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Travelodge has officially opened its first new-build budget luxe hotels at London Docklands and in the north of England, in the picturesque town, Hexham.
With the opening of these two hotels, Travelodge now operates 597 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
Earlier this year, Travelodge announced it was “evolving its core brand product to a new budget-luxe premium look and feel design”. London Docklands Travelodge, is located by East India DLR station and is the group’s 78th hotel in the capital.
The 350-room London Docklands Travelodge features views of the O2, The Thames and Canary Wharf. It is also the most sustainable Travelodge hotel with a BREEAM Excellent rating.
London Docklands Travelodge hotel was officially opened by Travelodge Chief Executive, Jo Boydell and UKHospitality chief executive, Kate Nicholls. At the hotel opening ceremony the group announced that London remains a key growth area and that it is actively looking for 127 hotel sites across the capital to open a Travelodge hotel.
It added this potential investment could represent an investment of nearly £3bn for third party investors and create over 6,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, the 69-room Hexham Travelodge is the group’s first new-build budget luxe hotel to open in the north of England, It is the second hotel the group has opened in the North East region within the last seven months. In December 2021, the hotel chain opened the first budget hotel at Europe’s biggest business park, Newcastle Cobalt Business Park.
At the Hexham Travelodge official opening ceremony, the hotel chain announced that the North East remains a “key growth area” and it is actively looking for a further 16 hotel sites across the region.
This expansion programme could represent an investment of around £160m for third party investors and create 400 new jobs.
The 16 North East target sites, where Travelodge is actively looking to open a hotel include nine growing towns which currently don’t have a Travelodge hotel. These locations include: Beverley, Bridlington, Headingley, Grimsby/Cleethorpes, Knaresborough/Wetherby, Northallerton, Ripon, South Shields and Thirsk.
The group is also looking to expand its portfolio in the following established North East markets which includes finding a suitable site to open a second Travelodge hotel in Barnsley, Chesterfield, Durham and Middlesbrough.
Steve Bennett, Travelodge chief property and development officer, said: “We are delighted to have boosted our hotel network to 595 Travelodges by opening five new hotels so far this year. This includes our first new-build premium look and feel budget luxe hotels in London Docklands and in the north of England in Hexham.
“Both of these regions are growing at pace especially as they are top staycation destinations, attracting millions of visitors from all corners of the UK. However with more Britons choosing to stay in a budget hotel than any other hotel type there is a shortage of good quality and low cost accommodation across London and the North East.”
He added: “To help fill this growing gap in both markets, we are actively looking to expand our London hotel network with a further 127 hotel sites. This expansion could represent an investment of over £3bn for third party investors and create around 6,000 new jobs.
“In the North East, we have identified the potential to extend our network with a further 16 hotels. This expansion would represent an investment of £160 million for third parties and create 400 new jobs.”
