Travelodge wants to roll out ‘contactless’ self-serve hotels

Budget chain Travelodge is looking at rolling-out self-serve hotels. The firm opened its first “hybrid” hotel last month where guests don’t need to have any face-to-face contact with staff. Instead they have can check-in and get a digital key for their room all through an app.

They can even collect things like an ironing board from a storage space without having to ask anyone. It follows a fully “contactless” Travelodge that opened in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

The new 395-room StaySmart hotel in the city of London also has the option to check-in at a kiosk as well as a front desk.

Travelodge boss Jo Boydell said the no-staff option had proved a roaring success: “On average more than two thirds (of guests) are using it.” She said part of the reason was that customers “don’t expect to expect to stand in a queue to check in”.

While early days, Ms Boydell said the early success meant it was “definitely” considering opening more.

She defended what may be seen by some as soulless experience, given guests don’t need to talk to anyone during their whole stay, pointing to the popularity of self-serve tills at supermarkets and airport check-in.

Ms Boydell was unable to be drawn on staffing numbers at the new-style hotels but it comes as Travelodge looks to cut costs after profits nearly halved in the six months to the end of June, from £82.1million to £47.3m.

The company blamed a £20million surge in costs, fuelled by April’s increase in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage and inflationary linked rent rises. The chain also suffered from a lack of crowd-pulling events such as last year’s Taylor Swift tour.

However, recent months have been boosted by Ozzy Osbourne’s final “Back to the Beginning” Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham at the start of July, along with the Oasis and Coldplay gigs.

Revenue over the half year fell from £486.7m to £471.3m, driven by fewer big events as well as “softer demand”, particularly in Greater London.

Travelodge said it had recently launched ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ payment options for customers, with “encouraging initial results”.

It comes as the chain presses ahead with its biggest expansion for more than a decade, with 11 new hotels opened in the UK in the first half of this year, and at least another nine planned by the end of 2025.

Ms Boydell warned further plans could be impacted by the government’s planned reform of business rates which could increase its property costs. “We are definitely concerned about the impact of business rates,” she said. “It could definitely increase our costs.”

by Graham Hiscott, Head of Business