Chances are, not very. That’s the buzz, at least, from a recent undercover survey of 16 budget hotels in Manchester and London. Conducted by Which? Holiday (though you won’t find the results available online, only profiled in this Guardian story), the report sent a researcher and a microbiologist into hotels costing under 100 GBP per night. What did they find? The worst of the bunch, the study says, was the Ibis Manchester Charles Street, where a moldy mattress was lurking in one of the rooms. Another of the chain’s property’s, the Ibis London Euston St. Pancras, now holds the distinction of housing the dirtiest toilet found in any of the hotels. Ibis wasn’t the only chain to get criticized. Travelodge was also slammed for having poorly cleaned rooms.

We agree with this assessment from the Economist:

The sample size is indeed small, but if these hotels are to take advantage of new guests downgrading from more expensive establishments, they have to match the smarter places on hygiene.

So true. There’s no reason that cheap and dirty need to go together. Unless, of course, that’s the kind of thing you’re into.

[Source: The Economist Gulliver blog]