Green light for new 67-bed Leicester hotel

Budget hotel giant Travelodge has been given planning permission to open a new 67-bedroom hotel in Leicester city centre.

The hotel, on top of the Haymarket Shopping Centre will mean the redevelopment of long-disused office space in the 1960s building, and will create 16 jobs.

Documents from Travelodge seen by TheBusinessDesk.com read: “The economic advantages the hotel will bring to Leicester will include: increased employment opportunities for local people; attracting new people to the area on business and leisure trips; generating additional expenditure within the city centre from hotel guests and supporting local businesses through providing complementary land use.”

Travelodge says it expects around 32,000 people to use the hotel each year, who will generate £642,000 for the city. The firm will take a 25-year lease on the building.

The move comes amid a rash of new hotels planned in Leicester city centre.

Leicester Tigers are planning a new £22m, 165 room hotel next to the club’s stadium on the old Granby Halls site, while a £50m, 250-room hotel near the old Grand Railway Station is also planned. Finally, a 150-room Novotel is set to build a 100-room hotel for operator Adagio.

Leicester City Council is spending £3m on the restoration of the derelict Haymarket Theatre to turn into a leisure and entertainment venue.