Travelodge to build £5.5m hotel on its first residential site

Travelodge is to develop a £5.5m hotel on a site that was previously designated for residential use, marking a first for the budget hotel group.

The site on Greenwich High Road in south-east London was purchased by developer City & Suburban Homes with planning permission obtained for 14 flats.

But, soon after the planning was granted, the original buyer pulled out and no-one else could be found to buy it.

Travelodge stepped in and has now exchanged a contract with City & Suburban Homes and, subject to planning consent being granted, will construct a 97-room hotel.

Paul Harvey, managing director for property development at Travelodge, said: "Since the downturn began we have been offered more than 100 former residential sites but the vast majority are simply not suitable for development as a hotel.

"Clearly Greenwich High Road is an excellent location and I have no doubt this will become one of our strongest performing hotels."

Last year, Travelodge opened six hotels across the UK in buildings that were former office blocks, including a 190-bed hotel at London Tower Bridge and 99 beds in the centre of Wolverhampton.

The group has now opened a total of 22 hotels in office conversions, including sites such as Manchester Central and Watford Central. This year, it will be opening three further office conversions, all in London.

• Travelodge will this week start a price-based marketing campaign in an effort to take 400,000 room nights of market share from its rivals during 2009.

  The group is targeting £29m of its competitors' revenues by highlighting the "major price gap" between itself and the UK's leading hotel brands.

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By Daniel Thomas

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