Travelodge coming to Epsom but where? (From Sutton Guardian)

Travelodge coming to Epsom but where?

6:11pm Monday 23rd March 2009 in News By Helen Crane

Travelodge is to build an 85 bedroom hotel in Epsom at an undisclosed location.

It is part of a £77 million expansion plan which will create another 1,443 rooms in places varying from London to Liverpool.

But it is keeping its proposed site in Epsom a secret and it will not say how much the plan will cost.

A spokesman for the budget hotel chain said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on further details of the Travelodge in Epsom as we are still in the planning process.”

If all its plans announced last week go ahead Travelodge will create 200 new jobs with many staff being recruited through Job Centre Plus.

The new Epsom hotel will be in competition with the new Holiday Inn Express on Epsom Downs which charges from £70 per night and the two Premier Inns in the borough which charge from £77 per room during the week and £65 at the weekend.

A stay in a double room at the privately owned luxury Chalk Lane Hotel costs from £155 per night.

Travelodge, which expects to be the largest hotelier in London by the time of the 2012 Olympics, charges from £19 per night across its 26,400 hotel room portfolio.

It already has a hotel in Leatherhead town centre.

Paul Harvey, managing director for development at Travelodge, said: ”Since the onset of the recession we have been offered more locations and going concerns than ever before, often in prime locations that just one year ago would have been unviable.

"Given that budget hotels only amount to 13 per cent of the UKs hotel market, there is clearly strong potential for growth.

"With a strong pipeline of properties identified I fully expect Travelodge to exit the recession in a stronger position than we entered."

The new hotels announced last week will be in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Egham, Epsom, Liverpool, Penge, Twickenham, Waterloo, Whetstone, Northampton, Rugby and Salford Quays.

• Where should Epsom’s Travelodge be sited? Let us know in the comments section below.