Why are London Hotels crap?

Travel Info
Why are the hotels in London so dirty and expensive? My wife and I stayed in PARK INN at Heathrow airport for over 100 pounds. It was one of the most discusting rooms I have ever seen.
It smelt of stale smoke, had crap furniture and no room to place any bags. For some reason this wonderful country accepts mediocrity.

Travel Tips

You are right that most hotels in London are very overpriced and very poor quality. I have stayed in many 4 star hotels there that certainly are not worth the name!

But there are also some good ones. And the same can also be said of New York City - where I have stayed in some really nasty hotels and some real designer gems. But all very pricey.
Others

I strongly disagree. London has an outstanding and time-honored reputation for luxury when it comes to hotels. They're considered some of the best hoteliers in the world. In all my travels I remember London hotels prominently for my stays there. Their attention to details and the zealous service are legendary. I've seen it throughout that city, no matter where I stayed.

Until I stayed in London, I never knew how comfortable a room and a bath could be. Every single fitting and fixture was thought of. It was in London I saw my first heated towel rack and bathroom containing a telephone. And the dining in these hotels is fabulous.

London is exemplary in hotel quality and is anything but tolerant of mediocrity. I really feel you simply had a bad break that trip.
You are 100% correct. The English just do not get it. Their stupid currency is overvalued. Their taxes are off the earth to pay for all their lazy workers.
They are one of the last countries to come out of the third world and the crappy rooms, slow flowing water in showers and shody service is the remnants from this era. I doubt it will ever change. You still see people lining up there as they did during the war. Even for their beloved fish and chips, banks and post offices.
I dunno, but I agree. I've been several times, and even the so-called "4 stars" are similar to a 2 or low-end 3 star here in any major US city. If you want something genuinely nice, then you'll pay 300-500lbs per night, which in USD is so ridiculous it's not even worth it if you are wealthy.

I've found the best bet is to rent an apartment for the week, or Priceline. If you use biddingfortravel.com you can see what others are winning for good hotels on PL.
Of course there are good hotels in London.

But there are a lot of overpriced places where the rooms have not been renovated since they were built. Airport hotels are usually overpriced and, because the average stay is one night, get scruffy very quickly.

When I stayed in the Regent Palace Hotel in the 1920s, I was amazed to find the newfangled electric lighting! Pity about having to line up to share the bathrooms up to a few years ago!

First. I would not stay in any hotel near any airport.

Two. I would check with tripadvisor.com.

Three. Look for hotels in towns to the west of the Airport.

Four. Budget hotels are often the cleaner of airport hotels because they are designed for short stays and are easier to clean.

The major problem for visitors from the US is that thanks to George Bush, It takes two dollars to buy a UK pound. This means that Britain is very expensive for Americans. Thus the hotels are not good value.

There is no excuse for a dirty hotel room.
It is a pity that we do not have a government sponsored hotel monitoring / complaints system as they do in some continental countries. We need one.
Stayed in lots of hotels.
They are not crap. God knows why you payed over 拢100 for a room near Heathrow, airport hotels are notoriously bad. Your spelling is very bad by the way. If you want a good room, you need to pay for it, The Savoy is excellent and is about 拢150 a night. We are an expensive country and if you want to get something cheap, you will get a cheap service.