Travelodge has announced plans to expand operations in Spain, with the addition of a third Madrid property and the appointment of hospitality advisors Aldaba Partners to help grow its portfolio in the country.
The group has acquired the 78-room NH Villa de Coslada, situated close to the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, IFEMA Convention Center and Madrid Barajas airport.
The hotel will be renamed the Travelodge Madrid Coslada Aeropuerto, with around £1 million being invested to acquire the lease and refurbish the property under Travelodge’s latest budget-luxe design.
Work will begin May, and the hotel will remain operational throughout, with an official opening expected this summer.
Meanwhile Travelodge is targeting further expansion in Spain, with Aldaba Partners tasked with finding suitable sites and third party investors.
The group’s Spanish portfolio currently includes three hotels in Madrid (including the addition above), two in Barcelona and one in Valencia.
Travelodge said that it had commissioned research of the Spanish hotel market which showed that there was “a significant gap for branded, low cost and good quality accommodation in the midscale and economy segment”.
“At present, the Spanish hotel market is dominated by independent hotel owners, franchise and management agreement operators and shorter leasehold operators,” the group said.
“However, our research showed that investors are increasingly looking for stable long term income streams in support of Spain’s growing tourism industry. This fits well with Travelodge’s traditional long term fixed lease model, as used in the UK.”
Key growth locations for the brand include Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante, Bilbao, Granada, Malaga, Palma, Seville and Valencia.
Commenting on the news Steve Bennett, Travelodge’s chief property and development officer, said:
“The Spanish hotel market is growing at pace with demand exceeding supply and we want to take this opportunity to take the Travelodge brand to new business and leisure locations across Spain.
“With nearly four decades of expertise in operating budget hotels, a strong brand and a proven successful long term lease model in place, we can offer investors and landlords an alternative long term income stream in Spain, whilst offering business and leisure travellers more choice and great value accommodation.”
Travelodge recently completed phase 1 of budget-luxe upgrade programme, with a total of 68 properties now featuring the concept.
The group operates a total of 596 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain, and said that “it is our intention to upgrade all of our hotel portfolio to the new budget-luxe format”, with phase 2 of the rollout expected to be launched in the spring.
For our look at new and upcoming hotels in Madrid (published in 2022), see:
