News Archive
Budget Hotel Chains Criticized Over Quality Of Accommodation
06th Jan 2009
Mouldy mattresses, stained duvets and dirty toilets have been found at budget hotels by a consumer rights magazine.
Which? Holiday magazine said it found poor cleaning standards at some London and Manchester hotels run by budget hotel chains.
Sixteen hotel rooms were examined in September by a researcher for the magazine and microbiological technical consultants, who were pretending to be ordinary guests.
Mould was found growing on a mattress at one budget hotel on Manchester’s Charles Street, while a duvet at the Portland Street Hotel, also in Manchester, had a stain suspected to be blood.
Which? Holiday editor Lorna Cowan told the BBC: “Although this investigation was just a snapshot, it does raise concerns about the cleanliness of some budget hotel chains.
“It’s clear from our research that some of the hotels are getting it right when appropriate cleaning methods are being used.
“Paying guests should be guaranteed, at the very least, a clean room.”
Ms Cowan called for “one single accepted standard” for hygiene in hotels across the UK.
Premier Inn chief executive Paul Flaum told the BBC: “We take cleanliness and hygiene very seriously.
“The spotless standards achieved in our Bournemouth hotels are what we expect across all of our 550 hotels."
