Milo Boyd stayed at Britannia Hampstead to check whether or not the resort chain, ranked worst within the UK by Which? for 12 consecutive years, lives as much as its infamous status.
Milo was taken again by the shortage of home windows (Picture: undefined)
There aren’t many resorts charging £10 additional for home windows or showing fully abandoned through the week earlier than Christmas. And there is just one resort chain topped Britain’s worst for 12 consecutive years.
To pattern such experiences, you’ll want to guide your self right into a Britannia.
The chain has achieved legendary standing. Half a century after launching its inaugural property, the Nation Home Resort in Didsbury, Manchester, it has expanded to roughly 60 institutions nationwide earlier than buying Pontins.
But its journey hasn’t been fully triumphant. Britannia has confronted appreciable criticism over time for (in line with quite a few dissatisfied visitors at the very least) reworking previously magnificent buildings into dirty, unpleasant and uncomfortable institutions that fail to ship worth, even at their budget-friendly charges.
My preliminary encounter with Britannia occurred in 2022, throughout these euphoric post-lockdown months, once I travelled by practice to Bournemouth for a keep in a resort now transformed to accommodate asylum seekers. The jammed home windows and overpowering paint fumes assured a sweltering and uncomfortable night time, while the empty outside pool, deserted underwear within the courtyard and scattered nitrous oxide canisters bolstered the pervasive environment of neglect.
With these scenes recent in my thoughts, I approached my go to to the native Britannia with appreciable apprehension, questioning if the UK’s worst-rated resort chain had turned issues round.
It hadn’t.
Britannia Hampstead proved miserable, although in contrasting methods to its coastal counterpart. Under is an evaluation of its core options, measured in opposition to a latest keep at The Manor in Blakeney, North Norfolk.
The Manor belongs to the Teaching Inn Group, which Which? readers topped Britain’s most interesting massive resort chain of 2025, while Britannia languished on the backside. This is what distinguishes excellence from mediocrity.
Over in Norfolk, it is a completely different story. The Manor has 36 rooms, the most affordable of which will be booked for £99 subsequent week.
It’s traditional price range resort fare, albeit of the standard finish of the spectrum. A snug double mattress, a medium-sized TV, and a well-decorated rest room. Every thing is strong, clear and cheerful.
Workers
As the only real visitor on the Britannia resort that night, I’ve few real gripes concerning the group. They appeared nice sufficient, albeit considerably preoccupied once I spoke with them. The receptionist did not seem fully sure why the restaurant and bar had shut. Past that, my dealings with employees have been confined to them glancing at me inquisitively while I learn my guide within the abandoned lobby.
In contrast, on the Manor, it is fully concerning the group. Quite a few members have labored there for significantly greater than a decade.
Roughly half seem to belong to the Hill household, together with Tore, Karen, Sophie and Wayne. They have been all obtainable at completely different moments all through my go to to ensure the whole lot was correctly organized and to supply suggestions concerning the surrounding district.
For myself, and the talkative returning visitors who addressed employees by their first names, such hospitality is a big benefit. It adjustments the resort from merely lodging and eating for the night, to someplace welcoming that you just want to stay.
Location
This should be amongst Britannia’s benefits. For my part, its visitors endure a substandard expertise because of the ease of stumbling again to a metropolis centre institution following a enterprise journey or bachelor celebration.
The Hampstead resort offers nothing of the kind. It is neither sufficiently near the Heath nor Camden to be genuinely in both location, and it is fairly a substantial trek from the center of city.
I can solely envisage the letdown of holidaymakers who didn’t conduct an sufficient investigation prior to creating their reservation. Quite the opposite, Blakeney is an enthralling location.
Only a stone’s throw from the resort entrance is the River Glaven, meandering by means of the Nationwide Nature Reserve. The close by Blakeney Level is legendary for its seal colonies, with Beans Boat offering guided excursions all 12 months spherical.
Most Teaching Inn Group resorts are located in equally picturesque and secluded rural spots.
Value
In keeping with its web site, windowless rooms on the London Britannia begin from £55. Nevertheless, mine was nearer to £90 together with breakfast. If I might chosen the much-desired window possibility, it might’ve reached the £100 threshold.
The typical worth of a room on the Manor is £128. Whereas this is not precisely a discount, within the Which? survey, the resort was considered one of solely two to realize 4 out of 5 stars for worth for cash.
The opposite was Wetherspoons. I visited the Spoons Resort in Canterbury in November, the place an in a single day keep will be yours for simply £55 and the common worth is £70.
The resort has not been ranked nicely (Picture: undefined)
In my view, Spoons simply wins the award for greatest worth, with the Teaching Inn Group trailing carefully behind. Britannia, nevertheless, gives little or no for what’s a considerable price ticket. The typical value throughout all its resorts is £84, in line with Which? . Even in right now’s cash, that is disappointing.
The decision
Nothing about my keep on the Britannia satisfied me that it is bettering or prone to lose its undesirable ‘worst at school’ title anytime quickly. I am assured it’s going to safe the underside spot for a thirteenth time subsequent 12 months.
Britannia’s technique seems to contain buying prestigious historic properties and providing rooms at price range costs. Given the dimensions of those buildings, upgrading them to up to date requirements would signify a considerable and unsure funding.
It is doubtless the corporate’s management has calculated that sustaining minimal expenditure is preferable, even when revenue margins stay static. The result is a sequence of quite a few deteriorating properties that routinely disappoint visitors.
In contrast, Teaching Inn Group demonstrates the way it needs to be completed. For virtually an identical charges, visitors can take pleasure in considered one of its pleasant resorts in cosy, well-appointed rooms, served by employees who seem genuinely dedicated to their roles.
Frankly, there’s merely no comparability.
Britannia has been contacted for remark.
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