A CITY guesthouse branded the country's "dirtiest hotel" in a survey by travellers has hit back at its critics.

Travel website TripAdvisor named the Nanford Guest House, in Iffley Road, the grubbiest hotel in the UK as part of its travellers' choice awards.

However, its manager has leapt to the defence of the £30-a-night venue, saying he believes the award is harsh.

Manager Bart Cronin said: "It's just one website slandering me. Why don't they come down here and take a look at the guesthouse?

"We have six guest houses on the Iffley Road so we must be doing something right."

"They're all en suite rooms and come with a shower and colour television. I charge £30 per person per night. TripAdvisor expect me to roll out the red carpet for that price. If you don't like it, don't stay.

"It isn't affecting my business. It doesn't matter a damn to me."

The award comes 12 months after it was voted the second worst hotel in the country in the same company's survey.

One guest, Matthew Donohoe, 25, from Slough, is about to spend his fourth night at the hotel.

He said: "It's OK. For what you pay, it is pretty good. I have personally stayed in worse and paid more money.

"I think it's clean. It's a bit dusty probably. When you come into this place, you're not expecting a five-star rating.

"I think perhaps people have been a bit harsh. If people are complaining, perhaps they should have spent a bit more money. I haven't got a problem with it."

Oxford City Council said there were six complaints about the Nanford Guest House in 2007, six fewer than the previous year.

Council spokesman Louisa Dean said: "Most of these complaints relate to the lack of cleaning to bedrooms, rude managers and the back yard looking like a scrapyard."

The council fined the hotel in 2004 for offences under the Food Safety Act, but a routine inspection by environmental health offices this month said that standards of food safety were steadily improving.

Richard Webb, group manager for community safety at Oxfordshire County Council, said it had not had any significant complaints about the hotel since it had been in discussions about improvements more than two years ago.

Other hotels in the list include the Manor Court Hotel, in Notting Hill, London, which came second. The Britannia Hotel, in Stockport, was third, and the Europa Hotel, in Gatwick, was voted fourth worst.

Ian Rumgay, European communications manager for TripAdvisor, said: "It isn't TripAdvisor that is slandering Mr Cronin or saying anything about him at all.

"It's the travellers staying at his hotel - they posted their views and opinions on the website. When you post a review on a website, you can give marks for various features like cleanliness.

"Unfortunately, the Nanford had the worst performance on that attribute."

Mr Rumgay said the company had about 10m reviews on its website. TravelAdvisor is an American firm.