London hotels have had their third successive year of profit growth thanks to the Olympics, however, regional hotels had their fifth successive year of profit decline, according to the HotStats UK Chain Hotels Market Review.

The survey of 560 full-service hotels across the UK revealed August saw a 90 per cent increase in profit in London, led by the Games, though across the year hotel performance remained unpredictable.

London hoteliers recorded three months of year-on-year decline in 2012, in June (-9.3 per cent) due to Diamond Jubilee celebrations, during July (-3.1 per cent) due to pre-Olympic jitters, and in November (-5.6 per cent) as the post-Olympic hangover set in.

Managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting Jonathan Langston said the Olympics were the "saviour of the year".

"Despite the last few years being one of the toughest trading periods in recent history, hotels in London have recorded yet another year of profit growth on the back of increases in 2010 (+13.9 per cent) and 2011 (+4.7 per cent)," he said in a statement.

According to the HotStats survey, the performance of regional hotels more accurately reflects the challenges faced by hoteliers during the recession, achieving a 1.4 per cent increase on revenue per available room (RevPAR) compared with 1.5 per cent the previous year.

An increase in the adult minimum wage saw payroll levels up 0.2 percentage points in 2012 to 32.4 per cent of total revenue, and travel agent commissions increased by 6.8 per cent on a per room let basis.

Cities that saw a major decline in profit per room included Newcastle (-10.4 per cent), Nottingham (-12.7 per cent), Bath (-4.7 per cent), Leeds (-3.8 per cent) and Manchester (-3.8 per cent).

Basingstoke bucked the trend with a 6.4 per cent increase in profit per room, as did Liverpool with 3.7 per cent.