ADVERTISEMENTS for three hotel chains and Booking.com have been banned after misleading consumers about the number of rooms available at the lowest prices.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said Travelodge, Hilton, Accor and travel site Booking.com used “from” prices when advertising hotel rooms, which overstated the number of rooms available at these rates.
Only a small number of rooms were available at the advertised price on some dates, so the ASA said the advertising was misleading and banned all four.
In an advert on May 6, Booking.com said: “Where to stay in Sheffield – Best Price Guarantee”, and further text read “easyHotel Sheffield City Center From £28”.
Booking.com says dates and prices are chosen dynamically by Google from provided data, so they can vary by user and search.
They believe the information in the advertisement is accurate and not misleading.
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However, the watchdog said data provided by Booking.com showed that in May seven bookings were made at easyHotel Sheffield at the advertised price.
However, it did not receive other information from Booking.com, such as the number of available dates for rooms for just £28.
It said this did not allow them to make an adequate assessment of the proportion of rooms in the hotel available at the advertised price.
It was therefore argued that the information provided was insufficient to support the claim “of £28”.
The ASA also found that although Accor advertises rooms for £27 on its Ibis Budget Birmingham Center, they are only available for one night stays on July 30th.
Therefore, the ad “is not a true reflection of the prices most consumers expect to pay.”
Meanwhile, the watchdog said customers would think that the advertisements “Travelodge Nottingham Riverside From £25” and “Travelodge Swansea M4 From £21” meant that the majority of rooms in each hotel would be available at this price.
However, the ASA understands that these rates are only available to book for one night’s stay on May 18.
Regarding Hilton, the ASA said it had not seen enough evidence to show that most hotel rooms were available for £68 at Hampton by Hilton. Hamilton Park or £59 at Hampton by Hilton Newcastle.
ASA operations manager Emily Henwood said advertised prices should match what is actually available.
He said: “If only some rooms are actually being offered at the stated price, or are only valid on certain dates, then this information should be made clear to avoid misleading people.
“Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to anyone trying to get a good deal or make the right choice about where to order.”
He added that people should be able to trust the prices included in advertisements.
This decision indicates that supervisors will take action if regulations are violated.
Meanwhile, Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said it was “completely unacceptable” for hotels to mislead customers with too-good-to-be-true sales pitches.
He added: “Which? reported several hotel groups to the ASA after we caught them using sneaky bait pricing tactics, so it’s good to see the regulator taking action.
“This should send a message to other businesses that they must display prices accurately and ensure they do not mislead customers.”
In a statement, Travelodge said it took its responsibilities under the ASA advertising guidelines seriously.
It said: “The prices shown in the ad are generated from our live price feed and represent the cheapest booking dates available.
“We recognize that customers expect clarity and transparency in pricing, and we continue to work closely with Google to ensure all ad formats are clear and fully compliant with policy.”
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It added that this particular ad format had been removed prior to the ASA decision and remained committed to “transparent, accurate and high-value pricing for all our customers”.
Booking.com, Hilton and Accor were contacted for comment.
