The 9 things our undercover hotel inspectors always check

Our expert hotel inspectors have stayed at hundreds of UK hotels, and between them have more than 50 years of experience reviewing properties. 

At Which? Travel we pay for our hotels and stay anonymously so, unlike most hotel review sites, we can give you the whole truth about the property - the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Our undercover inspectors are meticulous. There is a long list of criteria they must rate properties against before scoring them; from the wait and welcome during booking and check in, to the room, facilities and food. 

But what sort of things are they checking after they check-in? We asked them. 

Lift the duvet and look for hairs

‘While it is not common, you would be alarmed by how many times I find hair in the bed, or under the pillow.' 

'The bed has been remade, but the sheet or duvet cover has not been changed or not washed properly. Some hotels have reduced the number of cleaners to lower costs, which results in corners being cut.’

Check if the soft furnishings have been cleaned, ever

‘Cleanliness is crucial, and we spend a lot of time checking for it. One thing I would warn hotel guests is that the soft furnishings (armchairs, couches and cushions) are infrequently cleaned beyond a wipe-down. In some places, they are never washed. Lift an armchair or two, and I often find the carpet underneath has never been vacuumed.’

'I always check how stained soft furnishings are, but even if I can’t see any visible stains, I would never put my head on a cushion or sit in the armchair - just think how many people have sat in it in their underwear.'

Can you adjust the aircon/heating?

‘An uncomfortable temperature can make it impossible to sleep. We don’t expect much more than a radiator knob in an old B&B, but in larger and more modern hotels you should get full climate control. Too often I find limitations on this; whether that’s simply the radiator knob removed or a fan instead of functioning air conditioning.’ 

‘Ironically, given some hotels claim they limit guest access to heating and air con as an green, environmental measure, it’s more usual that the temperature is too hot and can’t be turned down - an issue made much worse by properties preventing you from opening a window.’ 

Will the curtains or blinds keep the sun out?

'There is a basic expectation that if you pay to sleep somewhere, the room should not be lit up by light at sunrise.'

'Blackout curtains are best, and I am happy to say increasingly widespread at UK hotels, but sometimes they are not fitted correctly, meaning guests will be woken up early.'

Are they charging for facilities?

'An unwelcome change we seem to have recently inherited from the US is properties advertising swimming pools, saunas and other facilities but then asking you to pay more (often a lot more) to actually use them.’

‘I paid nearly £300 to stay at a ‘resort hotel’ recently, only to find on arrival I could only use the pool before 9.30am, or pay another £50 for a day pass. If you charge people lots of money to stay, they expect to be able to access the advertised facilities.'

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Is there a plug and a light switch next to the bed?

‘Some high-end ‘boutique’ hotels put endless energy into bespoke furniture and glitzy decor in their room designs - sometimes for better, sometimes for worse - but forget to put a light switch next to the bed. Worse, multiple switches for lights and lamps are hidden across the room. More than once I have had to phone reception to ask how to switch them all off.’

‘There is also no reason to design a hotel room that does not have a plug socket next to the bed so you can recharge your phone overnight.’

Doors that slam

‘A hotel’s choice of door may be the most important design choice it makes.’

‘Doors that bang loudly when being closed are a huge annoyance and can wake you up multiple times a night. It’s a particular problem in larger-chain properties with lots of rooms in long corridors. Some of this is down to inconsiderate guests who don’t close their door carefully later at night, but it’s also about the choice of door.'

'A properly designed, acoustic door on a good set of springs that has soft closing means a peaceful night's sleep for guests.'

Too many aggressive notices

'These have proliferated beyond private rentals in recent years. Nobody minds an instruction or two about where to put their towel, but multiple plastic notices blu-tacked to each wall are off-putting.’

'The most common is a long list of things you will be charged for, although this has grown from dressing gowns and M&Ms in the mini bars to upsells for bottles of water and late checkout. But it's also spread to large-font warnings about not bringing food into the room, or bespoke instructions on how you should or should not flush the toilet.’

Can you make a cup of tea?

‘A nice to have rather than an essential, but we know lots of people (us included) would much rather have a kettle in their room rather than a minibar.’

‘Extra points for decent tea bags, more points for fresh milk and a bonus point if there is a good biscuit or two too. British B&Bs usually excel at a good tea tray.’

How our hotel reviews work - and why you can trust them

Unlike all other national UK travel magazines and newspaper travel sections, Which? Travel never accepts freebies. We pay wherever we stay.

We first spend a lot of time researching hotels in advance. We inspect those that we think readers might be interested in staying in across budget, mid-range and luxury prices. 

We book a standard double room online, just as you would, and we sample the hotel’s facilities just as you would. We never let on that we are from Which?

That means no special treatment, no reviewer upgrades and no opportunity for the hotel to influence our verdict.

And no matter how badly the hotel fares, we publish the review, warts and all.

How do we rate hotels?

We use a star rating system from one to five. 

0 stars – A dreadful hotel. We would not recommend staying here.

1 star – A sub-standard hotel that we think is well below average in its category.

2 stars – An adequate hotel that we think has room for improvement.

3 stars – A solid hotel that meets our expectations.

4 stars – An excellent hotel that we think is above average in its category.

5 stars – An exceptional hotel that we think is among the best of its type.

Crucially, our ratings are based on what we think you should expect for the type of accommodation (a B&B, a mid-range chain, a luxury stay) and the price. The best hotel we have reviewed in the past five years, and the only one to receive the full five stars, costs less than £200. 

Several of the worst hotels we have stayed at have cost more than £300

Where to read our hotel reviews

We publish our latest hotel reviews in each issue of Which? Travel first and in full. 

You can also read our round up of the best UK hotels online, or in the Travel newsletter