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What is the UK's favourite hotel and what is the revenue per available room?
Unless camping is on the agenda, booking a hotel is a must for a trip around the UK – and we’ve got some interesting hotel statistics to share below. Travelling to the UK is most popular for holiday visits, but the UK is also a popular destination for business trips. No matter your reason for travelling, check out our hotel guide to help you book the perfect stay.
We found that Premier Inn holds the titles for both most popular hotel chain and largest hotel chain (by number of rooms) in the UK. Our analysis of the price of a hotel in London compared to the rest of the UK shows that London is consistently around double the price of anywhere else in the UK.
Quick facts
- As of 2018, London is the most expensive city for daily hotel costs.
- Premier Inn is the leading hotel by number of rooms, with over 75,000 hotel rooms.
- In 2019, the RevPAR (revenue per available room) for London hotel rooms is 2.3 times higher than it is for hotel rooms outside of London.
- When asked which type of accommodation they would prefer for a rural holiday, 41% of respondents claimed they would choose an Airbnb or a B&B over a hotel.
The most popular hotel chains in the UK
Research in 2019 found Premier Inn to be the most popular hotel chain in the UK, with 67% of respondents saying they liked this chain.
| Brand | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Premier Inn | 67% |
| Travelodge | 55% |
| Holiday Inn | 51% |
| Hilton | 51% |
| Marriott | 40% |
| Ritz | 35% |
| Savoy Hotel | 35% |
| Haven Holidays | 33% |
| Butlins | 33% |
| Ibis | 31% |
After Premier Inn, Travelodge was the next-highest option, with 12% fewer respondents choosing this hotel chain than Premier Inn. With a positive response rate of 51% each, over half of the respondents also reported liking Holiday Inn and Hilton. The six least popular brands had an average positive response rate of 35% each.
The biggest hotel chains in the UK
The leading UK hotel chains were recorded based on the number of rooms they had. Premier Inn is the market leader, with 75,480 rooms, which is 1.8 times the number of rooms of the next biggest chain, Travelodge.
| Hotel chain | Number of rooms |
|---|---|
| Premier Inn | 75,480 |
| Travelodge | 41,880 |
| Holiday Inn | 20,530 |
| Holiday Inn Express | 17,410 |
| Hilton | 14,220 |
| Britannia hotels | 10,220 |
| DoubleTree | 10,190 |
| Ibis | 9560 |
| Best Western | 8890 |
| Marriott | 8490 |
Following Premier Inn, Travelodge has almost 42,000 rooms (41,880). Holiday Inn and the next seven hotel chains each have at least half this number of rooms.
Occupancy rates over time
Over the 12-year period from 2008 to 2020, hotel occupancy has always been an average of 9% higher in London than it is in the rest of the UK. Accurate values have been taken for all years up to and including 2018, while 2019 and 2020 rates have been predicted.
| Year | UK occupancy rate | London occupancy rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 69% | 80% |
| 2009 | 66% | 81% |
| 2010 | 69% | 82% |
| 2011 | 71% | 82% |
| 2012 | 70% | 81% |
| 2013 | 73% | 82% |
| 2014 | 75% | 83% |
| 2015 | 76% | 82% |
| 2016 | 76% | 82% |
| 2017 | 76% | 82% |
| 2018 | 76% | 83% |
| 2019 | 76% | 84% |
| 2020 | 76% | 84% |
London’s occupancy rates in 2018 (83% occupancy) were the highest they’ve been for the past three years. Occupancy rates for the rest of the UK (excluding London) in 2018 were the highest they’ve ever been (76% occupancy). The projected 2019 and 2020 values predict that occupancy rates will remain high, being 84% for London and 76% for the rest of the UK.
Hotels and COVID-19
The leisure and hospitality industry is highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as there’s much less travelling. After increasing year on year for decades, it’s estimated that the hotel industry will fall with 45% in regards to the revenue, from making £21.65 million in the UK in 2019, to £11.94 million in 2020. By cutting the revenue by almost half without any warning, it’s safe to say it’s not a surprise that the leisure and hospitality industry were one of the most unfortunate sectors during the pandemic.
| Year (* estimated) | Revenue (* estimated) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | £14.92 |
| 2013 | £15.49 |
| 2014 | £17.09 |
| 2015 | £17.23 |
| 2016 | £18.62 |
| 2017 | £19.00 |
| 2018 | £20.87 |
| 2019 | £21.65 |
| 2020 | £11.94* |
Hotel room rates over time
This graph compares the average daily room rates for a hotel in the UK and a hotel in London. The cost of staying a night in London is around double the cost of staying a night elsewhere in the UK.
| Year | Daily rate in the UK | Daily rate in London |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | £64 | £120 |
| 2009 | £60 | £114 |
| 2010 | £59 | £123 |
| 2011 | £58 | £133 |
| 2012 | £59 | £139 |
| 2013 | £60 | £137 |
| 2014 | £64 | £140 |
| 2015 | £67 | £143 |
| 2016 | £69 | £142 |
| 2017 | £71 | £148 |
| 2018 | £72 | £149 |
| 2019 | £73 | £150 |
| 2020 | £73 | £153 |
The greatest discrepancy in price was in 2012 when you would have had to pay 2.36 times the price for a room in London compared to the rest of the UK. From 2013 until 2019, the rates for hotel rooms both around the UK and in London have increased. In 2020 prices are predicted to be the highest ever for the 12 year period, at £73 for a hotel room around the UK and £153 for a hotel room in London.
Hotels versus other types accommodation: which do Brits prefer?
Although Brits rate hotels more highly for value for money, cleanliness, location and experience, the type of trip can influence what type of accommodation they choose. Hotels top the list for business trips, whereas Airbnbs were best for group holidays. Hostels came out on top for solo vacations and B&Bs were most popular for rural getaways.
| Accommodation | Most popular for | Least popular for |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel | Business trips | Rural getaways |
| Airbnb | Trips for four or more people | Business trips |
| Hostel | Solo holidays | Romantic breaks |
| B&B | Rural getaways | Ski holidays |
| City holiday | Beach holiday | Ski holiday | Rural holiday | Romantic holiday | Business trip | Solo trip | Trip with one other person | Trip with more than four people | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel | 80.07% | 80.24% | 76.30% | 54.12% | 83.19% | 71.19% | 71.19% | 76.50% | 66.11% |
| Airbnb | 12.48% | 10.06% | 12.59% | 18.32% | 9.15% | 9.14% | 9.14% | 11.63% | 21.94% |
| Hostel | 2.72% | 2.89% | 7.14% | 4.83% | 2.44% | 10.38% | 10.38% | 3.46% | 6.15% |
| Bnb | 4.73% | 6.81% | 3.97% | 22.73% | 5.22% | 9.30% | 9.30% | 8.41% | 5.80% |
Sources
YouGov
PwC
Horwath
PwC
Horwath
Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:
Matt Mckenna
UK communications manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
UK communications manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
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