Budget hotels discussion

[The exile]

I wasn’t told of the implementation date, but it makes a mockery of ‘all charges paid’ - if it was booked and paid before then they have no right to modify the contract!

In the case of a tourist tax they may well do - it’s not something you’re paying the hotel - they’re just acting as a collecting agent for the local authority (at least that’s how it is in places I’ve met it on the continent, where it always seems to be paid and receipted separately so it’s not part of the hotel’s turnover). A bit like a hotel accessed only by a toll bridge that isn’t theirs…

 

[Buzby]

A bit like a hotel accessed only by a toll bridge that isn’t theirs…

In which case, if you can avoid the toll by going a different way (or walking), fair enough. If there is no choice whatsoever, (like VAT) it must be sold at an all-inclusive rate. I don’t expect to pay seperate electricity or water charges for my occupancy of the room - so why this? As the obligation is fixed and a daily rate, charging separately is an inconvenience, misleading and that should be stamped out. Cities that do this mean I vote with my wallet and go elsewhere. Currently, Manchester want £1, Liverpool £2 and Edinburgh hasn’t stated theirs yet.

 

[D6130]

In which case, if you can avoid the toll by going a different way (or walking), fair enough. If there is no choice whatsoever, (like VAT) it must be sold at an all-inclusive rate. I don’t expect to pay seperate electricity or water charges for my occupancy of the room - so why this? As the obligation is fixed and a daily rate, charging separately is an inconvenience, misleading and that should be stamped out. Cities that do this mean I vote with my wallet and go elsewhere. Currently, Manchester want £1, Liverpool £2 and Edinburgh hasn’t stated theirs yet.

Tourist tax has been the norm in many European cities for several years now. We just accept it on our travels.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Tourist tax has been the norm in many European cities for several years now. We just accept it on our travels.

It's also very common (though less so now than it was) for it to need to be paid separately on arrival, often in cash even if the property takes card.

There's some sort of furore kicking off here over something that's simply the norm in most of the world. I don't understand why people care that much over a couple of quid on a £100 hotel night.

 

[Buzby]

I don't understand why people care that much over a couple of quid on a £100 hotel night

Like in the USA where the price you see ISN’T the price you pay? If you object to full disclosure then you’re a prime candidate to be ripped off. I was brought up to be careful - if you wish to be cavalier and won’t miss a few quid… fine, that’s your choice. It’s not even standard… Liverpool costs 100% more than Manchester why? They do it because they can - I don’t have to agree either it either, and refuse to support it. Being told after the event of an additional liability is my complaint. Full disclosure, or no dice.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Like in the USA where the price you see ISN’T the price you pay? If you object to full disclosure then you’re a prime candidate to be ripped off. I was brought up to be careful - if you wish to be cavalier and won’t miss a few quid… fine, that’s your choice. It’s not even standard… Liverpool costs 100% more than Manchester why? They do it because they can - I don’t have to agree either it either, and refuse to support it. Being told after the event of an additional liability is my complaint. Full disclosure, or no dice.

I've created a new thread on tourist taxation: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...urist-taxation-and-its-implementation.302185/

 

[takno]

In which case, if you can avoid the toll by going a different way (or walking), fair enough. If there is no choice whatsoever, (like VAT) it must be sold at an all-inclusive rate. I don’t expect to pay seperate electricity or water charges for my occupancy of the room - so why this? As the obligation is fixed and a daily rate, charging separately is an inconvenience, misleading and that should be stamped out. Cities that do this mean I vote with my wallet and go elsewhere. Currently, Manchester want £1, Liverpool £2 and Edinburgh hasn’t stated theirs yet.

Hmm. I'm a little torn on that. I did stay on a fortress island in Norway last year which could only realistically be reached by getting a ferry run by a separate organisation. I'm not sure the ferry should have been in the price of the hotel.

