This is the group’s first Ibis hotel acquisition and its second hotel in Wellingborough
Travelodge, one of the UK’s largest hotel chains, announces it has acquired its first Ibis hotel. The 78-room hotel, located at the Wilby Way roundabout junction on the A45, is the group’s second hotel in Wellingborough and its tenth hotel in Northamptonshire. During the last few months, Travelodge has upgraded the hotel to its new premium look and feel brand specification.
To mark Travelodge opening its second hotel in Wellingborough, the hotel chain hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony where local MP, Peter Bone and Tony O’Brien, Travelodge’s UK Development Director, officially opened the hotel.
The group also announced at the opening event that Northamptonshire is a key growth area and that they are actively looking for a suitable site to open their first hotel in Corby. This expansion programme could represent a multi-million pound investment for third party investors and create 25 new jobs.
Wellingborough Travelodge features 78-rooms, an on-site restaurant called The Bar Cafe and a car-park. The hotel has been upgraded to the new Travelodge look and feel design - which includes all the low cost efficiencies you would expect from Travelodge but with the added benefit of thoughtful, stylish design and homely touches throughout its interiors.
This includes a new style reception area, a next generation room with features such as bedside charging ports, blackout curtains, a comfy armchair, and upgraded bar cafe.
The new Travelodge design also includes a number of sustainable initiatives. This includes the new carpet being made from recycled fishing nets, which are part of a project supporting clean ocean initiatives, tackling over 640k tonnes of discarded fishing nets currently impacting marine life. The carpet backing is also made of old plastic bottles. Every ten of these bottles that are recycled rather than being sent to landfill saves enough energy to power a laptop for 25 hours. The other features include low energy lighting, motion sensing controls and aerated showers and taps.
Wellingborough Travelodge is managed by Craig Hoole, who has been working with the company for 26 years. Craig started with Travelodge in 1997, working as a Team Member at Kettering Thrapston Travelodge. Over the years, Craig has successfully climbed the career ladder at Travelodge and is now the dual-site manager for the two Wellingborough Travelodge hotels (Wellingborough Rushden and Wellingborough Travelodges).
Rooms at Wellingborough Travelodge are available from £38 at www.travelodge.co.uk.
Travelodge has a track record of acquiring a range of mid-market and budget hotels and converting them into successful Travelodge hotels. Over the last three decades, Travelodge has acquired hotels from the following brands: Holiday Inn Express, Ramada Encore, Mercure, Comfort Inn, Thistle and Days Inn.
This hotel is Travelodge’s first Ibis hotel acquisition. The previous landlord and the tenant, AccorInvest, decided to jointly terminate the lease and the property was forward sold to Kent-based property investment and development company, Cooper Estates, based on the simultaneous grant of a new, 25-year lease to Travelodge Hotels Limited, on standard, institutional terms, including 5-yearly rent reviews in line with CPI, collared and capped.
Tony O’Brien, Travelodge’s UK Development Director said: ”We are delighted to expand our hotel network with the acquisition of our first Ibis hotel in Wellingborough and become the town’s biggest hotel chain. This new addition boosts our hotel network to nearly 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain. It also showcases that we operate an adaptable business model and we have the expertise to remodel not just existing hotels but empty office and retail space into a successful Travelodge hotel.
“During the last five years we have opened more than 60 new hotels and this includes the acquisition of existing branded hotels, office and retail conversions, as well as new build and mixed-use developments.
“As we look to the future, Northamptonshire is growing at pace and, due to its scenic and commuter-friendly location, it is attracting more business and leisure travellers than ever before. However, there remains a shortage of good quality and great value accommodation across the county. Therefore to fulfil this growing demand we are actively looking to open our first hotel in Corby. This expansion programme could represent a multi-million pound investment for third party investors and create 25 new jobs for locals.”
Peter Bone, MP, commented: “It is great news that Travelodge have invested in opening a new hotel in Wellingborough. It is a first-class hotel and I am sure it will be a great success.”
For supporting images of the official opening event and images of Wellingborough Travelodge please contact the Travelodge Press Office at pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk or by calling 01844 34 8702
