Travelodge opens its first hotel in Bury St Edmunds

Travelodge has opened its first property in Bury St Edmunds following an £8m investment to create the 80-room hotel. Jo Churchill, assistant government whip and MP for Bury St Edmunds joined developer Mike Spenser and Tony O’ Brien, Travelodge UK development director, to officially open the hotel. Bury St Edmunds Travelodge is located close to the railway station and is the company’s 579th hotel and its seventh property in Suffolk. The 80-room hotel features an on-site restaurant called the Bar Café which offers a breakfast, dinner and bar menu. The hotel also offers on-site complimentary car-parking. The rooms feature LED ceiling lighting, providing a warmer ambiance, a ‘comfort cooling’ system, a 32 inch Freeview TV, WiFi and free in-room tea & coffee making facilities. At the official opening of Bury St Edmunds Travelodge, the company also announced that Suffolk is a “key growth area” and it is actively searching for three more hotels sites across the county. Locations include Felixstowe, Lowestoft and Newmarket. It said collectively this expansion programme represents an investment of £15m for third party investors and will create around 60 new jobs. With the addition of these three hotels, Travelodge will operate 10 hotels across the county and make it Suffolk’s largest branded budget hotel operator. O’Brien, said: “We are delighted to open our first hotel in Bury St Edmunds, the historic jewel in Suffolk’s crown. This town is one of the top visitor destinations in the region and is growing from strength to strength. Our new Travelodge hotel is centrally located and will be a great attraction for visitors looking for a great value accommodation base whilst exploring the area. “As we look into the future, Suffolk is a key development area for Travelodge. The local economy is growing at pace with increasing visitor numbers, however there is still a shortage of good quality accommodation at a great value price. He added: “Therefore to meet this growing consumer demand we are actively looking for three hotel sites in the following locations: Felixstowe, Newmarket and a second hotel in Lowestoft. Collectively this expansion programme will represent an investment of £15 million for third party investors and will create 60 new jobs.”