Bloodstains and cigarette smoke: Britain’s dirtiest hotel chain revealed

British hotel chain has been ranked worst in the country nine years in a row

The entrance to the brand’s Manchester Airport hotel (Brittania)

Hotel group Brittania has been named the dirtiest in the country - just four months after being named the UK’s worst hotel chain.

The new-low ranking appeared on a list of the UK’s dirtiest hotel chains researched and published by Property Inspect.

The organisation audited the Food Standards Agency’s lowest-scoring hotels, and found that Brittania - which operates 61 hotels across the country - had the highest proportion of properties scoring three stars or less.

The research found that a quarter of Brittania hotels scored this amount or lower.

In January, the hotel group was given the title of the UK’s worst hotel chain by consumer brand Which? , making the top spot for the ninth year running.

The brand’s Manchester Airport hotel - which has 766 TripAdvisor reviews rated as “Terrible” - has attracted recent customer reviews complaining of a “pungent” smell of damp, “blood on the curtains”, “damage in the corridors as though a mass brawl has taken place”and “drug addicts walking around the lobby”.

A more positive review gives it four stars with the caveat: “Yes, it had a faint odour of cigarettes but nothing to alienate this 2.30am-tired traveller.”

Meanwhile, Birmingham’s Brittania Hotel has 1,803 “Terrible” reviews includes guest commentary about its “mould on the windows”, “stink of weed”, stained beds and “rats running around outside the front door”.

The Hotel Ibis chain was found to be the cleanest, with 91.67 per cent of its hotels given a five-star rating; followed by Ibis Budget with 90.48 per cent and Premier Inn with 90.44 per cent given a five-star rating.

Warrick Swift, commercial director of Property Inspect, said: “Particularly since the advent of Covid, hygiene is a much more significant public concern that is now at the forefront of a lot of our decisions, including interactions with the hospitality industry.

“For anyone planning a trip, it should be comforting to know that, for the most part, our hospitality industry is hygiene-focused, but that customers should still be mindful of these ratings when booking a place to stay.

“For these hospitality giants, there’s no reason almost 20 per cent of properties should be receiving lower scores when there are countless ways to monitor hygiene processes and upskill staff.

“More needs to be done by industry leaders and managers to improve these ratings across the board.”