Buxton Hotel fights back against Which? rating and says major improvements are taking place

The consumer champion charity Which? has published its annual best and worst hotels list and Britannia, which owns the Palace Hotel in Buxton, has once again been voted the worst.

However, Palace Hotel general manager Sue Goodchild said: “My heart sank when I saw the latest report from Which?”

"Although we are owned by Britannia and sadly the chain has been named as the worst hotel for 11 years we are an Elite Venue Selection and not considered part of the standard Britannia chain."

According to Which? the hotel chain has now sat at the bottom of the list since 2012. In the 2023 list Britannia gained nothing higher than two stars in all areas.

The survey of more than 4,600 people ranked Britannia two stars for cleanliness, value or money, description matching the property, communal areas and decor, bed comfort, customer service and breakfast. The chain scored only one star for its bedrooms, bathrooms and wi-fi.

Sue said: "It frustrates me to hear these things about Britannia because they are the only company which has invested in the hotel.

"This year we have had tens of thousands of pounds spent on the hotel, new carpets throughout as well as new furniture. We have upgraded the bedrooms and around 65 per cent of our bathrooms have been modernised with the rest still to be done.

"This is a hotel which is on the up but reports saying we are at the bottom of the list makes my heart sink because we aren’t the same as the hotels which may have been judged nationwide. Also a lot of the staff live in the Buxton area and this isn’t good for staff moral.

"We know the work which has been going on and if anyone has any questions or queries we will happily show them around so they can see for themselves how good The Palace Hotel really is.”

The second worst hotel chain on the list was Travelodge, which also has a hotel in the High Peak. However, in some good news the town’s Premier Inn - which opened 2016, was the third best hotel chain.