Tourist taxes should be collected upfront, and virtually nowhere actually prevents hotels from doing this. Some of them are just so furious about giving back a penny to the local community that they are desperate for their guests to know how much is it and be as furious as they are. Funnily enough, inconveniencing their own customers by making them pay the charge separately really isn't the flex that they appear to think it is.

 

[Kite159]

Interestingly when I checked into the Travelodge in Salford Quays last night (eventually arriving around 11pm due to the 18:30 Manchester - Cardiff breaking down) it felt like the Spanish Inquisition with the number of questions to confirm my booking when checking in (home address, email address, phone number, confirmation number)

 

[route101]

The current offer of a free breakfast each day when booking Premier Inn stays, now has the caveat that the date(s) of the stay can be altered free of charge (subject to paying the difference if needed) until 1pm on the day of arrival. Previously when they've done the free breakfast offer, this hasn't been permitted. Just got a bargain Friday night at Enfield for £39!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 May 2026 ==

The Easy Hotel in Milton Keynes has very cheap rates at the moment, £21-26 most nights booking through Hotels.com. it's not the Ritz but is useful for the area and also for London, the last train back most nights leaves Euston at 0134, so it's really useful for gigs etc.

Funnily enough I was looking at the Easy Hotel in Milton Keynes. I have stayed the Premier Inn near the station twice and fancy trying else.

Stayed at the Premier Inn Orchard Park A14 Cambridge last week. Easy access off the A14 and M11 and free parking. Initial confusion at check in as I had booked two rooms and the lady thought it was only one room. Decided on the bus to City Centre and used the 8A and A service, the B does not serve the area at the moment.

The rooms were of the newer type without the desk but a circular table. As we had an early dinner we decided to go to the hotel bar a for a drink and snack. It seems the bar and restaurant at this Premier Inn is more set up for the meal deal, rather than just walking in and ordering drinks and snacks, as the staff were a bit confused.

At check in I had booked two breakfasts and the next morning only 1 was showing on their end, I showed my receipt as proof. It turns out their page did not refresh.

 

[boyaloud]

The Premier Inn in Ealing is only £36 on Thursday 11 June.

 

[Kite159]

Thursdays in some areas can be reasonable good value. Business folk have gone home and the weekend visitors haven't arrived. Similar to Sunday nights.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thursdays in some areas can be reasonable good value. Business folk have gone home and the weekend visitors haven't arrived. Similar to Sunday nights.

Yep, for that reason Thursdays and Sundays are the cheap nights. Sunday is usually slightly cheaper as a few business travellers do stay all week or work a full day Thursday and go home Friday morning, whereas aside from a bank holiday almost nobody stays a Sunday night.

 

[route101]

Yep, for that reason Thursdays and Sundays are the cheap nights. Sunday is usually slightly cheaper as a few business travellers do stay all week or work a full day Thursday and go home Friday morning, whereas aside from a bank holiday almost nobody stays a Sunday night.

Good example is this weekend, hotels and transport sky high prices.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 May 2026 ==

Booked a Travelodge and wont be arriving until 11pm. Is it usually ok to arrive late or best to call them to say I will be arriving at that time?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good example is this weekend, hotels and transport sky high prices.

Yeah, bank holidays and school holidays (I think this one is both?) tend to be higher priced, though this week Monday night will be cheaper than Sunday night.

Booked a Travelodge and wont be arriving until 11pm. Is it usually ok to arrive late or best to call them to say I will be arriving at that time?

You don't need to tell them, but beware of Travelodge overbooking and the risk of them marching you off to a nearby property instead. Never happened to me but you read about it a lot. Phoning up won't change that though, they just check people in in the order they arrive until they run out of rooms.

