Travelodge Announces Its Location Target List For 145 Hotels In London
Today, the Chief Executive of London's biggest hotel brand, Grant Hearn, officially opened the first ever UK hotel above a comedy club in Bethnal Green and also announced the Company's location target list for a further 145 hotels across the capital.
Bethnal Green Travelodge, a 131-room hotel which represents an £11million investment has been built above the iconic Backyard Comedy Club. Comedian Lee Hurst previously owned the site and agreed with its redevelopment in return for a purpose built comedy club on the ground floor to replace the one that would need to be demolished. The Backyard Comedy Club is set to reopen next month and will continue with its tradition of being a must-visit location for touring comedians in London.
At the hotel's official opening ceremony alongside the MP for Bethnal Green & Bow, Rushanara Ali, Grant Hearn, made the announcement that Travelodge is looking to expand further across the capital with an intention to open a further 145 hotels across London boroughs.
As London's biggest hotel brand, Travelodge currently has 59 hotels (7,633 rooms) across the city, it employs 1650 staff members across the capital. This year, as well as Bethnal Green, Travelodge will open a further three hotels in London at the following locations: Hounslow, Vauxhall and Walthamstow. These hotels combined represent an investment of £34 million and will create 80 new jobs across the capital.
Travelodge's new location target list includes key London growth areas such as: Westminster, Camden, Southwark, Lambeth, Islington, Ealing and Greenwich. For the full target list please see notes to editors
The Travelodge target list of 145 new hotels will create nearly 4,000 new jobs across the capital and boost the local economy annually by £290million*
Grant Hearn, Travelodge Chief Executive said: "The London hotel market is the strongest in the world and our target location list reflects its growth potential. We were proud to be the largest hotel brand in London for the Olympics but that was just the beginning for Travelodge."
"There is a clear need for good quality, budget hotel rooms in central London as many of the existing B&B's and hostels offer inadequate accommodation, poor value and extortionate prices."
"Our research has highlighted that London's suburbs are the capital's hot spots for potential growth. Many London boroughs have large employment clusters and impressive regeneration proposals yet have an undersupply of hotel rooms. For instance, we have recently opened a number of hotels in locations such as Enfield and Greenwich, who are enjoying regularly full occupancy.
Grant Hearn, continued: "We are glad to be playing a role in the continuing redevelopment of Bethnal Green. Located just one stop from the City and two stops from Stratford, we believe this hotel will become of our strongest performing hotels in London.
"We are also delighted to be located above Lee Hurst's iconic Backyard Comedy Club. Over the years it is hosted many household name comedians and we are sure many of the comedians and their audience will choose to stay at our hotel."
To mark the opening of the UK's first comedy club hotel partnership, Travelodge is introducing loo laughs – a toilet roll which is printed with a selection of funny jokes and cartoons to keep customers entertained and laughing whilst visiting the bathroom.
About Travelodge
Founded in 1985, Travelodge is Britain's very first budget hotel chain and today is one of the largest budget hotel chains in the UK, with a portfolio of over 600 hotels and over 47,000 bedrooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
In Spain, Travelodge has an established profitable presence and as of April 2024, its portfolio doubled to 12 hotels, having recently acquired a further six properties. Travelodge has ambitious growth plans within this market and has identified the top 20 key locations where it would like to open additional hotels in Spain.
Welcoming over 22 million guests annually across the UK, Ireland and Spain, the majority of Travelodge hotels are located in major cities, towns and holiday hotspots as well as by airports and key business hubs. With 90% of its hotels rated 4* or above on TripAdvisor, Travelodge is proud to offer guests across its diverse customer base a good value experience – whether they are travelling for business or leisure. In 2023, approximately 50% of rooms were sold for less than £60.
Whether out celebrating a birthday, going to a concert or sporting event, visiting friends and family, taking a business trip, working away from home, or taking a short break, we help people to go and do their thing by Being the Brilliant Base.
Travelodge continues to invest in its ongoing hotel refit programme which is expected to see 50% of the Travelodge room estate upgraded to its new design by the end of 2024. The brand is also continually evolving its quality offering to deliver a better experience for its diverse mix of business and leisure guests such as its new look Bar Cafe design, 85 Bar Café, which has been rolled out to selected UK hotels as part of the refit programme.
Travelodge is focussing on its environmental and social impact, with sustainability integral to its business strategy. It's Better Future sustainability plan aims to build a more sustainable future for its customers, colleagues and the planet, and it is underpinned by three core pillars: Inclusive – ensuring we are accessible, inclusive and well-priced to our customers and colleagues; Caring – creating a caring and healthy environment for our colleagues and customers and ensuring their wellbeing; and Conscious – Travelodge is conscious of its impact on the planet, taking into account the waste it produces, the energy and other resources it consumes and the carbon emissions it generates.
For further information visit travelodge.co.uk or the Travelodge Hotels Limited LinkedIn page.