Travelodge also opens its seventh hotel in Liverpool this Friday
Today, the UK’s first budget hotel chain, Travelodge, strengthens its presence in Spain by opening its biggest hotel in the country’s second largest city, Barcelona.
The new purpose built 250-room hotel which is situated in the heart of the most innovative district in Barcelona “22@” - also known as the city’s ‘Silicon Valley’ represents an investment of €30 million.
Barcelona Poblenou Travelodge is the Company’s fifth hotel in Spain and is also the first of two new Spanish hotel openings for the budget hotelier this year.
The second hotel will be located in the famous Julian Camarilo commercial district in Madrid and is scheduled to open this summer.
These two new properties double Travelodge’s room stock in Spain to 700 and boost the number of hotels to six which comprises of three properties in Madrid, two in Barcelona and one in Valencia.
Paul Harvey, Travelodge Managing Director, commented: “We now have a strong presence in Spain’s top three largest cities and we are delighted today to open our largest Spanish hotel in the heart of Barcelona’s up and coming business district 22@.
“The demand for branded budget accommodation is rapidly growing across Spain. Like the UK market the recession has forced many Spanish businesses and financial institutions to make cutbacks. As a result, we have seen a significant rise in corporate business come through our doors. In addition over the last 12 months, 65% of Spaniards have taken a Staycation break. Just like Britons, price is a key deciding factor for the Spanish domestic market, when booking a hotel room. Therefore by offering rooms from 20 Euros we have been able to capitalise upon this growing market and achieve high occupancy across our Spanish hotels.
“The opportunity to grow in Spain is still huge as the branded budget hotel sector represents just two per cent of total hotel stock. This is substantially lower than other European countries such as France which is 24% and the UK which currently stands under 20%. Going forward we want to focus on growing our existing portfolio and are looking for suitable sites across Spain’s top ten largest cities such as Granada and Seville.”
With over seven million visitors annually visiting Barcelona, the new Travelodge hotel has got off to a flying start with a high level of bookings. Room rates start from 20 Euros. Each room has en-suite facilities, a luxury king Size bed, air conditioning / heating, a flat screen TV and Internet connection. The hotel also has a Bar Café which offers a 24-hour food and drink service and has two meeting rooms and underground car-parking.
This Friday (10th May 2013), Travelodge is also officially opening its seventh hotel in Liverpool.
Liverpool Exchange Street Travelodge is a converted office building and it is the company’s 16th Grade II listed property. The hotel was previously the Sun Alliance insurance building, located in the heart of Liverpool’s business district. The 125–room property represents a £8m investment, it has created 30 new jobs and offers rooms from £25.
Since 2007, at the start of the recession Travelodge has opened five hotels in Liverpool and tripled its room stock from 136 rooms to 522 – this represents a total investment of £23 million into the city and a job creation of more than 100 new jobs.
The company’s growth in Liverpool mirrors the radical success of the city in terms of visitor growth during the recession, as a recent tourism report by Travelodge has revealed that Liverpool is the most successful destination in the UK for tourism growth between the periods of 2007 to 2011 – in which time it enjoyed a 23% increase in visitors.
More than one million visitors (1,228,000) came to Liverpool in 2011, up from 999,000 in 2007, a rate of growth far above the national average of 2.6%.
So far this year, Travelodge has already opened two hotels in London at Bethnal Green and within the Heathrow area. These two additions have boosted the Company’s portfolio in the capital to 59 hotels – making it London’s largest hotel brand.
Images of Barcelona Poblenou Travelodge are available by calling the Travelodge press office on 01844 35 8703 or by emailing: pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
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For further information please contact:
The Travelodge Press Office
DL: 01844 35 8703
Email:pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The table highlights Travelodge’s investment in Spain to date
Hotel
Number of rooms
Investment figure
Barcelona Poblenou
250
€30m
Barcelona Hospitalet
83
€10.5m
Madrid Torrelaguna
74
€10m
Madrid Las Rozas
79
€7.25m
Valencia Aeropuertto
116
€9m
About Travelodge:
The first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge now operates over 500 hotels and 37,000 rooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain. More than 16.5 million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 90% of reservations are currently made online at www.travelodge.co.uk, which is the UK’s most visited hotel website, attracting over 1.1 million visits each week.
Travelodge is benefitting from a £223 million brand investment this year, which includes a £57m refurbishment programme across its estate and a brand new room concept created by Travelodge customers. This programme kicked off on the 4th March 2013 and will be completed in autumn 2014.
In addition to offering more comfort, style and quality, the new room features the Travelodge Dreamer, a new luxury king size bed deemed in the industry as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of beds.