Which hotels are the most bike-friendly?

I recently decided to combine a night's stay in the newly opened Malmaison hotel in Dundee with a training ride, so I telephoned reception to ask if they had somewhere secure I'd be able to store my bike overnight.

Their reply was less than encouraging:

"Well we have some railings in front of the hotel you could lock it to."

My experiences with UK hotels and my bike have been hit and miss. The Premier Inn in Scarborough had no problem with me taking my bike up and down to my first floor room during my weekend stay, and the Travelodge in Perth even gave me one of its largest rooms so there was plenty of space for me and my pride and joy.

But other hotels have been less welcoming, failing to appreciate why I'm so precious about my expensive, aerodynamically sculptured, carbon-fibre machine and looking at me as if a Lycra-shod Martian and its spacecraft have just landed on their shiny marble floor.

With this being such a big year for cycling in the UK, I wondered how the most popular hotel chains – from luxury to budget – would react if I asked if I could keep my bike in my room. These were the responses:

Leeds (where the Tour de France will start on 5 July)

Jamie Mobbs of Hilton Leeds City hotel gave me the most detailed and sympathetic reply of all the hotels I contacted:

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to take the bike into the room with you, but you will be able to lock it up in our car park on the first two floors. People who work here often lock their bikes up against the bars on the second floor, it does have barriers to restrict traffic access in and out. However, a few years back someone did try to cut through my bike lock, [though] fortunately they didn't get very far. But for your own peace of mind I would leave it in the concierge's locked storage room. Or there is a 'bike terminal' just outside the train station which is two minutes' walk from our hotel that is secure for locking up bikes."

Novotel Leeds Centre

"Our car park is underground and has a space to secure a bike to. Alternatively you can leave it in our back office if you like."

Ibis Leeds

"We have a place you can store your bike or else you can keep it in your room."

Belfast (where the Giro d'Italia will start on 9 May)

Holiday Inn Express

"You will be able to store the bicycle in the luggage store or
meeting room overnight [depending on] which is available."

Jury's Inn

"You can keep the bike in your room throughout the duration of your stay."

Fitzwilliam hotel

"We can certainly store your bicycle securely. We have storage available."

Glasgow (hosting the Commonwealth Games from 23 July)

CitizenM hotel

"It's not possible to store your bike in your room. If there is room at the back of house, the hotel team will be able to store your bike for you. Otherwise they will be able to advise you of somewhere safe and close to the hotel where you can store it."

Mercure Glasgow

"We can store bicycles in our luggage store which is securely locked at all times. However, on certain days this room can get quite busy with other guests' luggage. Alternatively we have meeting rooms in which we could store your bicycle in (depending on availability)."

Liverpool (where the Tour of Britain starts on 7 September)

Novotel Liverpool centre

"You can leave your bicycle in our luggage room with no problems and there's no charge."

Malmaison

"We have a secure area behind reception and away from any public area so it will be safe for your bike."

Manchester (home of British Cycling)

Jury's Inn

"We do not permit bikes in the bedrooms, though we do have a bike rack (uncovered) available in the back yard which is locked at night."

Macdonald hotel and spa

"We don't allow bikes to be stored and transported to bedrooms, but we have a covered bike park in our secure car park. Only guests are allowed in there. If you're concerned then we can lock it in a storage room."

Lowry hotel (part of Rocco Forte luxury hotel chain)

"We can keep your bicycle in our luggage room but if you prefer to have it into your room, it won't be any problem at all."

Of the hotels contacted, only three said I could keep my bike in my room with me. Considering that a decent road bike can cost anything between £1,000 - £10,000 these days, is a "bike rack in the back yard" or, as I was eventually offered at the Dundee Malmaison, a space in "a staff corridor" really enough?

The comparison with cars isn't a fair one, as if a hotel doesn't have on-site car parking there will usually be a secure car park somewhere near by, which is rarely the case for bicycles.

What experiences have you had with bikes and hotels?