Bristol to get its first 'luxury Travelodge'

Hotel chain Travelodge has announced it plans to build and open another hotel in Bristol - bringing its total in the city to seven. The budget hotel chain has 596 hotels across the British Isles and in Spain, and its next one will be next to the Abbey Wood Shopping Park, close to the MoD headquarters, just off the A4174 ring road in north Bristol.

The hotel chain announced today that it has exchanged contracts with Invesco Real Estate, which was marketing the land next to the shopping centre on behalf of the landowner, and it hopes to build an 85-room Travelodge on the site.

The hotel will be one of Travelodge's new 'budget luxe premium' hotels, hoping to tap into the business market so close to the M4 and M5 as well as Abbey Wood, UWE and a host of other businesses in the area.

A spokesperson for the company said the new kind of Travelodge was their 'most radical transformation to date' from the traditional budget hotel model, with remodelled interiors in the rooms and a bar cafe to serve breakfast, dinner and bar service.

The first 'budget luxe' hotel was opened by Travelodge a couple of months ago in Hexham, near Newcastle, and the Abbey Wood one will be among the first new ones in the country. The project at Abbey Wood will be developed and funded by Invesco Real Estate, and will also include a new Greggs standalone unit. Construction will be undertaken by Marshalls Construction and work has already started.

"We are delighted to be expanding our hotel network in Bristol to seven properties and building our first new-build Bristol budget luxe hotel," said Tony O'Brien, Travelodge's UK Development Director. "This is our biggest brand transformation to date and has been created in response to ever increasing expectations from customers. Britain is now a nation of budget travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels than any other hotel type and thoughtful, stylish design and homely touches really matter in today’s world when staying away for business or leisure.

"The city is growing from strength to strength and there is a desperate need for more good quality and low cost accommodation in central locations across the city. We are delighted to have exchanged contracts with Invesco to support our Bristol expansion programme and look forward to this new Travelodge opening in 2024," he added.

Ciaran Butler, a director at Invesco Real Estate said the news showed the hotel sector was bouncing back after the pandemic. "This investment aims to provide secure long-term inflation linked income through exposure to the mid-scale and economy hotel sector, which is enjoying strong performance relative to pre-pandemic levels," he said. "This development is a compelling addition to mix of uses and occupiers at Abbey Wood Retail Park, and in our view should provide mutual benefits to all our tenants and customers," he added

And Clive Power, from the land agents Savills who helped strike the deal on behalf of Invesco, said the location was perfect for a new kind of Travelodge. "The location of Abbey Wood Shopping Park lends itself well to hotel accommodation, being located off the northern ring road, close to Parkway station, the large Ministry of Defence site adjacent and University of West of England. The Shopping Park already offers a diversified portfolio of businesses from retail to leisure and this latest deal will expand the income profile for Invesco further," he added.

The hotel will be the seventh in Bristol run by Travelodge - they already have two in the city centre - at Anchor Road and Mitchell Lane, one on the Concorde Roundabout near the old Filton Airfield, one at Cribbs Causeway, another at Emersons Green, and a sixth in Avonmouth.

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