Homing instincts

Online hotel retailer Octopus Travel claims UK summer holiday bookings in May and June showed a 15 per cent surge, compared with 2010.

Customers typically want a short but luxurious break within driving distance of home, because as many as 90 per cent are trading up to hotels of three-star quality and above.

Even one-night breaks in Britain are up by 10 per cent on last year.

Octopus Travel spokesman Kevin Currie says: “It’s interesting to see how British consumers are changing their spending patterns, often by prioritising quality over the length of their holidays.”

Customers are also seeking value-added deals, like family breaks with day tickets to Alton Towers or packages with spa treatments, according to Graham Balmforth, national sales manager at short-break specialist Superbreak.

“We also see big demand for two-night B&B breaks with four-star hotel chains like De Vere, starting at little more than £100 per person, including dinner on one night.

“Many who have been abroad in the past six months or so realise how expensive food and drink has become in Europe and they’re finding better value at home.”

For example, Barcelo Hotels has teamed up with historic Treasure Houses of England to provide free entrance to stately homes: a one-night B&B stay at Shrigley Hall Hotel, Golf & Country Club includes a three-course dinner and entrance to nearby Chatsworth House, all for £68.50 per person.

The Barcelo Oxford Hotel has a similar deal – dinner, B&B for two for £139 per person, and tickets to magnificent Blenheim Palace, which normally cost £19 each.

The website, hotels4u, a Thomas Cook subsidiary, says demand for some short breaks is driven by new films. Harry Potter fans are descending on Oxford, for example, where many of the Hogwarts School scenes were filmed. Three nights’ B&B at three-star Eynsham Hall in early August start at £204 for two people.

Octopus Travel (www.octopustravel.com) is also recording a significant boost in UK city breaks, for centres such as Leeds, London, Liverpool and York.

Currie says: “With our recently launched summer sale offering price cuts of up to 30 per cent, we provide customers with hotels which don’t break the bank, but also match their expectations,”