At the official opening of its fifth and biggest hotel in Glasgow, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel brand announced it is seeking to open further hotel’s across the city.
Travelodge celebrates its 30th anniversary in Scotland this year and to mark the occasion it has opened its 41st hotel in Scotland. Glasgow Queen Street Travelodge, a 171-room property with Bar Café, is an office conversion. It’s the company’s fifth and biggest hotel in Glasgow and is located on Queen Street close to the railway station. It represents a property investment of £12 million and has created 42 new jobs.
The hotel has been designed in the company’s new contemporary brand design which has been created by Travelodge customers. Its features an upgraded product offering including a bespoke luxurious king size bed called ‘The Travelodge Dreamer’.
To celebrate the opening of its biggest hotel in Glasgow, Travelodge held a competition with S3 students from Whitehill Secondary school – offering one lucky student the opportunity of a lifetime – to officially open Queen Street Travelodge with The Bailie to the Lord Provost, Eva Bolander and Travelodge Chief Operating Officer, Jon Hendry Pickup
Students were set the task to design a piece of artwork inspired by Scotland’s most famous architect, designer, water colourist and artist, Glaswegian, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The school submitted 16 entries and hotel manager at Glasgow Queen Street Travelodge, Libby Gilmour chose the winning picture prior to the event.
All 16 pieces of artwork were framed and hung in the Bar Café wall. The wall was covered up and at today’s opening event, the children were asked to tear the paper wall and reveal the winning picture.
The winning artist was 14 year old, Khadeeja Al Dakhil who lives in the Westend area. Khadeeja moved to Glasgow with her family from Iraq two years ago. Prior to moving to Glasgow she received no formal education.
Khadeeja Al Dakhil joined The Bailie to the Lord Provost, Eva Bolander and Travelodge Chief Operating Officer, Jon Hendry Pickup to officially open Queen Street Travelodge.
Libby Gilmour, Hotel Manager at Glasgow Queen Street Travelodge said: “I was astounded by the quality of the artwork produced by the pupils at Whitehill Secondary School. Amazing work!
“Charles Rennie Mackintosh would be so impressed on how his artwork inspires youngsters today. However there was one picture that I could not take my eyes off and Khadeeja’s picture stole my heart and won the competition. Well done Khadeeja.
“My team and I are delighted to have this bespoke wall of art in our new hotel – it’s such a great talking point with customers. We have even had a few customers asking if they can purchase the pictures. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the 16 artists for creating such beautiful pictures for us and my customers to enjoy.”
Khadeeja Al Dakhil, pupil from Whitehill Secondary School said: “Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would win the art competition and get the opportunity of a lifetime, to be a VIP and open a hotel. It’s been an amazing experience, one that I will never forget.
“I love art and the picture I drew is inspired by my favourite artist, Charles Rennie Macintosh, it’s called ‘Part Seen, Part Imagined’. I think it’s a beautiful picture. It took me one hour to draw the outline and a day to do the water painting. I hope to have a career in art one day.
“I also won a family weekend break and I am looking forward to taking my family to London this summer.”
Jon Hendry Pickup, Travelodge Chief Operating Officer said: “Glasgow is a key growth area for Travelodge and we are delighted to be growing our business across the city.
“Not only are we opening our biggest hotel in Glasgow today, we are also seeking to expand by opening further hotels across the city. In addition we have invested £1 million modernising our existing four Glasgow hotels in our new contemporary brand design. This investment included a new room design and replacing all beds with a new upgraded luxurious king-size bespoke bed called the ‘Travelodge Dreamer’.
“Glasgow is a vital hub for business and tourism, actively supported by the focus of the local authorities on developing infrastructure and cultural attractions to foster growth. Our fifth hotel opening in Glasgow, together with our modernisation investment and expansion programme positions us well in Scotland’s biggest city as the local economy continues to strengthen.”
All 16 pieces of artwork will be displayed in the hotel Bar Café area for customers to enjoy.