Edinburgh Premier Inn advert banned by watchdog over 'misleading' £35 per night claim

An online advert by hotel brand Premier Inn for rooms in Edinburgh has been banned after being branded ‘misleading’.

The Advertising Standards Authority ordered the Whitbread Group, which runs Premier Inn, to take down the paid-for search ad in a decision published yesterday.

They ruled that a claim customers could book rooms in the Capital for just £35 a night was false.

A ‘misleading’ advert for a Premier Inn in the Capital was banned. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

After a probe was opened by the watchdog, the company said there were just 377 rooms over the course of a year available at that price.

However, the ASA said: “We reviewed the table of data provided. It outlined that only a small percentage of site nights had rooms on offer for £35.

“We therefore concluded the claim ‘Premier Inn Edinburgh - Rooms From Only £35 Per Night’ had not been substantiated and was likely to mislead.”

The watchdog continued: “The ad must not appear again in the form complained of.

“We told Whitbread Group PLC t/a Premier Inn to ensure that when using ‘from’ price claims in the future, a significant proportion of the advertised rooms were available at the advertised price.”

A spokeswoman for Premier Inn admitted that the ad had fallen short of its standards, although she maintained the firm had not tried to hoodwink customers.

She said: “As the UK’s best-loved budget hotel brand we always have hundreds of thousands of great value rooms available but we accept that this specific digital campaign wasn’t up to our usual high standard and it was never our intention to be misleading.

“Unfortunately, the issue arose as a result of a £35 offer which proved slightly more popular than initially expected – the rooms sold quickly and we didn’t react fast enough to update the lead pricing in our paid-for ads against the available inventory.

“Enhanced processes are already in place to ensure future compliance and clear verification of any claims and we’re confident this issue won’t arise again.”