 

[johntea]

I've checked in to Travelodge at 2am before (was in London and missed the last train, considered a 5 hour coach trip then thought I couldn't be bothered!), also checked in at 8am when I've had a multiple night stay but missed my first night for whatever reason, never had any problems

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've checked in to Travelodge at 2am before (was in London and missed the last train, considered a 5 hour coach trip then thought I couldn't be bothered!), also checked in at 8am when I've had a multiple night stay but missed my first night for whatever reason, never had any problems

I once checked into one at about 2:30am and left again at about 6am. It was cheap so not that poor value, but the guy thought I was mad - he did say he didn't think I was going to show up, but didn't do anything with that information.

(I had to be fair intended to be there about midnight, but traffic was horrendous due to a series of accidents and diversions)

 

[styles]

I've checked into Travelodges at many ungodly hours and never had an issue. I wouldn't stress it, though it probably also wouldn't do any harm to give them a heads up on your arrival time if you're concerned. 11pm is really not that late for this kind of hotel. When I've been at conferences I've sometimes cloaked by suitcase at a nightclub then checked into the hotel at gone midnight no issue.

 

[Mojo]

l had a Friday booking for Premier lnn at the ExCeL for an early morning flight out of City the following day. lt was a £50 ‘Advance’ rate which allows free cancellation 28 days out or a date change up to the day of arrival.

My flight ended up getting cancelled with the airline giving notification about 6 hours too late for the free refund!

ld tried to change the booking to a date in Oct and the room is over £200 on that night! No idea why as lve looked and there doesn’t seem to be any events at the ExCeL or anywhere nearby! Luckily managed to find a room for just £5 extra in January next year instead.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

l'd tried to change the booking to a date in Oct and the room is over £200 on that night! No idea why as lve looked and there doesn’t seem to be any events at the ExCeL or anywhere nearby! Luckily managed to find a room for just £5 extra in January next year instead.

There's at least three of the American Football League matches in London in October ( don't ask me why!! ) and that's probably pushing up demand for rooms throughout London across the whole month?

 

[Baxenden Bank]

l had a Friday booking for Premier lnn at the ExCeL for an early morning flight out of City the following day. lt was a £50 ‘Advance’ rate which allows free cancellation 28 days out or a date change up to the day of arrival.

My flight ended up getting cancelled with the airline giving notification about 6 hours too late for the free refund!

ld tried to change the booking to a date in Oct and the room is over £200 on that night! No idea why as lve looked and there doesn’t seem to be any events at the ExCeL or anywhere nearby! Luckily managed to find a room for just £5 extra in January next year instead.

Premier Inn can be moved multiple times, up to 18 months after the original stay date. I've moved a stay multiple times, just pushing it forward until there is a night at a suitable price at a convenient date. If you find a rebook at a cheaper rate you get a refund of the difference so, if it looks like you may need to abandon a stay completely, just pick the cheapest night you can find to lose the least.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Premier Inn can be moved multiple times, up to 18 months after the original stay date. I've moved a stay multiple times, just pushing it forward until there is a night at a suitable price at a convenient date. If you find a rebook at a cheaper rate you get a refund of the difference so, if it looks like you may need to abandon a stay completely, just pick the cheapest night you can find to lose the least.

You can also do this with Travelodge though you don't get the refunds and it's £10 per change on top.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

You can also do this with Travelodge though you don't get the refunds and it's £10 per change on top.

I hadn't looked at the time period for Travelodge changes. Having been stung by the £10 change fee a couple of times I now always book TL at a flexible rate. The difference between Saver and Flexible rates is much less than similar options at Premier Inn. Paying the few £ extra for Flexible is cheaper than losing the money on a Saver booking or paying multiple £10s.

One thing I don't like about Premier Inn is the inability to book a room on their Semi-Flex rate more than 60 days ahead. For that time horizon you have to book Advance - which can only be cancelled 28 days ahead. The alternative is to pay the highest rate 'Flex'. A lot can happen in the 28 days prior to a stay but by three days ahead I can be fairly confident I will be staying ie the weather forecast is decent.

