Travelodge plans 37 sites near parks

The group, which currently has 475 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain, said the £135m expansion was in response to high customer demand for hotels close to the UK’s top rural locations.

Its property team will focus efforts on finding sites near to locations such as Aviemore (Cairngorms), Betws-y-Coed (Snowdonia), Grasmere (Lake District) and Minehead (Exmoor).

Chief executive Guy Parsons said: “Traditionally, Britons have opted for a coastal or city break but as more Britons explore the UK they are rediscovering new holiday hotspots and, as a result, we have seen a significant surge in rural breaks.”

Travelodge said its existing hotels within a wide radius of the main national parks achieved high occupancy levels far earlier than normal this year. The most popular Travelodge sites have included Barnstaple (Exmoor), Porthmadog (Snowdonia), Cockermouth (Lake District) and Scarborough (North York Moors).

The planned hotels will range from 30 rooms to over 100.