For many travellers, finding the right accommodation is an integral part of any trip. The factors involved can include the quality of the amenities, proximity to the city centre, and even the size of the accommodation – no one wants to put up with a cramped, stuffy hotel room. This led us to wonder: which UK cities have the largest hotel rooms, and which city’s hotels charge the highest premiums for their room space?
To find the answer to this, Good Management Travel conducted a study on the average cost of a one-night stay across all UK cities. This was calculated alongside the average square footage of each room to determine which city’s hotels charge the least and most per square foot on average. The study additionally delved into London, to rank each borough’s hotels across the capital by the same metrics.
Cities with the Cheapest Hotel Room Space
The city with the best value hotel space is Plymouth, where the average cost for one night is £153.68, with the largest average for their hotel room size at 864 square feet. This is then followed by four cities from the north with York having an average cost per square foot of 32p, Liverpool with 40p, Hull with 42p and Newcastle upon Tyne with 45p, guaranteeing the north of England as one of the best value regions for hotel space in the UK.
Cities with the Priciest Hotel Room Space
It comes as no surprise that taking the top spot with the worst value hotel room space is the UK’s capital, with an average expense for their hotel rooms of £1.92 per square feet with the costliest hotel used in the study being £1,148 for a single night.
Birmingham is second and has an average cost of £285.80 for a single night with an average square footage of 251, making £1.14 per square foot. The next city is Edinburgh, which has the second most expensive rooms with an average of £314.80 to stay, with a cost of £1.05 per square foot as their room size is slightly larger than in Birmingham.
London Boroughs with the Cheapest Hotel Room Space
When looking in detail at London areas, we discovered that Harrow triumphs as the best place for the most cost-effective hotel room space, with an average cost of £132.73 which is even comparatively lower than in Plymouth. However, the room is less than half the size at an average of 292 square foot. This is followed by Hillingdon, with an average cost of £133.9 for 246 square feet.
London Boroughs with the Priciest Hotel Room Space
In comparison, the borough with the costliest hotel space is Hackney, with an average room cost of £606.30. This would make it the worst location for a good value hotel room in the UK, with a high cost for one of the smallest rooms. The City of Westminster is the next most expensive, with their most expensive hotel costing £662 for one night and on average, one square foot costing £1.46.
Methodology
For this study we gathered the data for the 26 of the UK’s largest cities using data from Booking.com. We filtered down each search to focus on hotel rooms with proximity to city centre, a 4-star rating, and a double bed. From this we pulled a sample of hotel rooms in each location and found their square footage and price provided for a midweek booking. This was then calculated to find out the average cost per square foot and, by extension, which city’s hotels charge the most for their space.