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In Brief: Premier Inn has ranked first for hotel brand consideration among UK adults planning travel or leisure activity in the next year, according to YouGov’s 2026 rankings. The budget hotel chain also led selected brands on perceived value, while Hilton received the highest quality score and showed stronger appeal among business travellers.
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Premier Inn Swansea Waterfront – Image Credit Premier Inn
Premier Inn Maintains Lead in Consideration
Premier Inn was the most considered hotel brand among UK adults likely to use a travel or leisure service in the next 12 months, according to YouGov BrandIndex data for 2026.
The chain recorded a Consideration score of 54.0%, placing it 21 percentage points ahead of Travelodge, which ranked second with 33.0%. Consideration measures the proportion of consumers in the target group who say they would consider a brand when booking.
Holiday Inn placed third with a score of 26.8%, followed by Hilton at 25.8% and Marriott at 22.3%. Holiday Inn Express, DoubleTree by Hilton, Ibis, InterContinental Hotels Group and Crowne Plaza also appeared in the top 10.
England’s hotel occupancy rate for the first five months of 2026 stood at 75%, matching the level recorded during the same period in 2025. Hotel operators continued to face higher operating costs and business rates, while consumers encountered elevated prices for hotel and restaurant services.
Whitbread says Premier Inn has more than 86,000 rooms in about 850 hotels in the UK.
Hampton by Hilton Posts Largest Annual Increase
Hampton by Hilton recorded the largest year-on-year improvement in consideration among the comparable hotel brands included in YouGov’s movement table. Its score rose by 1.0 percentage point compared with the previous 12-month period.
InterContinental Hotels Group increased by 0.5 points. Holiday Inn and Premier Inn each rose by 0.4 points, while Marriott, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton all gained 0.3 points.
Hilton Garden Inn and Ibis also recorded small increases. Warner Hotels was included in the top 10 brands by annual movement despite a 0.2-point decline, as other tracked brands fell more sharply.
During the measurement period, Hampton by Hilton opened its largest European hotel in Manchester.
International Groups Have Higher Business-Travel Appeal
Premier Inn ranked first among both business travellers and leisure-only travellers. Its score was 56.1% among business travellers, compared with 53.1% among respondents who travel only for leisure.
Hilton had a consideration score of 32.8% among business travellers, compared with 23.7% among leisure-only travellers. Marriott recorded scores of 29.3% and 20.1%, respectively.
DoubleTree by Hilton was 6.3 points more likely to be considered by business travellers than leisure-only travellers. InterContinental Hotels Group had a 6.1-point difference, while Holiday Inn was 6.0 points higher among business travellers.
Premier Inn Tops Value; Hilton Leads Quality
YouGov measured consumer perceptions of Value and Quality using Net scores, calculated by subtracting the percentage of respondents giving a negative assessment from the percentage providing a positive assessment.
Premier Inn recorded the highest Value Net score among the selected brands at 48.7. Travelodge ranked second on Value with 28.4 but had a Quality Net score of minus 2.1, a 30.5-point difference between its value and quality ratings.
Hilton led the selected brands on Quality, with a Net score of 40.2. Premier Inn was second at 33.8, followed by Marriott at 31.9 and DoubleTree by Hilton at 24.6.
Crowne Plaza recorded a Quality score of 19.0 and a Value score of 2.9.
