You want a £100 Room. Here's The Breakdown.

Some guests think we're expensive. A handful have written that in reviews. And if I saw the number on the screen without knowing what sits behind it, I might think the same.

So here it is. Every pound of your £100 room rate. Accounted for. Honestly.

The Bit Nobody Realises

This is the part that surprises almost everyone when they see it written down.

Both VAT and the OTA commission come out of the same £100.

Not one after the other on what's left. Both calculated on the full amount. Simultaneously.

So on your £100 room:

HMRC takes £20 in VAT
Booking.com (or Expedia, or whoever) takes £15 in commission

That's £35 gone before we've unlocked the front door.

You're left with £65.

And here's the detail worth sitting with. That £20 VAT was never ours. It passes through us on its way to the government. Which means the OTA isn't really taking 15% of your room rate.

They're taking 18.75% of our actual income. (£15 out of the £80 we ever had to work with.)

Then the Card Machine

You paid by card. Almost everyone does. The payment processor takes around 1% for handling that securely.

£65 minus £1 = £64 remaining.

Small number. But it's on every booking, every day.

The People Behind Your Stay

This is where the biggest chunk goes - and it's where I'd spend it even if I had a choice.

Mandy has been with us for 28 years. Colleen keeps everything running. The breakfast team, the housekeepers, the people who maintain the gym and clean the hot tub - they're real people doing real work.

Since April 2025, employer National Insurance is 15% on top of wages. Add pension contributions. Add holiday pay. A realistic staff cost per room night - housekeeping, breakfast, front desk - sits around £28, depending on how busy the morning is. Sometimes more.

£64 minus £28 staff costs = £36 remaining.

Keeping the Building Standing

The heating doesn't switch off at midnight. The hot water runs all day. The Wi-Fi router in your room has been on longer than anyone can remember.

Maintenance, insurance, utilities, the occasional burst pipe, the paintwork that always needs redoing - none of it is optional. It's the cost of running somewhere people trust to be safe and comfortable.

Around £15 per room night, conservatively.

£36 minus £15 running costs = £21 remaining.

And If Anything's Left

If something survives all of the above - and not every night it does - corporation tax or income tax takes up to 40% of it on the way out.

£21 minus 40% profit tax = roughly £12 to £13.

That's what remains from your £100. On a good night. When nothing breaks. When the room is full.

The Full Breakdown

Amount Running total

Guest pays- £100.00

VAT to HMRC (20% of £100) -£20.00 £80

OTA commission (15% of £100) -£15.00 £65.00

Both come from the same £100!!

Card processing (1%) -£1.00 £64.00

Staff - wages, PAYE, employer NI (15%), pension -£26.00 £36.00

Utilities, insurance, maintenance -£15.00 £21.00

Profit tax (up to 40%) -£8.40 ~£12.60

£12.60. From a £100 room. After everything.

"Not Value for Money" - Let's Talk About That

Some guests have written in reviews that their stay wasn't value for money. I read every one. A few mention finding out about extra charges - the spa, the car park - after they'd already arrived.

That's on us to communicate more clearly upfront, and we've taken it seriously.

The hot tub, sauna, and spa treatments are a separate service with trained staff, running costs, robes, towels, and proper maintenance.

The car park in York is genuinely rare - secure, off-street, steps from the hotel - and it carries a cost too.

But if guests arrive not knowing those things exist as extras, that's a surprise they didn't ask for. We're making that clearer at every booking stage.

What those reviews are not about is the room rate being unreasonable. The breakdown above shows what the room rate actually is - and what it has to be for the doors to stay open and the people behind them to be paid fairly.

Jonathan Okeeffe, after his stay, called it "A1" and said the team had "positive vibes."

Anne Law said the parking was "an added bonus."

Gary Roscoe said the breakfast was "really good."

Kelly Gibbs said it had "a family feel."

That's what your money pays for. The experience just has to match the expectation - and we take it seriously when it doesn't.

Why Booking Direct Changes Everything

When you book direct - through our website, by phone, or by emailing us - that £15 OTA commission stays in the building. It goes into the breakfast, the maintenance, the team.

And when you book direct, you get more:

Price Match Guarantee plus £10 off - found it cheaper somewhere else? We'll match it and knock another tenner off
Early Check-In Priority - your room gets turned around first
Park & Drop - arrive early, drop your bags or your car, no charge
Lazy Checkout - an extra hour before you have to leave

We didn't set the VAT rate.

We didn't set the National Insurance rate.

We didn't choose the commission Booking.com charges.

But we can give you a better deal when you come to us directly - and we can be straight with you about why.

Book direct at hedleyhouse.com or call us on 07428 917515.

We'll have the kettle on.

And that is why the sauna is not included in the basic room rate.

Hedley House Hotel has welcomed guests to York since 1983. Family-run by Greg and Louise Harrand, with ensuite rooms, self-catering apartments, a gym, hot yoga studio, hot tub, sauna, beauty therapy, and secure off-street parking - seven minutes' walk from York Railway Station.

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