intu Lakeside is one of the UK’s most popular retail and leisure destinations, with the 1.44 million sq ft centre offering consumers access to many of the biggest brands in a scenic setting overlooking Alexandra Lake. This week, centre owners intu Properties has confirmed that the tenant mix is set to diversify further, with budget hotel brand Travelodge set to take up space on a 25 year lease agreement.
The new five-storey hotel will boast 74 bedrooms and offer guests views over the southern end of the lake, with the first floor Bar Café taking full advantage of the stunning location.
Travelodge will occupy the top four storeys and the ground floor will be separately let by intu – while no concrete plans have yet been revealed for this space, it is believed that a family friendly restaurant brand will eventually occupy the 7,850 sq ft with a mezzanine floor.
Development manager Neil Short at Travelodge claims this new opening will form an important part of the chain’s aim to open 150 new UK hotels.
He continues; “We are delighted to be opening a new Travelodge hotel at one of Europe’s biggest shopping centres.
“With all of intu Lakeside’s fantastic retail, leisure and restaurant facilities on the hotel’s doorstep, this will be a superb place for our business and leisure customers to stay and will enable us to offer the best value accommodation in the area.”
intu directors believe the arrival of Travelodge will be warmly received by existing retail and leisure tenants at Lakeside, as it is hoped the hotel will further boost the centre’s already impressive footfall level of 25 million customers per year.
Furthermore, it will help to diversify the tenant mix and will provide great access to the centre’s leisure aspect, known as the Boardwalk, which lies only three minutes away from the new hotel and houses a nine screen Vue cinema alongside restaurant brands such as Nando’s, Las Iguanas and Wagamama.
While the lease agreement with Travelodge is certainly a feather in the cap for intu, it is not the only exciting development in the pipeline for its Lakeside complex.
As part of the £1.3 billion development pipeline investment over the next 10 years recently announced by intu, the Essex destination is also set to gain a new £100 million leisure quarter which will offer further space for catering brands as well as new family entertainment venues and health and fitness facilities.
intu regional director Julian Wilkinson believes the site selected for the Travelodge hotel will ensure the venture’s resounding success.
He says; “For business people and families looking for a conveniently located hotel, the new Travelodge at intu Lakeside will be perfect.
“Just two miles from the M25 motorway, by a railway station with fast direct trains from London, and next to all the dining and retail attractions of the shopping centre, we think the hotel is certain to do well.”
