Travelodge announce the Opening of new Ealing hotel

Budget hotel company, Travelodge, yesterday announced the opening of a new 99 room hotel in the heart of Ealing town centre. 

The 5000 square foot hotel, which has cost the hotel company £6.9 million, opened its doors yesterday for the first time and has received mixed feelings from the local community.

The planning application received by Ealing Council in July 2009 for a new six storey building on Uxbridge Road was passed three months later and work began to expand the growing portfolio of hotels that budget firm Travelodge has both inside and outside London.

Despite the recession the hotel firm, which started out with just one hotel, has announced this year that it will be building 35 new hotels both in the UK and Spain creating 700 new jobs as a result.

With an investment of £300 million to develop the new sites this year alone, the chain famous for its ‘cheap and basic’ ethos, is boosting its empire to 495 hotels and 35,841 rooms. In another sign of success the chain has also increased its growth targets to 1100 hotels and 100,000 rooms by 2025.

Travelodge Chief Executive, Guy Parsons, said, “The hotels we built have been a result of Travelodge’s commitment to expand during the recession whilst many companies put their developments on hold”.
Despite the new jobs and business the venture will bring to Uxbridge Road and Ealing on the whole, some residents are dubious of the multi-million pound hotel.

Amin Saied, 23, of Queen Anne’s Rd, said, “I personally feel that it is yet more evidence of London sprawling out of control. One of the reasons I moved to Ealing was that it still held some peace and quiet, but more and more over the years we are losing that”.

Asked whether he thought the hotel may have a positive effect on local area he listed an increase in drunken behaviour and littering as potential negatives adding, “Locals won't be gaining anything from the hotel, we all have houses here. All we get is more people passing through”.

Ealing Travelodge

West London District Manager, Muhammad Munan, explains that the new site on Uxbridge Road will be beneficial for the whole community, even helping to decrease unemployment within the community.
“We contribute a lot to the economy by creating more jobs in the area and work with the local ‘Job Centre Plus’ returning the long term unemployed people back to work which makes a massive difference to people’s lives and their confidence.”


Munan added, “We always get a warm welcome from the community. Travelodge is a well-known, trust worthy brand so the local community feels proud if a Travelodge is being built in their area.”
The hotel that opened yesterday in Ealing adds to the list of hotels the budget firm is opening around London in time for the 2012 Olympics, including Bromley, Harrow, Vauxhall and Olympic Park venue Stratford.