TRAVELODGE has paid £31 million for five hotels with a total of 500 rooms in Hounslow, Lancaster, Birmingham, Blackpool and Newquay.
The deals form part of property director Paul Harvey's 2008 New Year resolution to add 4,000 rooms to Travelodge's portfolio within 12 months.
Travelodge, which has more than 330 hotels in Britain, aims to treble the size of its estate by 2020.