The United Kingdom’s hotel market is as large as it is varied, ranging from renowned 5-star and luxury hotels to major national budget brands. However, as home to world-renowned names such as the Ritz Hotel, Claridge’s, and the Savoy, it is easy to be blindsided by the glamour of the UK’s luxury hotel institutions. In reality, it is limited-service hotel chains that have claimed the biggest place in the nation’s heart, with Premier Inn and Travelodge regularly ranking as the
. Price undoubtedly plays a major role here, with both chains having some of the most cost-effective
. Besides budget chains and luxury establishments, there are also thousands of independent, smaller-scale businesses in the UK’s hotel industry, with the
Where are hotel prices most expensive in the UK?
As the economic and cultural epicenter of the UK, it comes as no surprise that London’s hotels have the
highest average price per night among the UK’s larger cities. As of April 2024, a night in a London hotel cost an average of 158 British pounds, while Edinburgh hotels charged an average of 152 British pounds; these two cities also consistently rank as the
leading UK cities by inbound visits. In contrast, the average nightly room rates in cities such as Aberdeen, Hull, and Milton Keynes were under 80 British pounds. The divide between the capital and the rest of the country is even starker when considering the
revenue per available room (RevPAR) in London hotels was over 100 percent higher in the second quarter of 2023 when compared to the
RevPAR of UK hotels outside of London.
What is the future of the UK hotel industry?
When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reached the UK in early 2020, the country’s hotel industry was faced with an unprecedented existential threat. Tellingly, the
market size of the UK’s hotel industry more than halved in 2021. However, growth accelerated throughout 2023, and the market size reached 24.7 billion British pounds that year, which was over a billion British pounds more than before the pandemic. Furthermore,
occupancy rates in UK hotels have also recovered since the beginning of the pandemic, reaching a four-year high in 2024 for the month of May. The
UK’s continuing cost of living crisis does have the capacity to negatively impact the country’s domestic and inbound travel sectors, however. So while these key performance indicators show that the UK’s hotel industry has the resilience to bounce back from global crises, expectations must be tempered regarding the sector’s room for further growth.
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