Which? found major UK hotel chains repeatedly fail to return forgotten belongings, with fewer than half of travellers reunited with missing items.
In a survey conducted by the consumer group, 11 per cent of travellers reported leaving an item behind in a hotel room over the last five years. Common items left behind included mobile phones, tablets, clothing and cosmetics, but only 46 per cent of respondents successfully got their property back.
To evaluate how hotel staff handle lost property, Which? placed tracking devices inside mobile phones and wallets and left them in seven establishments across some of the largest hotel chains in the UK.
Each smartphone was set up with Apple's Find My location tracking system, while the wallets were packed with £30 in cash alongside a slim tracking device designed to resemble a standard bank card. Researchers left the items in spots easy for housekeeping staff to discover and waited for the hotels to get in touch.
Out of the seven establishments tested, only one hotel proactively contacted the guest to report the missing item. One mobile phone was never returned to its owner.
Hotel tracking tests reveal unreturned items
Researchers left an iPhone behind at the Britannia Hampstead Hotel in London and contacted the property four times, only to be told each time that the device had not been found.
The phone's tracking system indicated that the device remained inside the hotel building for several days until its battery eventually died, permanently losing its signal. The handset has still not been returned.
A spokesman for Britannia Hotels expressed disappointment over the incident, stating: "We are disappointed to hear about this experience, which falls short of the standard of service we aim to provide our guests."
The spokesperson added: "We take all reports of lost property seriously and are reviewing the circumstances of this case, along with our internal lost property procedures, to ensure items are handled consistently and every reasonable effort is made to reunite guests with their belongings. We are committed to learning from this feedback and improving our processes to help prevent this happening again."
Britannia Hotels is a major British budget hotel operator that runs dozens of hotel properties across the country.
Guest recovers wallet after in-person visit
Another test at the Holiday Inn Express Wandsworth in London also yielded poor initial results. A researcher called the hotel twice regarding a left wallet but was informed staff could not locate it.
Because the tracking device showed the wallet was still present at the hotel, the researcher visited the property in person to request it. Staff then located and returned the wallet intact with its £30 cash inside, where it had been sitting in a lost property box.
A spokesman for Holiday Inn Express London, Wandsworth said: "We are aware of the concerns raised regarding an item left at the hotel. While the guest was initially advised that the phone could not be located, further checks confirmed it had been found."
"We take reports relating to guest belongings seriously and have established lost property procedures in place," the spokesman added. "We regret the confusion caused and are reinforcing these procedures with the team."
Holiday Inn Express is an economy hotel brand operated by InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world's largest hotel companies.
Varying return policies across major chains
The only establishment in the entire test to contact the guest directly after discovering a forgotten item was Travelodge in London Battersea. Travelodge is one of the UK's largest budget hotel operators, managing hundreds of locations nationwide.
The investigation also highlighted significant differences in how hotel chains handle returning items once found. Holiday Inn Express requires guests to arrange and pay for a £10 courier service, whereas Travelodge London City posted a recovered iPhone back to its owner free of charge.
According to VisitBritain, the official national tourism agency for Great Britain, hotels are legally permitted to charge guests for returning lost property, provided the fee is reasonable and "limited to actual justifiable costs."
Guidance from VisitBritain states: "You should make every effort to contact the guest to inform them that you have an item belonging to them, rather than just putting it in a lost property box."
