Travelodge officially opens its sixth Spanish hotel in Madrid

Travelodge, a leading budget hotel chain which operates nearly 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain, has officially opened its sixth hotel in Spain – in Coslada, Madrid. To mark this special occasion, the group hosted a ceremonial event which was attended by the landlord, investors, property agents and key British and Spanish stakeholders.

At the event the Mayor of Coslada, Ángel Viveros Gutiérrez; joined Jo Boydell, Chief Executive; and Angel Beleño, General Director of Spain, to officially open the hotel.

Travelodge signed a 20 year lease of the former NH Villa De Coslada, Madrid and has since refurbished and rebranded the 78-room hotel to become the Travelodge Madrid Coslada Aeropuerto, which features an on-site restaurant, bar and car-park.

Travelodge has invested €1 million in updating the hotel to Travelodge’s latest premium look and feel. The hotel is situated close to the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, IFEMA Convention Center and Madrid airport – making it an ideal base for both business and leisure customers.

Madrid Coslada Aeropuerto Travelodge is the group’s third hotel in Madrid and its sixth in Spain. It also operates two hotels in Barcelona and one in Valencia. Travelodge has worked closely with a consultancy team at Christie & Co, the leading European real estate advisory firm, who have prepared a strategic expansion report on the development opportunities offered by the Spanish hotel market.

Findings from this report confirm that despite Spain being a top global leisure and business destination, it remains an under-represented market for budget accommodation, with Economy and Midscale hotel rooms representing 33% of total room supply in comparison to mature markets including France (c.59%), the UK (c41%) and the USA (c44%). Meanwhile, just 6% of Spain’s hotel rooms are in the branded Economy and Midscale segment.

The study identified the potential for an additional 15,000 branded rooms in the Economy and Midscale segment of the Spanish hotel market within the next five years, through a combination of new developments and conversions of existing hotels.

This potential growth in the Spanish midscale and economy hotel market provides a huge opportunity for investors, who are looking for solid long-term income streams – and aligns well with Travelodge’s expansion plans.

Travelodge has nearly four decades of expertise in operating budget hotels, a strong brand, and a proven successful long term lease model in place. Working with its appointed property agents, Aldaba Partners, who provide a comprehensive investment advisory service, Travelodge is planning to grow its
Spanish business, offering solid long-term income stream opportunities for investors.

Travelodge has initially identified the top 20 key markets where it would like to open a hotel in Spain.
These markets are predicted to continue to grow their business and leisure visitor numbers over the coming years, but currently have a shortage of good quality, low cost, branded accommodation to meet the needs of business and leisure guests.

Travelodge’s plans include expanding its existing hotel network in the locations where it currently operates including Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, as well as in other major business and tourist locations. Key target locations are listed below:

Primary Current Locations: Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia
Primary New Locations: Alicante, Bilbao, Cádiz, Malaga, Palma Mallorca, San Sebastián and Seville
Secondary Locations: Benidorm, Córdoba, Gerona, Granada, Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Santiago de Compostela, Santander, Tarragona, Valladolid and Zaragoza

Travelodge’s Spanish operation is managed by Angel Beleno, who joined Travelodge in 2013 as Spain, Director of Operations and in 2014 was promoted to Spain, General Director. Angel has over 20 years of experience working within the hospitality sector in Spain and internationally. Prior to joining Travelodge, Angel worked for Melia Hotels International and Barceló Hotels and amp Resorts
in Spain and Mexico.

Angel Beleño, Travelodge, General Director, Spain said: “Spain is the fourth most visited country in the world and its tourism industry is now an important engine of the Spanish economy. This is creating new opportunities in the Spanish hotel market, especially for the Midscale and Economy hotel sector, and we want to take this opportunity to bring the Travelodge brand to new business and leisure locations across Spain.

“With nearly four decades of expertise in operating budget hotels, a strong brand and a proven successful long term lease model in place, we can help to grow the Spanish Midscale and Economy hotel sector. Our latest acquisition is a prime example of how we can convert an existing hotel into a successful Travelodge, offering investors and landlords an alternative long-term income stream in Spain and providing both business and leisure travellers with more choice and great value accommodation.”

The Spanish expansion plans come just weeks after Travelodge announced record-breaking results for the six months to 30 June 2023, reporting a revenue and profit performance significantly ahead of 2022 levels earnings (adjusted EBITDA) to £104.5 million for the half year, reflecting the continued resilience of the UK budget hotel segment and the wide appeal of Travelodge’s quality and value offering across its 598 hotels and over 46,000 rooms.