The UK hotel chain named Britain's absolute worst for the 11th year running

A renowned UK hotel chain has bagged an unwanted award for the eleventh year in a row - rating it as "shoddy." Which? has revealed the winners of its annual Shoddy Awards, where it names and shames companies in need of improvement. 

To be nominated, companies had to fall short on one of the following criteria: failing an industry standard, potentially breaking the law, causing consumer harm or confusion or regularly underperforming in the consumer champion’s customer surveys or lab tests.

The Shoddy award for the grimmest hotel chain went to Britannia, which has been bottom of the watchdog’s rankings for 11 years.

The group has more than 60 hotels across Great Britain, many with illustrious histories: the Adelphi in Liverpool, for example, counted Winston Churchill among its high-profile guests.

It received just two stars for cleanliness and one star for the quality of its bedrooms and bathrooms in a recent Which? survey. 

Which? also found serious fire safety flaws - including broken fire doors and missing fire extinguishers - when it went undercover at Canary Wharf in London and Heathlands Hotel in Bournemouth, in 2022.

Britannia said it had “investigated and addressed” the issues and added: "We invest heavily in fire safety at all of our hotels and will continue to do so.”

In the second-to-last spot came Travelodge, followed by Mercure. Both got a customer score of just 56 percent with two-star bedrooms.

At the other end of the table are Hotel Indigo and Premier Inn Hub, which were named the best large hotel chains in the UK by consumers.

Hotel Indigo was described as a “classy mid-range hotels packed with personality” while Premier Inn was called “great value for money in central locations”.

Britannia Hotels has been contacted for comment.