Travelodge plans to open 300 more hotels with West Midlands in line for new sites

Travelodge said it has identified that it can expand its UK hotel network with a further 300 locations for new hotels.

Travelodge already operates 25 hotels across the West Midlands and wants to add more in Wolverhampton, Sutton Coldffield, Edgbaston, Selly Oak and the south of Birmingham. It has also written to Birmingham City Council.

The move from Travelodge will be a boost for council chiefs in Wolverhampton, who have long-been trying to secure a new hotel in the city.

A space had been identified at the junction of Ring Road St Marks and School Street as part of the Westside scheme, now known as City Centre West.

But it is yet to come to fruition with bosses said to be looking at a project - between the public and private sectors - to get a new hotel over the line.

And they are trying to secure another hotel at Broad Street in the city centre, with outlines for a 150-room building along with office space.

Lichfield has also been identified as one of the areas it wants to expand in.

The company said the expansion programme could represent an investment of around £3 billion for third-party investors and create more than 9,000 jobs across the UK including 125 in the West Midlands.

Steve Bennett, Travelodge’s chief property and development officer, said: “In the current climate, local authorities are under extreme pressure to invest in their economy and support regeneration projects.

“This is why we are today writing to 220 local authorities to offer our support, as we can make a real difference.

“Our effective, innovative co-partnership development deals are spearheading regional economic growth and providing a solid long-term revenue stream.

“Britain is now a nation of budget travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels than any other hotel type, and this trend is set to grow, which is why we are looking to expand our UK hotel network with a further 300 hotels.

“Adding a Travelodge hotel can be a catalyst to attract new businesses, support regeneration, bring vacant buildings back into economic use as well as attracting thousands of new overnight visitors to the area and revitalising High Streets.

“In addition, our research shows that, on average, Travelodge customers will spend at least double their room rate with local businesses during their stay – this can be an annual, multimillion-pound boost into the local economy.”

Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council in South Yorkshire, said: “The Rotherham Town Centre Masterplan aims to develop Rotherham into a leisure destination which will benefit the local economy and residents.

“To facilitate this vision, having a well-known and trusted hotel brand like Travelodge is a great asset and hugely beneficial as it helps to attract other major brands to invest in Rotherham.”

Travelodge is one of the UK’s largest hotel brands and currently operates nearly 600 hotels.

In 2022, Travelodge opened six new hotels, three of which were local authority partnerships with two hotels located in London at Docklands and Wimbledon and the third hotel situated in Braintree. The group is also currently on site with construction of two further Travelodge hotels being delivered in direct partnership with Local Authorities in Rotherham and Colchester. The Rotherham Travelodge is the group’s first hotel in Rotherham and it is also the first branded hotel in the town centre. For Colchester, it is the group’s second Travelodge hotel.

Some of the new Travelodge hotels in this programme have been built on surplus local authority land, with the funding provided either through the local authority’s internal resource or via low-cost funding from the Public Works Loan Board or third party resources.

Upon completion of the hotel development, local authorities have the choice of either retaining ownership of the hotel and receiving an annual rent into the council’s revenue budget or selling the hotel with Travelodge as its operator.