Travelodge aims to be biggest hotelier in capital ahead of 2012 Olympic games
TRAVELODGE yesterday announced an £84m expansion plan that will create 200 jobs and make it the biggest hotel chain in London.
It has snapped up six new hotels in a bid to cash in when the 2012 olympics comes to the capital.
Once the new properties open, the hotel chain will operate 45 London hotels, with a total of 6,482 rooms.
Such a huge portfolio would enable it to overtake Whitbread’s Premier Inn as the capital’s biggest hotel chain.
The six hotels will create around 200 jobs in the capital, with most of the positions being filled through Travelodge’s partnership with the Job Centre.
Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn yesterday 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 additions to its estate – which are a mixture of new build hotels and refurbished office blocks – will open in Covent Garden’s Drury Lane, Ealing, Stratford and Bromley, with a further two in Harrow.
The news of Travelodge’s expansion plans comes at a tough time for the hotel sector, as cash-strapped consumers stay at home in the downturn.
Around 212 hotels collapsed in the first half of this year.