Premier Inn forced to change another room ad following complaints to ASA
The chain agreed to amend its ad for 拢45 rooms over complaints it was misleading. It's the third time in recent months Premier Inn has faced similar criticism.
Tuesday 20 August 2024 19:16, UK
The UK's largest hotel brand has been forced by the regulator to change an ad for cheap hotel rooms following complaints.
Premier Inn had to alter its ad for "£45 rooms" after two people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) saying they couldn't find rooms at that price.
The ads were misleading as a result, the complainants said to the watchdog.
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How did Premier Inn respond?
While there were £45 rooms available, they were only at select hotels, Premier Inn's parent company Whitbread said.
It agreed to amend the ad to say the promotion was at selected hotels and to include a link to all the participating hotels.
As Premier Inn agreed to the changes no formal ruling was issued and no formal ruling was published.
The business operates more than 800 hotels in the UK alone, making it the biggest hotel chain in the UK.
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A series of complaints
It's the third time the regulator has intervened in a Premier Inn promotion since May.
The first issue raised across the period resulted in the ban of an ad for £35 hotel rooms as it was "likely to mislead" viewers. Only a small percentage of overall rooms were available at the discount rate, the ASA ruling said.
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Another grievance was also resolved informally - like the latest complaint - in July.
That piece of marketing had to be edited to remove claims which said buying early meant you get the best price.
Premier Inn said, "The ASA confirmed that they had no concerns regarding the spread and availability of the offer over the promotion period, with a significant proportion of rooms available at £45 with a reasonable spread over the different days of the weekends and duration of the promotion".