 

[nlogax]

Spent an hour on the phone today with Premier Inn central complaints desk trying to ascertain why they'd charged me correctly last week for a single night's stay, only to then refund me (for no reason at all) double the following day before charging me once more. The hotel itself never picked up the phone, never responded to emails, didn't even send me an invoice.

Net result was a free hotel stay. Normally that would be welcome but it was a work trip. Try getting something like that through a corporate expense system when there are credit card transactions to reconcile.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Spent an hour on the phone today with Premier Inn central complaints desk trying to ascertain why they'd charged me correctly last week for a single night's stay, only to then refund me (for no reason at all) double the following day before charging me once more. The hotel itself never picked up the phone, never responded to emails, didn't even send me an invoice.

Net result was a free hotel stay. Normally that would be welcome but it was a work trip. Try getting something like that through a corporate expense system when there are credit card transactions to reconcile.

With one exception I have always been charged the correct amount by both Premier Inn and Travelodge and always had the paperwork to follow. Even with multiple changes, refunds for stays at a lower rate and add-ons (payable on arrival) for stays at a higher rate.

The one exception was where a booking was moved into the next tax year. As far as I could understand it, the VAT calculation (refunding in one year and recharging in the next and presumably a rounding matter) resulted in me owing Premier Inn a whole 1p. Arriving at the hotel to book in the receptionist was in disbelief and said she'd put the penny in herself. As a cash user with a bag of loose change at all times I would have been able to pay it!

 

[Jamesrob637]

Interestingly when I checked into the Travelodge in Salford Quays last night (eventually arriving around 11pm due to the 18:30 Manchester - Cardiff breaking down) it felt like the Spanish Inquisition with the number of questions to confirm my booking when checking in (home address, email address, phone number, confirmation number)

Off topic maybe, but why would a train breaking down from Manchester make you late for Salford? Had you intended to have a spin on it for a few miles, say out to Stockport?

Speaking of Stockport, the Premier Inn there may not do as well now its restaurant "The Rectory" has closed. Lovely old building. Some are saying Wetherspoon should take it on, only they've got an existing branch not 7 minutes' walk away.

 

[Kite159]

.

Off topic maybe, but why would a train breaking down from Manchester make you late for Salford? Had you intended to have a spin on it for a few miles, say out to Stockport?

Speaking of Stockport, the Premier Inn there may not do as well now its restaurant "The Rectory" has closed. Lovely old building. Some are saying Wetherspoon should take it on, only they've got an existing branch not 7 minutes' walk away.

I was heading to Stockport to meet a friend who was heading towards Manchester on another train. It was just bad luck the first train towards Stockport (other than a 4 coach voyager) when I got to Piccadilly was the TfW service

 

[Mojo]

Premier Inn can be moved multiple times, up to 18 months after the original stay date. I've moved a stay multiple times, just pushing it forward until there is a night at a suitable price at a convenient date. If you find a rebook at a cheaper rate you get a refund of the difference so, if it looks like you may need to abandon a stay completely, just pick the cheapest night you can find to lose the least.

lt’s unlikely it’ll ever be cheaper than £50 though, the best option being the one l’ve chosen which is to just pick another night and stay there.

 

[cactustwirly]

Are some Holiday Inns, Hiltons etc like franchises?

I know Best Westerns are.

Yes the vast majority are

 

[Tetchytyke]

ld tried to change the booking to a date in Oct and the room is over £200 on that night! No idea why as lve looked and there doesn’t seem to be any events at the ExCeL or anywhere nearby!

It seems to be completely random in that part of London, it could just be a small conference at Excel and everyone attending deciding to choose the same hotel. I've seen similar at the Canning Town Premier Inn (my first choice in that bit of London) where one random night is £180 when all the others are more like £80.

 

[philthetube]

It could be a coach party booked into a hotel, they will agree a price with an operator, not use dynamic pricing as they could not spread a party across the group, and would lose the work if they tried.