To mark this milestone, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Sandwich Travelodge where the Chairman of Dover District Council, Cllr Mike Conolly, The Mayor of Sandwich, Cllr Paul Graeme and Travelodge Chief Property & Development Officer, Steve Bennett officially opened the hotel.

Sandwich Travelodge, a 75-room hotel which features a restaurant called The Bar Café and on-site car-parking represents a multi-million investment for third party investors and has created 18 new jobs within the community. This is the group’s 593rd hotel and its 17th property in Kent.  

Sandwich Travelodge is the 13th hotel the group has opened so far in 2021. Earlier this year, Travelodge announced it was opening 17 new hotels in 2021. These 17 new hotels are being developed by third party investors with an investment value of £175 million and will create 360 jobs across the UK.

The hotel has been styled in the company’s contemporary brand design which has been created by business and leisure customers and features family, double and accessible rooms from £29 – which can be booked at www.travelodge.co.uk   

All rooms feature the bespoke luxurious king-size Travelodge Dreamer bed which is produced by Sleepeezee who hold a Royal Warrant from HRH The Prince of Wales. The Travelodge Dreamer bed sits within a mood lighting surround and has spacious bedside shelves featuring his & hers charging ports. In addition all family rooms include two individual beds for children.

The rooms also feature a modern en-suite bathroom, power shower, comfort cooling, to enable you to personalise the temperature of your room, a 32 inch Freeview TV, complimentary in-room tea & coffee making facilities and access to Wifi.

The Bar Café offers a great value breakfast & dinner menu and a bar service that offers a range of aperitifs such as a gin menu, a broad range of red & white wines,proseccoand champagne.   

Travelodge’s breakfast, lunch and dinner menus will also be available with social distancing measures in place. Travelodge offers an unlimited breakfast at just £8.75, so that you can kick start your day the right way, and for each paying adult two children eat for free. Additionally Travelodge has great dinner menu meal deals too - adults can eat a delicious main course plus a side dish or dessert for just £12.25 and Travelodge’s kids menu offers 3 courses and a drink for only £6.25. For more information please visit https://www.travelodge.co.uk/about/our-restaurants/

Sandwich Travelodge also features the company’s multimillion pound Covid-19 safety and social distance programme, called TravelodgeProtect+. 

Sandwich Travelodge is being managed by Colleen Piper, who joined Travelodge nearly four years ago and has over 20 years of experience working in the UK hotel industry. 

Travelodge was the first branded budget hotel chain to open a hotel in Kent, 34 years ago at Medway M2 Travelodge, today the group operates 17 hotels across the length and breadth of the county. However there still remains a huge shortage of good quality and low accommodation in Kent and Travelodge wants to fill this growing gap. At today’s official opening of Sandwich Travelodge, the hotel chain announced it is actively looking for a further nine hotel sites across the county. This expansion represents an approximate investment of £70m and will create around 200 new jobs. The nine Travelodge desired sites include:    

1.     Bluewater

2.     Canterbury

3.     Dartford

4.     Folkestone

5.     Herne Bay 

6.     Maidstone

7.     Sevenoaks

8.     Swanley

9.     Tonbridge.

Steve Bennett, Travelodge Chief Property & Development Officer said:  

“We are delighted to open Sandwich’s first branded hotel and our 17th Travelodge hotel in Kent. Sandwich Travelodge will be a great addition to the town and will help certainly help attract new visitors to the area. This is great news for the local community as research shows our customers will spend on average double their room rate with local businesses during their stay, which equates to a multi-million pound boost into the local economy.”   

“As we look to the future, Kent is going from strength to strength, especially as more Britons are holidaying at home and this trend is set to continue. Kent is a top Staycation destination, however there still remains a desperate need for good quality and low cost accommodation in the county and we want to fill this growing gap. Therefore we are actively looking for a further nine hotel sites across the county. This expansion will represent an approximate investment of £70m and will create around 200 new jobs. Our desired sites include: Bluewater, Canterbury, Dartford, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Swanley and Tonbridge.”

Cllr Michael Conolly, the Chairman of Dover District Council, said: “We’re delighted to see Travelodge opening in Sandwich. It’s the perfect location to discover Sandwich, its world-class links golf courses, and the wider area. The hotel will also be popular with business travellers, located close to Discovery Park which is home to a growing number of major international companies. It’s great to see Travelodge continuing to see opportunities to invest in the district following the opening of the Travelodge at St James Dover in 2018.”

Cllr Paul Graeme M.B.E., The Right Worshipful Mayor of Sandwich, said: “I am delighted that Sandwich will have the 593rd Travelodge at Discovery Park. Its presence will assist the growth of Discovery Park and the business and commerce sector in Sandwich and East Kent. The new Travelodge will be a welcome addition to the tourist offer in East Kent and particularly in Sandwich, which of course is a fantastic destination whose history and tourism offers are unique.”

During the last five years, Travelodge has opened seven hotels in Kent (including Sandwich Travelodge). These seven hotels represent an investment of £39m and have created 125 new jobs. Locations include: Ashford Town Centre, Chatham Maritime, Dover, Gravesend, Rochester, Sandwich and Sittingbourne.    

For further information, please contact:

Travelodge Press Office

01844 358 703

pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk