An investigation by Which? Travel magazine has found that almost half of all leading hotel chains in Britain are flouting advertising standard rules and government guidelines by not including VAT in their headline prices.
According to the research, 11 out of 24 chains had hotels that failed to initially include VAT in their online prices.
The chains cited by the magazine were Crowne Plaza, Doubletree by Hilton, Guoman, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Malmaison, Marriott, Mercure, Radisson Blu, Sofitel and Thistle.
This, Which? argues, is in breach of guidelines set out by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, which outline that VAT should be included in all prices quoted to customers and that this total figure should be displayed “prominently”.
Consumer champion Which? argued that when they examined hotel chains’ websites in July, VAT was not included in initial web prices, which would add a further 20 per cent to the price, although this figure was included in a later stage of the online booking process.
A Which? spokesperson said: “Our research shows that many hotels are breaking the regulations by only revealing the 20 per cent charge later in the online booking process.
“We want hotels to adhere to the rules and be up front about the total cost of booking a room by including VAT in the headline price.”
The survey follows a complaint by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the prices excluding VAT on the websites of Intercontinental Hotels Group and its subsidiary Crowne Plaza had infringed the ASA’s code and were misleading.
A spokesman for Hilton Worldwide told the magazine that the chain was altering its website to ensure that VAT-inclusive prices were on display in countries where this was required by law.
According to the magazine, hotel chains that included VAT in their headline prices included Barcelo (now Puma), Britannia, Best Western, Days Inn, De Vere, Holiday Inn Express, Ibis, Jury’s Inn, Macdonald and Novotel.
