Chinese tourists have shed some light on the type of hotels they value in the UK, with visitors numbers from the Middle Kingdom having doubled since 2005.

According to results published by Booking.com, Chinese tourists have rated Birmingham’s three-star Holiday Inn Express as the best place to stay in the country – handing the offering a rating of 9.6 out of 10.

Other hotels that made up the top five hotels in the UK according to Chinese visitors were Old Town Chambers, Edinburgh, Bath Paradise House, Bath, Broadlands Guest House, Windermere and Tower Guest House, York.

The Chinese tourists’ first choice – the £49 per night Holiday Inn – was praised for a number of different qualities, including the size of its bath, complimentary breakfast, pillows on offer and proximity to attractions.

“In line with industry trends, we have experienced a 50 per cent increase in UK bookings by Chinese tourists in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same timeframe in 2013,” said Jason Grist, the UK area manager of Booking.com.

“In addition, we have seen the range of accommodations stayed in increase by almost a third. We believe this growth is just the beginning.

Chinese tourists have proven to be increasingly important to the UK’s tourism industry, with visitors spending £492m across the country last year.

Such is the impact tourists from the country could have on Britain, the UK Chancellor launched a pilot scheme last October to allow a select group of Chinese tour operators to use a Schengen form when applying for a UK visa, in order to increase visitors numbers by making the visiting process easier.

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