.

Britannia has invested £1million there recently but it seems, as with a lot of its premises, it’s pot luck what room you are allocated. One horrified guest says they were given a “cheap, nasty and dinky” room without a window in the “stinking” East Wing. While on the flip side, another was reportedly allocated a “spacious” room with a sea view, despite not paying extra for it.

It’s a similar pattern at the Burstin. While the reviewer wasn’t at all impressed with his room, others had a very different experience. One returning guest was perfectly happy with their allocation in August this year. They wrote on Tripadvisor: “Another superb stay here. But this time an even better room with an even better perfect sea view. Room was lovely clean and comfortable Well done Grand Burstin.”

Another who was wary of what to expect after reading poor reviews shared: “I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. Its not the Ritz or something flash and modern, it is what you pay for – a budget hotel.”

The Mirror has contacted Britannia Hotels for comment.