What's more, the publication of annual reports and accounts on Travelodge's own website ceased in 2008. At that time, the budget hotel company was overloaded with around £1 billion of debt, and had rented lodging space when property prices were at their peak. When the crash came and the customers vanished, Travelodge found itself unable to keep up with repayments – including £100 million annually on rent interest alone.
In any case, the company successfully pulled itself back from the precipice and secured a lifeline through a debt-for-equity deal that saw hedge funds, Golden Tree Asset Management and Avenue Capital, and investment bank, Goldman Sachs, become its main shareholders. In addition, Travelodge negotiated an extension to 2017 for repaying £329m of bank debt, at a lower interest rate until the end of 2014. For further deliverance from debt, the company released 49 hotels into new ownership.
By August 2012, business was back on track, jobs had been protected and Travelodge continued to expand, opening 41 new hotels by the end of that year. Naturally, media attention was absorbed by the four new hotels opened in London in time for the Olympics. Unlike the chain's installations in many other towns, however, there would be no "re-badging" or "traded refurbishment" at Eastgate where Travelodge would be the first occupant of a brand new building.
Having signed a lease in spring 2009, the hotel undoubtedly influenced the architecture of the Harmonica ('Landmark building'). Early proposals for developments reveal that the Llanelli area had been a target of Travelodge's expansion program since at least June 2007, specifically for a hotel with a minimum capacity of 45 beds and a maximum of 53 – the eventual development agreed to accommodate the latter figure.
After three years' drumming up support for the project, the company's transition from financial crisis to stability, and a promise that the new hotel would create fifteen jobs and add over £800,000 to the local economy each year, the arrival of Travelodge in Llanelli ought to have been warmly received.
Upon arrival, guests will find sufficient space in the large car park immediately outside the hotel (more on parking charges below) with the added convenience of a bus station and taxi rank within 60 metres of the front door. Other visible advantages of the hotel's location include the adjoining eateries and pubs, such as Hungry Horse and Nando's.
On the web, some different, but no less crucial, aspects of the hotel come to light. A quick look at customer reviews reveals that the Travelodge staff at Eastgate have provided outstanding service to their guests since day one.
For clarification on this, I contacted the Travelodge Customer Services team, who were kind enough to provide the following explanation:
Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to learn of your disappointment regarding the removal of our TripAdvisor reviews.
I can confirm Travelodge have released a 55 million refurbishment programme across the estate in which 80% of our hotel rooms will receive a complete new room design and layout. New pocket sprung
king-sized beds have been placed in our Llanelli hotel. This hotel has also been repainted and have received new bedding, curtains and bed runners.
Travelodge informed TripAdvisor of the refurbishment programme and as a result, TripAdvisor have removed all reviews made before a certain date for the hotels have been refurbished. Reviews
have been removed regardless of their negative or positive sentiment.
I understand there are no plans to have the reviews reinstated.
Thank you again for contacting us.
Travelodge Customer Services
With earlier customers' criticisms (e.g. of the previous generation of beds) supposedly rendered irrelevant by the refurbishment and modernisation programme, 32 reviews of the Llanelli Central hotel vanished, of which, eighteen very satisfied customers had left a 5-star rating and nine gave it 4 stars. Since the mass deletion in August and up to October 2013, the TripAdvisor page accumulated only 6 new reviews and, while the TravelodgeUK Customer Care Team now takes an active approach in responding directly to criticism, one of these is its lowest ever rating, a 2-star review titled "terrible", and only three are 5-star ratings.
Hope is not lost, however. Despite the dismissal of former guests' compliments, the hotel looks set to continue receiving praise in its second year. What's more, I have retrieved copies of the original 32 reviews through Google's cache links. Here are a few samples:
And some of the less favourable reviews:
In sum, basic but adequate, clean and generally comfortable.
Positive aspects include:
Outstanding customer service by all the staff;
Clean rooms and shower/bath facilities;
Generally quiet but central location with good transport links;
Decent wifi;
Close parking;
Cheap when booked in advance, online (from £19/night)
Criticisms.
1) Awkward parking arrangements.
