Swindon hotel acquired by Travelodge as it strikes deal for sites across the UK
Travelodge has agreed to take over a Swindon hotel as part of a deal to acquire 11 sites nationwide.
The deal involves the three-star 120-room Hotel Campanile on the town’s Delta Business Park and adds to Travelodge’s existing portfolio of 588 hotels as it plans to open a further 300 across the country.
The group, the UK’s first budget hotel brand, already operates from two sites in Swindon – Travelodge Swindon Central on Princes St and Travelodge Swindon West on Barnfield Close.
In total nine of the hotels Travelodge intends to acquire are former Hotel Campanile hotels, totalling 951 rooms, with five on a freehold basis and four to be taken over long-leasehold.
The other hotels are in Birmingham, Bradford, Dartford, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Northampton and Milton Keynes.
The other two are in Bromsgrove and Wakefield. Bromsgrove is a former Ibis hotel, where Travelodge has taken a new 25-year lease. Featuring 43 rooms, the hotel is currently being refitted by Travelodge and is due to open next month.
The newly acquired hotel in Wakefield is a former independent hotel under the CitiLodge brand with 74 rooms and is being converted to the Travelodge brand by the owner, with the hotel expected to open in August, at which time Travelodge will enter into a new, 25-year lease.
Both will be fully refitted to Travelodge’s design and brand standards before opening.
Travelodge has also recently opened a new hotel in Bromley town centre, which was a former Ibis hotel. The company exchanged contracts in January and has fully refitted the hotel to its brand design.
Steve Bennett, chief property and development officer at Travelodge, said: “The acquisition of these hotels marks another positive step in our UK development strategy, as we seek to grow and optimise our estate of hotels and enhance value by diversifying our freehold and leasehold split.
“There are still many locations where we can open a new Travelodge hotel, to provide great value and quality accommodation.
“Acquisitions of properties which can be rebranded to Travelodge are a key part of our development strategy, as we look to continue to grow our footprint. We have a requirement to open over a further 300 hotels across the UK, and are seeking prime opportunities when they become available”.
