A new study by ebookers.com, the European online travel specialist, has found British hotels need to clean up their act.

To help promote this campaign, ebookers is launching a new competition in which you could become a Hotel inspector. The report found that everything from beds to air conditioning, cleanliness to staff approachability all made up the overall hotel experience, which was topped by US hotels, with Spain, France and Greece coming in at the bottom.

Steven Rice, ebookers Head of Offline Marketing in the UK, France and Ireland said:”Choosing the right hotel can be a stressful task and our search for the ebookers’ Hotel Inspector aims to take some of the stress out of the decision-making process, by producing high quality reviews for our customers”. The competition is open to all UK residents, and all you need to do to enter is send an email to ebookershotelinspector@redconsultancy.com by Friday 23rd July including a recent photo and 250 words on where you believe you’d find the best hotel, what you think makes a hotel experience great and why ebookers should choose you.

“This is a great opportunity for one lucky person to travel the World to locate the ultimate hotel, sharing their personal tips and experiences to our customers along the way. We’re looking for people with a passion for travel to help uncover the best hotels on offer and if you think you’ve got what it takes to become ebookers Hotel Inspector we encourage you to get in touch,” said Rice.

The Netherlands tried to batter Spain into physical submission but ultimately failed in a bitter World Cup final. The Dutch, inventors of ‘total football’, were guilty of an horrific display of unashamed brutality in the final of football’s showpiece, earning nine yellow cards and one sending off.

A disgraceful kung-fu kick by Nigel de Jong to the chest of Xabi Alonso would have been a red card in any other match, and hard-man Mark van Bommel was lucky to stay on the field after several scything tackles. Johnny Heitinga was eventually sent off after 109 minutes, with Andreas Iniesta scoring the winner seven minutes later to hand Spain a deserved victory in a depressingly bad tempered game.

Referee Howard Webb came under strong criticism from the Dutch players and coach for his failure to send off Carlos Puyol after holding back Arjen Robben, but the striker could have prevented the outburst had he taken his chances.

Webb’s failure to award a corner just before Iniesta struck also incensed the Dutch players, but in reality they can count themselves lucky not to have been more severely punished by the referee after a first half that was a shameful display of viciousness that was designed to upset the flow of the Spanish game.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk defended his tactics, claiming that his team needed to batter their opponents to win the game, but only served to reinforce Johan Cruff’s pre-match statement that he did not agree with the latest brand of Dutch football, which in the end, was rightfully defeated by a Spanish team that now stands on the brink of a lengthy dynasty.