Accommodation
All University Business Travel bookings for accommodation, domestic and international, must be booked through your University contact using Key Travel.
Hotel Accommodation
Travellers are required to book a hotel of suitable quality and proximity to the ongoing venue to balance convenience, comfort, and cost.
Note that all accommodation should be booked to include bed and breakfast as well as VAT.
If these rates are exceeded, the final approver (Executive Dean/Head of School/Services or appropriately delegated nominee) will be required to approve the justification provided by the booker.
| Location | Maximum rate per night per room | ||||||||||||
Most expensive overseas cities/countries:
|
£200 | ||||||||||||
| London, Edinburgh, Oxford | £200 | ||||||||||||
| Other UK | £100 (see below) | ||||||||||||
| Other overseas | £140 |
Bookings outside of these rates are permissible if approval has been given by the Executive Dean/Head of School/Service, an appropriately delegated nominee, or a member of staff senior to the HoS/S role.
Bookings outside of these rates on medical grounds also need to be supported by a letter from a medical professional.
For areas around London where on occasions accommodation cannot be sourced for less than £100 and in the following cities a rate of £120 per night is permitted: Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Reading, Cambridge, Southampton, and Bristol.
Bed and breakfasts, self-catered accommodation, serviced apartments
It is preferrable for travellers must book via the Key Travel for BnB’s, self-catered accommodation or serviced apartments. This is to ensure standards of accommodation are suitable for business travellers.
Airbnb or similar
Travellers are advised against the use of unregistered accommodation (rentals from private individuals i.e. Airbnb or private lodgings) whilst on University Business.
Travellers are recommended to first seek accommodation options through Key Travel before exploring options with unregistered accommodation (such as Airbnb or private lodgings). Key Travel offer a range of alternative BnB’s/self-catered accommodation/serviced apartments which have been independently verified for health and safety standards. The increase in cost in order to provide the necessary assurance and a duty of care to our staff/students should be considered versus modest cost savings.
Where the accommodation available through Key Travel does not meet the traveller’s needs (e.g. locality to the work activity and/or unreasonable costs) the traveller may source accommodation from an un-vetted provider.
The traveller is required to demonstrate that they have checked with the landlord that they have declared to their insurers that they rent out the property and are insured for fire, damage, loss etc.
Should lone travellers be requesting to rent out spare rooms in private accommodation then this should be included in a risk assessment for the travel. Further help and advice on travel risk can be sought from your Health and Safety Manager or by contacting [email protected].
On condition that the above requirements have been included in a risk assessment and can be evidenced to the satisfaction of your University contact, then bookings should be reclaimed via expenses.