Travelodge opens its fourth hotel in Ipswich and announces it is looking to double its hotel presence in Suffolk
Travelodge, the UK’s first branded budget hotel chain, has opened its fourth hotel in Ipswich. next to Ipswich Town FC. This hotel is the town’s and the county’s first Travelodge budget-luxe hotel – which is the group’s new premium look and feel hotel design. Ipswich Central Travelodge was officially opened by Steve Bennett, Travelodge Chief Property and Development Officer and The Worshipful Mayor of Ipswich, Councilor Lynne Mortimer at an opening ceremony.
Ipswich Central Travelodge represents a multi-million investment for the landlord, The Burnley Group and has created 26 new jobs within the county. It is the group’s 598th Travelodge and seventh hotel in Suffolk.
At the opening ceremony, the group also announced that Suffolk and Ipswich is a key growth area for the business and they are looking to double their presence across the county. Travelodge is actively looking for a further nine hotel sites in Suffolk which includes a fifth hotel site in Ipswich. This expansion programme could represent a multi-million investment for third party investors and create 225 new jobs.
Locations include: Aldeburgh or Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Martlesham, Newmarket, Southwold, Saxmundham and Sudbury.
For five of these towns it would be the first branded budget hotel which could greatly impact on their visitor numbers and boost the location economy. These locations include: Aldeburgh, Martlesham, Southwold, Saxmundham and Sudbury.
Ipswich Central Travelodge, a 100-room hotel features the group’s new budget-luxe design and 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.
It also offers a range of rooms including the popular premium economy SuperRooms. It also features an on-site restaurant called the Bar Cafe offering breakfast, dinner and a bar service. (See notes to editors for further information on the the Travelodge budget-luxe design)
The Travelodge budget-luxe 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 which 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.
Rooms at Ipswich Central Travelodge are available from £38 at www.travelodge.co.uk.
Ipswich Central Travelodge is managed by William Bone, who has been with Travelodge for seven years and has overseen the opening of three new build Travelodge hotels which includes Maldon, Braintree and now Ipswich Central Travelodge.
Steve Bennett, Chief Property and Development Officer said: “We are delighted to open our fourth hotel in Ipswich and bring our new premium look and feel budget-luxe concept to the county. The hotel is ideally located for business and leisure travellers. It will also be very popular with Ipswich Town FC fans as we have rooms that overlook the stadium and our opening couldn’t have come at a better time with the club being promoted to the Championship.”
“This hotel opening also kick-starts our Suffolk expansion programme as we would like to double our hotel portfolio in the county in response to growing leisure and business travellers visiting the area for holidays, events and for business. At present there is a shortage of good quality and great value accommodation. Therefore to fulfil this growing demand we are actively looking for a further nine hotel sites, which includes a fifth location in Ipswich.”