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Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a British budget hotel group with 64 hotels in Great Britain. The company also owns the Pontins Holiday Parks.
Since 2010 Britannia Hotels has been a subject of criticism over the hygiene and maintenance of its locations; consumer group Which? repeatedly found the chain to be the worst in the United Kingdom since October 2013. The criticism has contributed towards the growing general perception of Britannia Hotels as "Britain's worst hotel chain".
Britannia Hotels was founded in 1976 with the purchase of the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester. Its chief executive, founder, and largest shareholder remains Alex Langsam. Langsam is a non-domiciled UK resident, registered as living in Austria for tax purposes since 1999. His net personal worth was valued at £401 million in 2025 by The Sunday Times.
The company's head office is Halecroft, a Grade II* listed building in Hale. A large cluster of the company's hotels are located in and around Manchester.
Soon after its foundation, Britannia began making a number of further acquisitions. The second purchase in 1981 was a derelict listed building in central Manchester (the former Watts Warehouse standing on Portland Street). After redeveloping the unit it opened in May 1982 as the Britannia Hotel Manchester. At the end of 1982, British Rail sold off its hotel division, British Transport Hotels. From this sale, in 1983 Britannia bought the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.[citation needed]
In the mid-1980s, Alex Langsam acquired the Grade II* listed London Road Fire Station in Manchester for the group. Proposals to redevelop it into a hotel and offices were delayed and in 2006 it was placed on English Heritage's register of "at risk" historical buildings. The city council's attempt to compulsorily purchase the building was rejected on 29 November 2011. In 2015 Britannia sold the building to Allied London which began redevelopment as a mixed-use leisure and hotel facility.
The 1988 Philip Saville film The Fruit Machine featured interior and main entrance scenes of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, including a vertical pan shot past the lit marquee at night.[citation needed]
In 1987 Britannia Hotels converted an unused building in Manchester that had been the city's C&A department store - this became the Sachas Hotel. Later in the same year Bosworth Hall, a country house style hotel in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, was purchased. Bosworth Hall was being converted from a hospital/nursing home into a hotel and Britannia took over the development from the builders who went bankrupt. In 1988 the company purchased and began development of the International Hotel adjacent to Canary Wharf in London. The hotel opened on 9 June 1992. A year later, Britannia took over a 187-bedroom hotel in Stockport. After a period of refurbishment, the Britannia Stockport Hotel opened in 1993. In the summer of the same year, the group also purchased the Europa Hotel situated close to Gatwick Airport.[citation needed]
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Britannia Hotels AI simulator
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Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a British budget hotel group with 64 hotels in Great Britain. The company also owns the Pontins Holiday Parks.
Since 2010 Britannia Hotels has been a subject of criticism over the hygiene and maintenance of its locations; consumer group Which? repeatedly found the chain to be the worst in the United Kingdom since October 2013. The criticism has contributed towards the growing general perception of Britannia Hotels as "Britain's worst hotel chain".
Britannia Hotels was founded in 1976 with the purchase of the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester. Its chief executive, founder, and largest shareholder remains Alex Langsam. Langsam is a non-domiciled UK resident, registered as living in Austria for tax purposes since 1999. His net personal worth was valued at £401 million in 2025 by The Sunday Times.
The company's head office is Halecroft, a Grade II* listed building in Hale. A large cluster of the company's hotels are located in and around Manchester.
Soon after its foundation, Britannia began making a number of further acquisitions. The second purchase in 1981 was a derelict listed building in central Manchester (the former Watts Warehouse standing on Portland Street). After redeveloping the unit it opened in May 1982 as the Britannia Hotel Manchester. At the end of 1982, British Rail sold off its hotel division, British Transport Hotels. From this sale, in 1983 Britannia bought the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.[citation needed]
In the mid-1980s, Alex Langsam acquired the Grade II* listed London Road Fire Station in Manchester for the group. Proposals to redevelop it into a hotel and offices were delayed and in 2006 it was placed on English Heritage's register of "at risk" historical buildings. The city council's attempt to compulsorily purchase the building was rejected on 29 November 2011. In 2015 Britannia sold the building to Allied London which began redevelopment as a mixed-use leisure and hotel facility.
The 1988 Philip Saville film The Fruit Machine featured interior and main entrance scenes of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, including a vertical pan shot past the lit marquee at night.[citation needed]
In 1987 Britannia Hotels converted an unused building in Manchester that had been the city's C&A department store - this became the Sachas Hotel. Later in the same year Bosworth Hall, a country house style hotel in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, was purchased. Bosworth Hall was being converted from a hospital/nursing home into a hotel and Britannia took over the development from the builders who went bankrupt. In 1988 the company purchased and began development of the International Hotel adjacent to Canary Wharf in London. The hotel opened on 9 June 1992. A year later, Britannia took over a 187-bedroom hotel in Stockport. After a period of refurbishment, the Britannia Stockport Hotel opened in 1993. In the summer of the same year, the group also purchased the Europa Hotel situated close to Gatwick Airport.[citation needed]