Britannia Hotels - which runs Scarborough's Grand Hotel - named worst chain for 10th year in a row

The company's hotels rated just two stars out of five for categories such as cleanliness, bed comfort and value for money in the annual survey by consumer group Which? It received an overall customer satisfaction score of just 56 per cent.

Britannia has 61 hotels across Britain, including Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel and Scarborough's Grand Hotel. Guests described the surroundings as "tired and tatty", with a "rough and ready" feel. The hotel chain came under fire from councillors and residents over the state of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough at the end of 2021. The furore led to TripAdvisor suspending reviews of the hotel from being posted on its site.

The joint second worst hotel chains were Mercure and Jurys Inn/Leonardo, which both scored 58 per cent. The ranking was topped by Premier Inn, with 78 per cent. Respondents to the survey paid an average of £89 per night for a Premier Inn stay, compared with £119 at a Britannia hotel.

The ranking of 35 chains is based on almost 4,500 hotel stays by nearly 4,500 consumers in the 12 months to August. The average cost of UK hotels has increased by 21 per cent in the past 12 months, according to the research.

Guy Hobbs, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said: "With a decade of dismal reviews cementing its place as one of the UK's worst hotel chains, our results suggest that Britannia should be avoided at all costs. With the average price of a UK hotel stay now costing a fifth more than it did last year, travellers want to be sure they are getting the best possible experience for their money.

"Our results show that price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality, and many respondents reported fantastic stays with brands including Premier Inn and smaller chains like Warner Hotels."

Britannia did not respond to a request for comment. Jurys Inn said it received "high satisfaction scores" from more than 213,000 guest reviews so far this year. Mercure said the Which? survey "does not reflect the standard of guest experience which we strive for".