Travelodge plans to open hotels in office blocks and cinemas

Travelodge has announced plans to develop its ‘Metro’ range of small hotels in prestigious locations and in office blocks across the UK.

The hotel chain said that by opening properties with between 20 and 40 rooms it would be able to get into sought after locations such as the City of London, affluent London boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, major cities including Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh, coastal resorts and other holiday hotspots including the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands.

In a statement, the company added: "The ‘Metro’ model will allow the hotel chain …to open in suburban locations where larger sites may not be deemed desirable by local authorities and development land is at a premium."  

Properties that will be considered under this new scheme include floors in office buildings, business parks, pubs, old cinemas / theaters, snooker halls, listed buildings, retail outlets and derelict buildings.  

Travelodge has already opened a 43-room ‘Metro’ hotel in the centre of Edinburgh’s most prestigious shopping area. The hotel, which occupies the top of a converted Georgian building, is now one of the chain’s top performing properties.

Travelodge has also recently taken over 52 Innkeeper’s Lodge’s from Mitchells & Butlers, the majority of which are under 40 rooms.

Chief executive of Travelodge Hotels Guy Parsons said: “Following the success of our Edinburgh ‘Metro’ prototype hotel and the conversion of 52 Innkeeper’s Lodges to the Travelodge brand, we have discovered just how profitable smaller hotels can be for us.

"Therefore to accelerate our growth strategy we are going to start building ‘Metro’ style hotels across the UK. This concept will allow us to open hotels where other hoteliers can’t develop."

The chain is looking to open 100 ‘Metro’ Travelodge’s in prime spots by 2020, he said.

“The ‘Metro’ model will also allow us to expand in our top performing locations where there are few 60 plus room sites available," added Parsons.

"Downsizing our hotel building requirements will open hundreds of development opportunities for us. This will enable us to expand quickly and meet the growing demands from consumers who want low cost and good quality accommodation in prime locations.”

This new building approach will run alongside Travelodge’s existing growth strategy to expand to 1,100 hotels and 100,000 rooms by 2025. The ‘Metro’ style properties will still be called Travelodge hotels and the room size will be based on a standard double Travelodge room (15sqft)               

The ‘Metro’ Travelodge’s will be run by existing managers of nearby larger Travelodge hotels. The will provide a training ground for managers, recruited via Travelodge’s new Apprenticeship programme – JuMP (Junior Management Programme), said the company.

Over the last five years Travelodge has shifted away from roadside locations towards city centres. Today these motorway and trunk route sites represent just 25% of the company’s hotel stock with the remaining quarter in suburban, seaside and tourist locations.

Travelodge currently has 472 hotels (over 32,000 rooms) across the UK and is currently building 40 hotels this year.

By Linsey McNeill