UK Hotel Rooms are Getting Smaller

In 2015, the average hotel room size was 350 square feet, but hotel bedroom sizes are shrinking and that’s especially true in the U.K.

Commercial Property Consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton revealed new research that shows that 18% of all room openings in the U.K. in 2018 fall under the category of “compact-sized hotel rooms.”

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A compact-sized room is about 120 square feet in size, offering travelers much less room to move around. However, there are some properties like Z Hotels that offer only 86 square feet in their compact hotel bedrooms.

LSH’s report shows that more than 4,000 rooms were rolled out in compact hotels from 2017-2018. There are currently 5,000 more compact hotel rooms in the development process, showing that this trend is far from over in the U.K.

Since 2016, there’s been a 95% increase in compact-sized hotels rooms, and they’re appearing in U.K. cities like London, Edinburgh, Belfast, and Dublin.

Nick Boyd, LSH operations director hotel and leisure, told Boutique Hotelier: “The hotel market is currently in a period of exciting change and we have seen a number of hotel groups turn conventional wisdom on its head and successfully operate hotels with compact sized bedrooms."

"Not only do these cleverly designed rooms appeal to the younger end of the hotel customer base but they have enabled hoteliers to provide affordable bedrooms in high-value locations.”

He added, “Hotel operators are exploring new ideas in order to set themselves apart from competing brands and alternative accommodation types, with innovative technologies and novel room formats being adopted to offer new experiences to hotel visitors.”

Compact room brands in the U.K. include Premier Inn, easyHotels, YotelAir, Point A, Motel One, citizenM, and Z Hotels.

Matthew Colbourne, Associate Director of commercial research at LSH, commented: “We anticipate continued growth in this part of the market, as compact brands are rolled out across a growing number of UK cities. The compact sector will be one of the most innovative parts of the overall hotel market, as operators explore new ways to squeeze value-adding features into smaller room footprints.”