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English hotels ‘have a long way to go’ says VisitBritain
TravelMole FastConference Special: VisitBritain says it is looking into the methods behind a Which? report, released today, which criticises the standards of English hotels.
The Which? report claimed some English hotel rooms were a health hazard citing toe nail clippings, dead flies and soiled mattresses among some of its finds during a spate of inspections across the country.
According to the report, 14 out of 20 hotels failed to meet hygiene standards set by a microbiologist, due to traces of bacteria in bathrooms and on crockery.
Speaking at the TravelMole FastConference this week, VisitBritain England marketing manager, Michael Bedingfield said: “We are undertaking some research on the Which? report to see how many of the hotels mentioned are assessed by ourselves, the RAC or the AA.”
But he conceded that standards needed to be raised.
“We still have a long way to go,” he said, adding that less than 50% of accommodation is assessed in the UK, and VisitBritain wants this to increase to 80%.
The report is behind a Holiday Which? campaign to call for the introduction of statutory grading for UK hotels.
“We’d like all hotels to be graded, and for grading inspections to be carried out anonymously so hotels are kept clean all year round and not just on inspection day,” said Neil Fazakerley from the organisation.
Mr Bedingfield added that the grading of hotels continued to be an issue in the UK, but said it is being addressed.
“For many years the grading of hotels wasn’t easy to understand.”
He said different symbols, “from diamonds to stars to leeks” were confusing holidaymakers over the standard of UK hotels.
But from the start of next year a single system will be rolled out, said Bedingfield, with common standards in place. He said he hoped this would iron out confusion for holidaymakers and help raise the perception of English hotels.
Report by Ginny McGrath
Ginny McGrath
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