Travelodge today announced that it will be the biggest hotel brand in London at the 2012 Olympics following the £84 million exchange of six properties (828 rooms) in the capital.
The UK's fastest growing hotel company currently operates 32 hotels in London, providing 4,864 rooms. With a further seven hotels currently being constructed and the six exchanges announced today, Travelodge will operate 45 hotels (6,482 rooms) in the capital by the summer of 2012.
With the development window for the Olympic games coming to a close in the coming months, it is unlikely that the budget chains 1,000 room lead on its rival brands in the capital will be assailed.
Travelodge's CEO, Grant Hearn said: "We have long stated our aim of being the lead brand in London by the time of the games and we are pleased that this will now be achieved. The Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the tourism industry and we intend to take it with both hands."
The six London hotel exchanges will create over 200 jobs directly and support 500 more during the construction process. The hotels will be a mixture of office developments and new builds across five London boroughs. As with all London hotels, Travelodge will be recruiting from the unemployed via its pioneering partnership with Job Centre plus.
Location and rooms numbers:
1 Drury Lane, Covent Garden 249
Ealing 99
Stratford 174
Harrow Lyon Road 95
Harrow Sheridan House 114
Bromley 97
Whilst Travelodge's growth in London has been rapid, budget branded hotels still represent just 14% of hotel supply in the capital. With twice as many four and five star hotels operating in the city and unbranded accommodation of varying degrees of quality making up around half of London's hotel stock, Travelodge believes there is still much to do to deliver value to Londons visitors.
Hearn said: "Given the prevailing economic climate, communicating London as a value destination has never been so important. The weak pound will help that but it is up to accommodation providers on the ground to deliver a quality product at an affordable price."
The London exchange announcement comes less than a month after Travelodge announced the launch of its 100 million Tamesis property fund. The war chest is being sought to enable the quick acquisition of going concern hotels.
Earlier this month Travelodge also announced the £70 million exchange of 12 properties outside of the capital. Significantly, a number of these are in prime locations for business customers who are switching to the budget hotel chain following the launch of its Business Account Card in February of this year.