A Premier Inn hotel advert has been banned for misleading claims about room prices after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that only a few nights within the 365-day booking window were on offer for the discounted rate. 

The advert read: “Premier Inn Edinburgh - Rooms From Only £35 Per Night” to which the ASA advised that when using “from” in price claims, a significant proportion of the advertised rooms should be available at the advertised price. 

The ASA’s CAP Code provides that any claim which consumers are likely to regard as objective must be capable of objective substantiation. In Premier Inn’s case, the ASA determined that consumers would objectively understand there to be a significant number of nights within the 365-day booking window available at the discounted rate. The hotel’s inability to substantiate its claim rendered the advert likely to mislead consumers.

To avoid misleading advertising, hotels may wish to consider holding evidence in support of any claim made, such as that which demonstrates a significant proportion of rooms available at the cheapest price or with the maximum saving, and spreading availability evenly across the discount or travel period to prevent exaggerating the likely availability of pricing and discounts.