Greater Manchester's first budget hotel brand, Travelodge, is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the county this week. To mark this milestone, the company has opened its first hotel in Stockport town centre, in a landmark building, Regent House.
Travelodge, one of the UK's largest independent hotel brands, opened its first Greater Manchester hotel in 1987, on the M62 at the Birch Eastbound services. Over the last three decades, the hotel chain has expanded across the country and now operates 19 hotels - which include five properties in Manchester city centre and hotels in most of the Greater Manchester boroughs.
Stockport Travelodge is the company's 540th hotel. The 86-room hotel with Bar Café is situated over several floors in Regent House, Stockport's tallest building owned by Chamber member Orbit Developments. The hotel represents an investment of £5m for the landlord and has created 30 new jobs.
Greater Manchester is a key growth area for Travelodge and the group is looking for seven new hotel sites across Greater Manchester to expand its local portfolio. Locations include: two sites in Manchester city centre, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Worsley and Swinton.
This expansion programme will boost Travelodge's portfolio to 26 hotels in Greater Manchester and create an additional 200 new jobs.
Tony O'Brien, Travelodge UK Development Director, said, 'We are delighted to be celebrating our 30th anniversary of trading in Greater Manchester by opening our first hotel in Stockport's landmark building, Regent House.
'Over the last three decades, Travelodge has become famous across the county for offering unbeatable value and making travel affordable for everyone, which has helped attract more business and leisure travellers to the area.'
O'Brien continued, 'As we look to the future, Greater Manchester is a key growth area for Travelodge. Following our £3 million investment in upgrading the customer experience and raising quality levels across our Greater Manchester hotels, we have seen a double digit increase in sales; interestingly with more business customers staying in our hotels than ever before.'
'The Greater Manchester economy is growing at pace and with increasing visitor numbers to the area, there is still a shortage of good quality accommodation at a great value price.'
