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Hotels in the UK

Photo: Upsontedmuilo (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Hotels in the UK

This is our UK-wide guide to Hotels: browse by region below, compare facilities and from-prices, and book direct at the operator's live price.

Must-have facilities
Blanco's Hotel

Blanco's Hotel

✓ 63 spacious rooms with calm tones and plush furnishings

🏖️ 1.29 miles from Aberafan (Excellent water quality)

Port Talbot

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citizenM

citizenM

✓ Speedy self-check-in and check-out via touch-screen terminals

🏖️ 1.84 miles from The Serpentine - Hyde Park (Good water quality)

London

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Where the choice is, and why

There are 10,846 hotels published on BritStays, and they are not spread evenly. London alone accounts for 1,320 of them, which is no surprise: a dense city with business travel, airports, theatres and year-round visitors supports far more rooms than anywhere else. Scotland is next with 1,106, though those are scattered over a much bigger area — city hotels, small-town inns and remote places like The Ceilidh Place in the Scottish Highlands or the Mosspaul Inn near Hawick, where the hotel may well be the only option for miles.

After that the pattern follows old holiday habits and old trade routes:

  • Lancashire — 482, helped by seaside resorts and northern city breaks
  • Wales — 442, from coastal bases to market towns
  • Yorkshire — 432, split between cities, dales and coast
  • Cheshire — 343, with Chester drawing a good share
  • Devon — 305 and Somerset — 303, classic West Country touring country
  • Warwickshire — 299 and Dorset — 259

If you want a hotel in a national park or a very small village, expect a handful of choices rather than a page of them. If you want a city, you'll be choosing between dozens.

What you typically get

Across the listings, the facilities most often recorded are WiFi (2,830 stays), Disabled Access (1,050), a Bar (598), a Restaurant (434), Parking (322), Pet Friendly (248), Near a Train Station (134), a Swimming Pool (80), a Gym (62) and a Spa (59).

Two things are worth drawing out of those numbers. First, not every listing has its facilities filled in, so a blank isn't proof that something is missing — it often just means nobody recorded it. Second, pools, gyms and spas are genuinely rare in this set. Fewer than one in a hundred hotels lists a pool. If a swim or a treatment is the point of your trip, search for it specifically rather than assuming a hotel will have one.

Parking is the other one to check early. Only 322 listings record it, and in city centres it is frequently off-site and charged by the night.

Who hotels suit

Hotels earn their keep on short trips, one-night stops and city breaks, where self-catering costs you a shop, a cook and a clean. They suit solo travellers and couples, people arriving late or leaving early, anyone travelling without a car (134 listings are recorded as near a train station), and anyone who would rather eat downstairs than drive to find dinner. They also suit mixed groups who want their own rooms and bathrooms without renting a whole house.

They suit families less well when you need a kitchen, laundry and a lounge to spread out in — and the 248 pet-friendly listings show that dogs are the exception rather than the rule here.

What the example stays show

The range is wider than the word "hotel" suggests. At one end sit the predictable, well-signposted chains: Premier Inn in Braintree and Hilton London Croydon both record Disabled Access and WiFi, Holiday Inn Telford Ironbridge sits near a well-known visitor area, and Ibis Budget in Portsmouth is the sort of no-frills base you book for a ferry or a city night.

At the other end are long-standing town and village places: the Hope Anchor Hotel in Rye, the White Lion Hotel in Worcestershire, the Ivy Bush Royal Hotel in Carmarthenshire, Lloyd's of Chester, Thistlewood Hotel in Cheshire, The Inn On The Green at Maidenhead and The Golf Hotel at Crail in Fife, which lists WiFi. You'll also find oddities in the category — Ynys Barry Holiday Cottage at St Davids in Pembrokeshire sits among the hotel listings — so read the description rather than trusting the label.

Choosing well

Work out what you actually need from the building, then filter for it. Before booking, confirm directly with the property: whether parking is on site and free, what time check-in opens and whether there's late arrival, whether the restaurant serves on the night you're there (plenty of smaller hotels don't serve every evening), which rooms are above the bar, and what "disabled access" means in practice in an older building — step-free entrance, lift, and accessible bathroom are three different things.

When to book

Book early where supply is thin: rural Scotland, Devon, Somerset and Dorset in summer, and anywhere hosting a known event. In London, Croydon, Portsmouth or Braintree, midweek rooms often stay available and prices move with demand rather than the calendar, so booking a flexible rate and checking back can pay. For a single-hotel village, treat the room as the thing that fixes your dates — book it first and plan around it.

Frequently asked questions

How many hotels are listed on BritStays, and where are most of them?

There are 10,846 hotels published across the UK. London has the most with 1,320, followed by Scotland with 1,106, Lancashire with 482, Wales with 442 and Yorkshire with 432.

Do most hotels on BritStays have WiFi?

WiFi is the most commonly recorded facility, listed by 2,830 stays. Not every listing has its facilities filled in, so if WiFi matters to you it is worth confirming with the hotel directly rather than assuming a blank means it is unavailable.

Can I find a hotel with a swimming pool, gym or spa?

These are rare in this set. Only 80 hotels record a swimming pool, 62 a gym and 59 a spa, out of 10,846. If a pool or spa is the reason for your trip, search for that facility specifically rather than expecting it as standard.

Which hotels are pet friendly?

248 hotels record being pet friendly, so dogs are the exception rather than the rule. Check before you book, and ask whether pets are allowed in public areas such as the bar or restaurant as well as in the room.

Is parking usually included at a UK hotel?

Only 322 listings record parking, and in city locations such as London, Croydon or Portsmouth it is often off-site and charged per night. Ask whether parking is on site, whether it is free, and whether a space can be reserved.

What sorts of hotels will I find in Scotland?

Scotland has 1,106 hotels, ranging from town and city properties to remote ones where the hotel is the only option nearby. Examples include The Ceilidh Place in the Scottish Highlands, the Mosspaul Inn near Hawick, and The Golf Hotel at Crail in Fife, which lists WiFi.

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