National property and construction consultancy Wakemans has completed work on a new £2m Travelodge in Tunbridge Wells, one of several budget hotels that Wakemans has been working on for the UK’s fastest growing hotel chain this year.

Wakemans acted as contract administrator and quantity surveyor on behalf of Travelodge, which has renovated the former New Wellington Hotel, a Grade 2 listed building dating from the 1800s.

The hotel enjoys a prominent position in a key residential area, with sweeping views over the common, and is half a mile from Tunbridge Wells town centre and a mile from the railway station.

Contractor Anglo Holt Construction has reconfigured the layout of the five-storey building to create 86 rooms.  The ground floor conference room and dining room have been converted into four new guest rooms, including three with disability access, plus new accessible toilets.  Meanwhile, the conference room and staff rooms in the basement have been transformed into an additional 12 guest rooms.  

In accordance with listed building consent, features such as cornices and mouldings have been retained during the refurbishment of the facilities and Anglo Holt Construction has rebuilt the staircase.  A Bar Café, which serves a buffet breakfast, snacks and evening meals, is also incorporated in the new layout, while an external lift ensures improved wheelchair access.  

“The hotel continued to trade while the facilities were being redeveloped so this, and the requirement to improve disability access while complying with listed building conditions, made this a challenging project from a logistics perspective,” says Wakemans associate director Nigel Himpson

Travelodge has a portfolio of 350 hotels (more than 24,000 rooms) in town centre, seaside and airport locations.  The new Tunbridge Wells hotel is one of several Travelodge opening in eastern England as it looks to increase its presence in this part of the country and provide 2,000 rooms by 2020.