The best hotel gift vouchers in the UK

The Hotelgiftcard is our pick for the best hotel gift voucher in the UK. It combines a wide choice of hotels with a simple booking process making it a suitable hotel voucher for all sorts of recipients. The Hotelgiftcard can be redeemed for more than 700,000 accommodations worldwide, including over 38,000 in the UK alone.

The range covers a genuinely wide spectrum, including familiar names such as Hilton, Sofitel, Premier Inn, and Ibis as well as boutique properties, and luxury hotels like The Savoy. This hotel gift voucher therefore works for all kinds of recipients, whether they want a practical overnight stay near an airport, or a landmark stay for a milestone anniversary. Bed and breakfasts and holiday parks are part of the range too, which suits travellers who prefer something quieter to a typical city hotel.

The redemption process is straightforward. The recipient browses and books directly on the Hotelgiftcard website. This includes choosing their room and other options before applying the voucher’s balance at the payment stage. If the stay costs more than the balance, the difference can be paid by card, so the voucher never limits your recipient to a particular price bracket. 

The Hotelgiftcard is available in custom values from £10 up to £500, and it’s valid for two years from the date of purchase. It can send it instantly by email as a digital gift voucher, or delivered by post as a physical gift voucher complete with packaging.

If you want the recipient to be able to book a stay outside of the UK, here are another four hotel gift vouchers worth considering.

• HotelCheque is redeemable at more than 600,000 hotels and bed and breakfasts around the world, from city landmarks to rural retreats. It’s a digital gift voucher, available in custom values from £10 up to £500, and valid for two years from the date of purchase.
• Global Hotel Gift Voucher is powered by Expedia Group and gives access to over 500,000 hotels worldwide. It comes in fixed values of either £50 or £100, which makes it a simple gift voucher for colleagues or relatives.
• HotelsGift Gift Voucher is a digital voucher that can be redeemed for thousands of hotels internationally. It’s available in custom values starting from £30 all the way up to £500 with a two year validity period.
• Hotels.com Gift Voucher gives full Access to one of the most popular booking sites in the world. Available in values from £10 up to £150, the Hotels.com Gift Voucher has a three year validity making it one of the more generous vouchers on this list.

Each of these keeps the destination entirely open, so the voucher is an invitation to make plans rather than a set itinerary.

Some recipients need more than a room. These gift vouchers stretch from accommodation to flights and complete packages, so the whole trip can be booked with one balance.

• FlyStay Gift Voucher covers both flights and hotels so your recipient can organise their entire trip online using the same voucher. Available in values from £30 up to £500 and valid for one year from the date of purchase.
• Lastminute.com Travel Gift Voucher opens up flights, hotels and complete holiday packages through a trusted UK travel brand. Values range from £10 up to £500 with a one year validity period.
• Jet2holidays by Inspire Gift Voucher is for booking package holidays in Europe and beyond. It combines flights and accommodation in a single booking. The 18-month validity period gives plenty of time to plan any type of holiday.
• Inspire TravelCard Gift Voucher offers the most choice out of the gift vouchers in this grouping. It’s redeemable across flights, hotels and wider travel bookings, and valid for 18 months from the date of purchase. It’s an ideal gift voucher when you’re unsure what type of trips they like to take.
• City Breaks Gift Voucher is focused on short urban escapes, and offers a selection of boutique hotels and apartments in cities such as London, Bath and Oxford, and a number of European destinations too.

Start with reach in terms of destinations covered. The places your recipient can book their hotel in could make the difference between a gift that feels generous and one that feels restrictive. A voucher tied to a single hotel group or a single tour operator is great if you know your recipient prefers that brand, but a global network gives them much more flexibility.

Validity is the next thing to check as it can vary from one voucher to the next. Some hotel vouchers have a validity period lasting for one year, most have two year validity periods, and a handful stretch to three years. Anyone with a busy diary, young children or an unpredictable work pattern will appreciate the longer end of that range, since a hotel stay usually needs some planning.

Then consider the value that can be pre-loaded on the gift voucher. Most hotel gift vouchers act as a part payment rather than an all or nothing booking, so the recipient can add their own money and upgrade to something special. That is worth knowing, because it means a £50 voucher is still useful towards a £200 night away. Check whether values are flexible or fixed, and whether the voucher arrives as a digital voucher or can be sent by post as a physical voucher if you want to give something in person.

Finally, think about what your recipient's trip might look like. If flights are likely to be part of the picture, a travel voucher will serve better than a pure hotel voucher. If add-ons like dinner reservations matter, options like the Hotels & Restaurant Gift Voucher cover both. 

For more holiday inspiration, see our full collection of travel gift vouchers and have a look at our guide to the best travel gift vouchers in the UK.