Travelodge beds down at London shopping centre

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has signed a deal to open a new hotel at the Bromley Mall in Bromley, south-east London. The hotel group has agreed a 25-year lease on the former 59-bedroom Ibis hotel at the shopping centre. The takeover of the site is part of Travelodge’s expansion plans for London. The group currently operates 82 hotels comprising more than 10,000 bedrooms across the capital and is seeking further development opportunities within the M25. Travelodge recently acquired an office building in St Paul’s for conversion into a 95-bedroom hotel, subject to planning permission – its first freehold acquisition for conversion – and has also recently exchanged contracts to open an 82-bedroom hotel in Upminster. A further three Travelodge hotels are under construction in Beckenham, Chiswick and Stratford. Steve Bennett, chief property and development officer at Travelodge, said: “While we already operate 82 Travelodge hotels in London, many of the London boroughs have very few branded budget hotels and there are lots of locations with high demand for great value, good quality accommodation. “London remains a key focus for our UK development team and we are actively seeking suitable hotel opportunities across the capital, with more than 100 locations on our London target requirement list.” He added: “We are open to a range of development types, such as office conversions, acquisitions of going concerns and forward funded new developments, and are keen to explore all available opportunities.”