Guests are being kept in the dark about poor hygiene in hundreds of hotel kitchens across the UK
A Which? study reveals that even five and four-star hotels need "urgent improvement"
Everyone loves a breakfast buffet or some late-night room service, but it turns out you might not look twice at the food they're serving up if you knew where it came from.
A new study has revealed that hundreds of UK hotels have a poor food hygiene rating, including one with five stars and others with two AA Rosettes which need "urgent improvement".
The investigation by Which? Travel found a total of 652 hotels, Bed and Breakfasts and guesthouses had hygiene ratings indicating that improvement is necessary, in some cases urgently.
Each of the properties received a rating of two or below from their local authority, which use the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) 0-5 scale, or an "improvement required" rating in Scotland.
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For example, London's five-star Royal Horseguards hotel has two AA Rosettes but a hygiene rating of just two, while the four-star Novotel in Birmingham was given a hygiene rating of two for "high-risk food...out of temperature control".
Inspectors also discovered raw meat stored next to sauces in the fridge and out-of-date seafood at the four-star Copthorne Hotel in Birmingham, awarded a rating of one, while Best Western's Dean Court Hotel in York, which has two AA Rosettes was given a food hygiene rating of just one.
Which? Travel sent undercover researchers to do a spot check at eight hotels in London, Birmingham and Northumberland with a food hygiene rating of between zero and two, finding that not one visibly displayed its rating at the time of the visit.
The Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme (FHRS) in England and the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) in Scotland do not require hotels, B&B's or guesthouses to publicly display ratings, unlike businesses in Wales and Northern Ireland.
To determine a rating, food safety officers look at how hygienically the food is handled, the condition of the structure of the buildings and how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.
At the end of the inspection, the business is given one of the six ratings from zero to five, with the FSA saying any business should be able to reach the top rating.
Which? is calling for the mandatory display of food hygiene ratings at hotels, B&B's and guesthouses across the UK, not only outside premises, but also on their websites.
The FSA also believes a compulsory scheme is necessary and is building a case for a mandatory display scheme to be rolled out in England, and Food Standards Scotland is reviewing a similar scheme.
A spokesperson for the Royal Horseguards Hotel has told the Sun Online that since the official hygiene inspection a year ago, the hotel has gone to considerable effort to address the issues in the report, including implementing a new hotel team.
They said: "We are committed to the best possible standards in health and safety for guests and staff. When the Food Safety Department of the City of Westminster City Council visited the hotel in March 2016 we took its findings very seriously.
"A new senior management team immediately took action to improve standards to the level our staff and customers expect. We also commissioned NSF, a global leader in health and safety, to conduct additional inspections in July and November 2016.
"These independent reports found significant improvements had been made by the new hotel team and described the kitchen as being “exceptionally clean and well maintained” during an unannounced audit.”
A spokesperson from the Novotel Birmingham Centre hotel told Sun Online: “We took immediate action to correct the issues raised from the inspection. We are currently in the process of applying for re-certification.”
A spokesperson for the Best Western said: “We take food hygiene extremely seriously and would like to reassure people that the Dean Court Hotel, BW Premier Collection has had a private assessment since February 2016 and scored the maximum 5 out of 5, a standard that it has proudly maintained for many years.
“The February 2016 score was the result of a clerical error by a previous chef who has since left the hotel and we have requested an urgent reassessment from the York Environmental Health team to reaffirm our new 5 out of 5 rating.”
Sun Online has also contacted the Copthorne Hotel for comment.