More than half (51%) of Britannia’s guests questioned by the consumer champion said they ran into a problem during their stay. The most common issue was cleanliness. One guest complained: ‘It was terrible. The room was dirty. The bathroom was dirty. The carpet was terrible, stains everywhere.’

The chain has 61 hotels across 36 parts of the UK, many in historic buildings, such as the Adelphi in Liverpool. It scored 49% overall in Which?’s survey.

The upkeep of hotels was another common cause for complaint. A guest said their hotel was ‘run into the ground’ and another guest found their Britannia hotel to be ‘old, worn out and in need of a drastic makeover’. Another complained of ‘small and basic rooms’, ‘no soap or shampoo’ and ‘bags of rubbish outside the main entrance’.

Which? based its ratings on more than 2,600 hotel stays. It found there are affordable, quality hotels rooms available in the UK, but it also highlighted hotel chains to avoid.

Which? members rated 24 large hotel chains and six small ones in 10 categories, including cleanliness, customer service, bed comfort, communal areas, value for money and whether the chain’s description matches reality.

Other hotel chains which scored poorly in the survey included Mercure (52%), Macdonald (59%) and Iris Budget (60%).

The survey also found that room price was not necessarily a good indicator of quality. The average price those surveyed paid for a room in Britannia was £99 – 50% more expensive than the highest scoring large hotel chain, Premier Inn.

At just £66 per night on average, Premier Inn was given five-star ratings for cleanliness, Covid-19 safety measures and bed comfort, with customers enjoying their king-sized beds and choice of firm or soft pillows.

However, Premier Inn’s customer score of 79% was topped by the best small chain, Hotel du Vin, which scored 80% from guests. Pub operators also performed well, with large hotel chain Wetherspoon receiving 74% and small chain Young’s scoring 73%.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Year after year, guests are let down by Britannia’s run-down hotels and often dirty rooms. This year saw some slight improvements to the chain’s score – but not enough to drag it off the bottom of our rankings.

“Until the company ups its game further we would urge guests to look elsewhere. The impressive, budget-friendly Premier Inn is our pick of the large chains and Hotel du Vin offers high quality stays in interesting locations.”

Britannia did not respond to Which?’s requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Mercure said: “We are surprised to see our position in this survey, it does not reflect the high standard of guest experience which we strive for and we will take action to address these comments. The experience and wellbeing of our guests at each and every property is our highest priority.”