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Chronicle Live

National

Daniel Hall

See inside new Travelodge Hexham as chain targets 16 new North locations in expansion programme

Travelodge North (Location) Hexham South Shields Durham

Travelodge has announced its plans to expand in the North and open 16 new hotels, with Durham and South Shields selected as two key locations.

The announcement was made at Travelodge's official opening of its new hotel in Hexham and represents an intended investment of £160m in the North East and could create 400 new jobs. The group now has 23 hotels in the region, including two in Newcastle city centre, and the proposed expansion would boost Travelodge's portfolio to 39, though that extends outside of our region and includes Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.

The 69-room Travelodge at Hexham is the group's first new-build budget-luxe hotel in the north of England and the first branded hotel in the Northumberland market town, which was named the happiest place to live in the UK last year. It has created 27 new jobs in the community and was opened by Travelodge chief operating officer Claire Good who returned to the North East after being born and raised in Newcastle.

Claire was joined by her parents and Hexham Mayor Derek Kennedy to cut the ribbon, which is the second that the chain has opened in the region within the last seven months. It follows the opening of a hotel at Cobalt Business Park in December 2021.

Should Travelodge open a hotel in Durham, it would be in addition to one that the company already has on Station Lane. However South Shields, which has received a tourism boost after Sandhaven Beach was named the best beach in the country, as well as recent recommendations in the national press for fish and chips and ice cream in the town, is completely new to the chain.

The new Travelodge in Hexham has created 27 jobs in the community (Handout - Travelodge)

Claire Good said: "I am delighted to return home and open my first Travelodge hotel as the group’s Chief Operating Officer. This milestone is even more special as Hexham Travelodge is our first north of England budget-luxe hotel, and I was joined by my parents and the Mayor of Hexham, David Kennedy to officially open the hotel.

"Hexham Travelodge is our 597th hotel and has got off to a flying start, as it is located at the gateway to Hadrian’s Wall and is a popular choice with holidaymakers. This is great news for the local economy, as research shows Travelodge customers will spend on average double their room rate with local businesses during their stay, which can equate to an annual multi-million boost for the local economy.

"As we look to the future, the North East business and leisure economies are growing at pace especially as the region is a top staycation destination. However, as we have become a nation of value conscious travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels than any other hotel type, there is a shortage of good quality and low cost accommodation within the region.

"To help fill this gap and fulfil growing demand, we are today announcing our North East hotel target expansion programme and are actively looking for hotel sites in 16 target locations. This expansion includes finding a site to open our second hotel in Durham and first in South Shields.

"This collective expansion programme could represent an investment of £160m for third party investors and create 400 new jobs. For nine of these target locations it would be the town’s first Travelodge hotel which would help attract new business and leisure visitors to the area."

The full list of hotels Travelodge are planning to open in the North are as follows: