Travelodge reveals £330m hotel development schedule

Travelodge, the UK’s second largest hotel chain, has announced six UK hotel openings set for 2022, and a franchise flagship hotel in Dublin.

Meanwhile, construction has started on four new hotels and contracts exchanged for a further six in the last 12 months.

Collectively, this proposed UK expansion would represent an investment of approximately £330m by third party investors.

Three of the new Travelodge hotels opening this year will feature the group’s new budget-luxe design. Locations include two sites in London at Docklands and Wimbledon and the group’s first hotel in Hexham.

Travelodge is also developing its in-hotel restaurant business with a new upgraded bar café concept. Six of the Travelodge hotels opening in 2022 (including the franchise flagship hotel in Dublin) will feature the group’s on-site restaurant. In addition, three of the hotels under construction and scheduled to open in 2023 will also feature the group’s upgraded bar café restaurant.

The group is also continuing the roll-out of its super rooms, with over half of the hotels being built offering this premium economy room concept.

Three of the Travelodge hotels opening this year (Braintree, London Docklands and Wimbledon) are in partnership with local authorities, with Docklands and Wimbledon being delivered under lease-wrapper structures.

The group’s franchisee for Ireland, TIFCO, will also officially open its 397-bedroom flagship Travelodge hotel in Dublin city centre financial district.

These hotel openings will collectively boost Travelodge’s network to almost 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain.

The four new hotel openings in London will also increase Travelodge’s presence to more than 80 hotels across the capital, covering 31 out of the 33 boroughs.

The four hotels that have started construction are expected to open in 2023. Two of these hotels are located in London, at Beckenham and Bermondsey, and the other two properties are in Colchester and Ipswich.

Steve Bennett, Travelodge chief property and development officer, said: “2022 marks an important milestone in the evolution of Travelodge, as we launch our new premium look and feel budget-luxe Travelodge design hotels and expand our estate with new hotels and in-house restaurants. We are seeking to continue this expansion with plans for more than 75 new Travelodge hotels throughout the UK over the next five years, which will create around 2,000 new jobs.

“As we look to the future, the long-term prospects for low-cost hotels remain strong. Britain has become a nation of value conscious travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels than any other hotel type, supporting our plans to expand our hotel network. It is also an interesting time for the property sector; as the Covid pandemic has accelerated major change and opened opportunities for us to take Travelodge to new locations. We are very excited by the next phase of our expansion plan, which will see us deliver more choices in more places than ever before.”

The Caterer revealed last week that Craig Bonnar had stepped down as chief executive of Travelodge due to personal reasons, with former chief financial officer Jo Boydell replacing him in the role.