On Friday 26th August, the Mayor of Solihull, Cllr Irene Chamberlain and David Winstanley, Operations Director for Birmingham Airport officially opened the £9.8 million Birmingham Airport Travelodge hotel. Situated overlooking the runway on Terminal Road, the new 200 – room property is the Company’s first hotel at Birmingham Airport and the 19th Travelodge hotel in Birmingham – maintaining the budget hotel chain’s position as the biggest hotelier in the city. This new hotel opening has created 30 new jobs within the community.
Birmingham Airport Travelodge offers a range of rooms which includes, family, double and accessible rooms. All Travelodge rooms come with a luxury Hypnos king size bed, which has a royal warrant from the Queen. Each room has en-suite facilities with eco-friendly showers, a flat screen TV with 18 free digital channels, free tea and coffee making facilities and Wi-Fi.
The hotel also has a Bar Café which offers a breakfast, dinner and bar service.
To celebrate the official opening of Travelodge’s 477th hotel in Birmingham, Cllr Irene Chamberlain cut the ribbon and officially declared the hotel open for business at an opening ceremony. She also met the hotel team and took a tour of the 200-bed hotel.
In recognition of the 35,000 travellers that pass daily through Birmingham Airport, from destinations such as France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Dubai, Pakistan and Iran – Travelodge staff have been trained to say Hello, welcome to Travelodge” in ten languages – so that they can greet international guests in their native tongue.
Birmingham Airport Travelodge is also an ideal base for plane spotting enthusiasts, as all rooms at the back of the hotel over look the airport’s busy runway. The airport’s biggest plane, an Emirates Boeing 777 which lands from Dubai every day is the main attraction for aircraft fanatics. The hotel has already been flooded with requests from guests wishing to sleep on the runway wing of the hotel so they can grab the best views.
Travelodge has invested £26.5 million in Birmingham during 2011 with the opening of four hotels. The first hotel at Birmingham’s Bull Ring Shopping Centre opened in May, followed by Birmingham Airport and finally Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Halesowen in November. By the end of the year the hotel chain will have 21 hotels across Birmingham and have created 100 jobs.
Birmingham Airport Travelodge is being managed by local girl, Sarah Appleby, who has been working for the Company for five years. Sarah started her career at Birmingham Fort Dunlop Travelodge as a receptionist in 2006. Within six months of joining the company, ambitious Sarah fast tracked her career and moved to become the manager at Walsall Travelodge.
