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Best Western is Britain's largest group of independently owned and managed hotels, has revealed that they saw record-setting business at their reservation centers in January with the highest number of calls ever received. Overall sales increased by 45% year on year, and room rates rose the most at Hotels in Edinburgh, UK with a 22% increase seen there . It would appear that their add campaign launched last spring may have contributed this success, with the key brand message being 'Hotels with personality', which was a way of emphasizing how each of the hotels in the group is unique.

Hotel prices in the UK in general have risen more then elsewhere in Europe, with most major British cities experiencing price rises of between 9-28%. The only cities to experience declining rates were Blackpool and Sheffield.

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The PKF business consultancy said that their monthly survey of hotel occupancy rates found that Scotland hotels experienced large drops in occupancy and revenue in December 2010. The hotels were affected by heavy snow fall, causing revenues to drop 9.1% year-on-year. Aberdeen was the only area in Scotland where occupancy and revenues actually increased.

PKF has attributed the positive numbers in Aberdeen to a rise in oil prices during December, and should continue as long as the oil price stays high. In spite of the gloomy December numbers, the occupancy rate for the entire year still beat out the rate for the UK as a whole. Of all the cities in Scotland, Edinburgh was most negatively affected by the weather. Leisure and business trips were canceled in large numbers, with Edinburgh Airport being closed for several days in December due to the snow.