Today, Travelodge opened the first hotel in its ambitious London development programme in readiness for the 2012 Olympic Games. The £60m hotel in City Rd, London, incorporates the grade II listed, former headquarters of Singer, the sewing machine manufacturer. The property is Travelodge's largest hotel to date with 392 rooms.
Travelodge Chief Executive, Grant Hearn was joined by James Bidwell, Chief Executive of Visit London to officially open the hotel.
Grant Hearn said, "This is a great day for everyone at Travelodge. The hotel is a clear indication that the low cost budget hotel model works in the most premium of locations - to be able to stay in the heart of the city for under £30 is a strong statement to the consumer. This hotel marks the start of our unprecedented programme of growth in London - we will be the biggest hotel brand by the time of the London Olympics."
Travelodge's 2012 development plan is to open 20 new hotels in the capital, adding 3,500 new rooms and creating 750 new jobs.
James Bidwell, Visit London, Chief Executive commented: "Since winning the bid for London 2012, the capital is a natural choice for major world-class events and then there are the transport developments such as St Pancras International opening in November, and Heathrow Terminal 5 in March next year. All of these developments improve the tourism fabric and infrastructure of the capital, including hotel development. Visit London is delighted to support Travelodge at the opening of their latest property in the capital."
The new hotel has created 45 new jobs with 12 of these positions fulfilled through a new London 'Back to Work' initiative partnered by Travelodge and Job Centre Plus. These 12 candidates were previously unemployed for up two years due to illness, family commitments or have suffered from a deprived social background. Abigail Sakouti, Dora Koroma and Sarah Adesilu recently graduated from the programme and joined Grant Hearn and James Bidwell to officially open the new hotel.
To celebrate the opening of City Road Travelodge, the hotel chain launched the worlds first Kipshaw service, which enables guests to have a snooze whilst travelling from the hotel to their destination within central London. The bespoke Kipshaw is a bicycle rickshaw that comes complete with a single bed, mattress, duvet and pillow. The service is free for guests staying at London City Road Travelodge. There are two Kipshaws and bookings are taken on a first come basics at reception.
London City Road Travelodge is the biggest low cost hotel to be built in London in the last ten years. Over the next six months Travelodge will be opening the following hotels in London: Heathrow Terminal 5 (297 rooms), Euston (150 rooms) and Southwark (202 rooms).
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For further information, please contact:
Shakila Ahmed
Travelodge PR Manager
T: 01844 35 8638
M: 07802 702 499
Notes to Editor:
City Road Travelodge has five meeting rooms, the largest room can accommodate 16 people
About Travelodge
The first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge now operates 321 hotels (over 20,000 rooms) - nine in Ireland, three in Spain and the rest in the UK. Travelodge plans to grow its estate to 70,000 rooms (approximately 1000 hotels) by 2020 and aims to be the biggest operator in London by the 2012 Olympics with over 7,000 rooms in the capital.
Six and a half million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 85% of reservations are currently made online at travelodge.co.uk, where room rates start at £15 a night. The chain employs 5,000 staff and is owned by Dubai International Capital, who acquired the organisation from Permira in 2006. In April 2007, Travelodge announced the first stage of a new online retail strategy when it became the first UK hotel company to launch a Travel Insurance product.