28 January 2009

'Dirt cheap' UK hotels exposed

TripAdvisor has revealed the UK's ten dirtiest hotels for the third year in a row, based on traveller ratings for cleanliness.

Seven properties in London make their mark, together with those in Oxford, Brighton and Manchester.

The Cromwell Crown Hotel in London ranks as worst, according to TripAdvisor, while three repeat offenders failed to clean up their act.

Nanford Guest House in Oxford, which claimed the top spot last year and second place in 2007, is ranked at number three.

London's Eden Plaza Hotel moves up from ninth to fifth place and the Park Hotel, also in London, moves down from sixth to tenth place.

Luke Fredberg, a spokesman for the online travel community, said that some hotels "take the concept of offering dirt cheap rooms all too literally."

He added: "Guests should be entitled to decent standards of hygiene, whatever rate they're paying - and we urge any properties failing on this count to clean up their act by 2012, so British hotels can prove they're equally as medal-worthy as our athletes."

The Travellers' Choice awards, based on the millions of candid reviews and opinions about hotels on the website and content from across the web, also identified the best bargain hotels.

A total of 11 seaside hotels were awarded in the Top 100 Bargains in the World category, with rates ranging from £22 to £90 a night, while Blackpool emerged as the top UK bargain destination.

Five hotels in the Lancashire resort feature on the Top 100 World Bargain list, in addition to three in Bournemouth, one in Scarborough and two in Llandudno.

Llandudno's Can-y-Bae -"Song of the Bay" - was named the UK's Best Bargain, with TripAdvisor traveller reviews referring to "spotlessly clean and warm accommodation", "extremely welcoming owners" and "superb food".

Can-y-Bae was also the only British hotel to claim awards in two further categories, ranking sixth in the Best Service in Europe category and eighth in the Hidden Gems in Europe category.

Meanwhile, the poll rated Britain's bed and breakfasts as among the best in the world, accounting for seven of the ten best B&Bs in Europe.

Scotland outstripped England's performance, with five local B&Bs making the top ten, compared to just two in England.

A London property was rated the best B&B in Europe. Bay Tree House in Enfield was described as "a home away from home" and commended for offering reasonably priced accommodation in the capital.

Five UK hotels were awarded in the top 100 luxury hotels in the world category, with London's Hotel 41 the highest ranking (number 23).
Harrogate's Rudding Park Hotel also made the list (27), together with Hunters Quay Hotel in Dunoon (30), Lucknam Park in Chippenham (58) and The Atlantic Hotel in Jersey (100).

DIRTIEST HOTELS IN THE UK

1. Cromwell Crown - London, SW7 4DX
2. Corbigoe Hotel - London, SW1V 2BH
3. Nanford Guest House - Oxford, OX4 1EJ
4. Cosmopolitan Hotel - Brighton, BN2 1PD
5. Eden Plaza Hotel - London, SW7 5JT
6. Hanover Hotel - London, SW1V 4BN
7. Rose Court Hotel - London, W2 1TR
8. Imperial Hotel - Manchester, M13 0HY
9. Gresham Hotel - London, WC1B 3QJ
10. Park Hotel - London, SW1V 2BP

BEST BARGAINS IN UK (figure in brackets denotes ranking in Best World Bargains)

1. Can-y-bae, Llandudno, Wales (6) average £38pppn
2. Kenley Hotel, Blackpool, England (11) average £22pppn
3. The Croydon, Blackpool, England (22) average £25pppn
4. Hen-Dy Hotel, Llandudno, Wales (28) average £36pppn
5. Blue Palms Hotel, Bournemouth (35) average £35pppn
6. The Claremont Hotel, Bournemouth (38) average £35pppn
7. Collingwood Hotel Holmfield, Blackpool (65) average £27pppn
8. Avalon Beach Hotel, Bournemouth (74) average £90/night
9. Selomar Hotel, Scarborough (79) average £26pppn
!0. The Ramsay Hotel, Blackpool (80) average £30pppn

Hotel Rossi, Blackpool also made the Top 100 World Bargains list,
ranked 87^th.

Best Bargain in the World Winner - Hotel Vecchio Asilo, San Gimignano, Italy

BEST B&Bs IN EUROPE (figure in brackets denotes ranking in Top Ten list)

Bay Tree House and Annex, London (1)
Avalon Guest House, Inverness, Scotland (3)
Pottery House, Dores, Scotland (5)
Craigatin House & Courtyard, Pitlochry, Scotland (6)
Chestnuts House, Bath (7)
Elmview, Edinburgh (8)
Ewich House, Crianlarich, Scotland (9)
BEST SERVICE IN EUROPE (figure in brackets denotes ranking in Top Ten list)

Can-y-bae, Llandudno, Wales (6)

Best Service in Europe Winner - Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece

BEST LUXURY HOTELS IN THE WORLD (figure in brackets denotes ranking in Top 100 list)

Hotel 41, London (23)
Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate (27)
Hunters Quay Hotel, Dunoon, Scotland (30)
Lucknam Park, Chippenham (58)
The Atlantic Hotel, St Brelade, Jersey (100)

Best Luxury Hotel in the World Winner - Aria Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

*For the complete 2009 Travellers' Choice list, go to http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/travellerschoice

by Phil Davies