Travelodge has announced its plans for major investment in the brand:
- 14 new hotels to open, including two in Spain
- Create 420 new jobs
- Launch a new room concept which has been designed by its customers
- Introduce truckle beds
- Rollout out a £57m refurbishment programme across its estate
Grant Hearn, Travelodge CEO said:
“Now that we have a solid financial foundation in place, this year, the Travelodge brand will benefit from a £223 million investment. This capital expenditure will help us to grow our business, strengthen our product offering and make Travelodge the best value hotel chain in the UK.
14 new hotels
In 2013, Travelodge will open 14 hotels (1,742 rooms) at an investment of £141.5m. Twelve of these openings will be in the UK and two in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid).
The UK locations include four properties in London (Bethnal Green, Hounslow, Vauxhall and Walthamstow), Liverpool, Cambridge , Aylesbury, Southport, Kings Lynn , Sittingbourne, Manchester and Chertsey .
UK growth strategy
Grant Hearn commented:
“In today’s world, Britons are looking for great value when making a hotel booking. The UK at less than 20% remains a growing market for branded budget accommodation, as it is still well behind matured markets such as the USA and France. In response to this growing opportunity, our growth strategy remains in the forefront of our new business plan.”
420 new jobs
During 2013, Travelodge will also create 420 new jobs with 371 of the new positions being generated via the 14 new hotel openings. The remaining new opportunities will be created via the Company’s successful management apprenticeship programme (JuMP) which will create 30 new apprenticeship placements and the remaining 19 roles are head office based.
New room concept
As part of today’s announcement, the hotel chain is also unveiling its new room design which has been created by Travelodge customers. The new room concept has taken 12 months to complete from initial research to implementation and has been overseen by Travelodge’s dedicated in-house Interior Designer – Frances Whitley.
Feedback from Travelodge customers stated they wanted an inviting, functional, warm, relaxing environment, with the main focus of the room being an extremely comfortable bed. To ensure Travelodge met this brief, they worked in cooperation with their customers so that they were involved in every decision and that the new room design met with their expectation and delivered on quality and service.
Frances Whitley commented:
“Interestingly a key learning we learnt were customers now want a high level of coordination between colours, shades, patterns and features. They are no longer happy with everything being the same colour.
“Tastes are also moving away from dark shades, today hotel users want a clean, fresh and bright colour scheme which they find uplifting and energising upon walking up from a good night’s sleep.
“The number one requirement from our customers was a good quality luxurious bed. Interestingly customers fed back that the addition of a coordinated runner on the bed lent a sense of freshness and suggested that the bed had been carefully prepared and wrapped for them.”
The new Travelodge room includes the following new features:
- An upgraded new luxury king size bed which is deemed in the industry as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of beds and used predominately by luxury hotels worldwide. The bed is produced by royal warrant holders Sleepeeze Ltd and features a unique benefit of housing two space saving comfy truckle beds within its base. When the beds are in use the base can be used for storing luggage, providing extra space in the room. The truckle beds have been designed to replace the traditional sofa bed and provide an enhanced service for families staying in the room.
- To help create a warm and cosy ambiance in the new room so that its customers obtain a good quality night’s sleep, Travelodge worked with a chromotherapy expert and has introduced a sleep inducing colour palette to the room’s décor.
- The new Travelodge room feature wall has been painted a tranquil blue, as research shows our body clock is programmed to relate the colour blue to the hours of darkness. So when we look at the colour blue, our metabolism slows down, making us feel relaxed and sleepy.
- The colour also has the effect of making a room look larger and more light and airy. The remaining walls have been painted a calming cream colour as this shade embodies the quality of gentle morning sunlight that helps you to wake up feeling refreshed and alert.
- To complement the colour scheme swoosh stripes in the colours of red, grey and blue have been incorporated into the room décor via the curtains and bed runner. Vertical stripes have been chosen due to their illusion of making a room look taller and to create a more restful and contemporary atmosphere.
- Other additions to the new room include a stylish white contemporary en-suite bathroom with a power shower, stain & water resistant carpet in a dark shade of blue, a larger desk area, new reading lights and a phone charging socket built into the bed frame.
All new hotels being opened this year will incorporate this new room design.
£57m refurbishment programme
Phase one of the £57 million refurbishment programme which starts in spring this year will include a refit project to transform Travelodge’s flagship and most popular city centre hotel rooms with the new room design.
By autumn 2014, over 80% of Travelodge’s estate will incorporate the new room design.
£12 million in digital and online marketing
To help attract new customers, Travelodge is also investing over £12 million in digital and online marketing this year. As well as over a million pounds in a website refresh later this year