Premier Inn-owner Whitbread plc has had to change misleading online advertisements regarding its hotel prices following numerous complaints to watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
An ASA spokesperson told Proactive: “A website and Facebook ad for Premier Inn advertised rooms from £45. Two complainants, who couldn’t find rooms at the advertised price, argued the ads were misleading.
“We spoke with Whitbread, and they confirmed that there were rooms at these prices, but at select hotels.
“They agreed to amend the advertising to make it clear the promotion applied to selected hotels only, and include a link to the full list of participating hotels in the terms and conditions.”
It follows a similar instance in May, when Whitbread faced complaints over £35 rooms being advertised in Edinburgh.
The ASA told Whitbread to remove the adverts, telling the group “to ensure that when using ‘from’ price claims in the future, a significant proportion of the advertised rooms were available at the advertised price”.