Upon arrival, many guests may be put off by the pay-and-display notices in the Council-owned Eastgate car park. Signs clearly state that Mon-Sat from 8am to 6pm, parking charges and a limit of 4 hours' stay apply. Thankfully, the hotel staff are keen to inform guests that, in addition to the free overnight parking from 18:00 to 08:00, it is possible to buy a ticket during this time which will become valid from 8am. In other words, pay for an hour's parking after 6pm, and don't rush outside to move the car until 9am the following day. All that said, it's probably too late to figure out those arrangements if you arrive at the hotel earlier in the day and took a wild guess at how best to park your car before going to reception. Daytime parking charges/limits are also a problem for guests staying longer than one night – it's a ten-minute walk for long-term parking at Church Street car park.
[Update]: County Council has proposed to increase parking fees and to introduce evening charges after 6pm. (Blog post coming soon)
2) Distance from train station.
Another problem relating to distance. Not that the town is very large. A taxi ride from Eastgate to the train station takes about 5 minutes. But isn't the whole point of booking into a Travelodge to avoid costly means of travel?
3) Unbearably hot rooms in the summer.
The Eastgate building is undoubtedly well-insulated. Which poses the most urgent problem in the warmer months, especially given the hotel's lack of decent air-conditioning. According to the reviews, staff did their utmost this summer to resolve this well-reported issue (yet, only 12 electric fans were available for visitors).
4) Budget beds and disadvantaged vantage points?
The comfort ratings of things like beds is always subjective. Although some guests complained about them, most appeared satisfied, acknowledging that budget hotels won't suit everybody. The refurbishment programme saw the Llanelli Central Hotel fitted with new pocket-sprung king-sized 'Dreamer beds' by Sleepeeze, along with new bedding and bed runners. These have been described as a "a huge and improvement over the old ones" by one guest. In twin occupancy rooms/family rooms, however, some guests are provided with bedding for a pull out sofa bed.
Tastes also vary when it comes to appreciating the views from a Travelodge window. All 53 rooms occupy the top floor of Eastgate Harmonica building, most of which are wrapped around the building's exterior whereas others are tucked within its internal structure. Those outward-looking rooms have wide windows that peak out from above the eaves of the middle floor, offering views over the cinema and other parts of the town. The other, inward-facing rooms have a more limited view over the rooftop – which is presumably the source of fan noises and the seagull dawn chorus that one customer complained about. Guests occasionally comment on noise from the nightlife at Eastgate, but others describe quiet stays at the hotel, in spite of the pubs and restaurants and the traffic circulating around the complex.
Room specifications (as of October 2013. Always check with Travelodge to verify these details when booking).
Family Room (up to 3 adults / 2 adults, 2 children):
King-size Travelodge 'Dreamer Bed';
one or two pull-out sofa beds;
showers in all rooms, baths in most;
Twin Occupancy room: same as above, with sofa bed for one person.
Double Room (up to 2 adults):
King-size Travelodge 'Dreamer Bed';
showers in all rooms, baths in most.
Double Twin Accessible Room (up to 2 guests)
Zip & Link bed (detachable to make twin single or double bed)
Choice of bathroom facilities (wet room or bathroom);
All rooms are equipped with:
good heaters;
18-channel Freeview TV;
tea and coffee facilities;
large lit desk area;
plastic chair;
rail with hangers for clothes;
2 large mirrors;
electric sockets next to bed (one for kettle);
curtains (rather than blinds);
Reception is open 24 hours, where the following are available on request:
WiFi (a week's package cost £20 in early 2013);
hair dryers and irons;
cots;
electric fans;
extra tea/coffee/milk supplies';
extra pillows.
Why is the success of Travelodge so significant?
Because those people who stay there are unlikely to live five minutes away. It is this part of Eastgate that draws in people on business trips, families and other sorts of visitors from other parts of the UK and from across the world. It has been claimed that rugby fans alone account for some 15,000 hotel bookings made annually in Swansea and Carmarthenshire. By successfully accommodating such visitors, the Travelodge at Eastgate plays a crucial role in encouraging tourism in South West Wales.
I end this long post with an anecdote about the older Travelodge in Cross Hands, something of an example in how to attract visitors from all over the world to local events such as stamp exhibitions. It was during one such event that the hotel hosted a collector from the US whose stamp album was valued at a quarter of a million pounds. After the event, this particular guest checked out of the hotel having left the personal stamp collection in the budget hotel room. One frantic phone call from the airport later, the fortunate visitor returned to Cross Hands and, thanks to the attentiveness of the hotel's cleaners, was able to reclaim the stamps.
Official Travelodge website:
TripAdvisor page:
Facebook page:
Google+:
