Review: Travelodge Southwark, London

After being invited to review one of the many Travelodge Hotels in London we literally leapt at the chance. Who would turn down an all expenses paid trip to the capital after all? Travelodge are undergoing some huge changes this year – a whopping £223 million invested in ‘growing and strengthening the brand and improving on quality, offering customers fantastic value for money’.

As you can imagine, we were eager to see what all the fuss was about - that’s quite some investment!

With our priorities in place, we set off on our train journey….

Two hours later, we arrived at Euston and jumped on the tube to Southwark where our Travelodge awaited! The Great British climate did us proud – not one bit of sunshine and bitterly cold arctic winds to ensure our endurance was tested.

Southwark Travelodge is in a great location…once you find it. Blink and you’ll miss it….or at least we did....although we’re willing to let that one slide. Perhaps it was a double blonde moment? We managed to sail right past it even with our iPhone navigation system in full use! Luckily, a rather nice cabby helped us out and gave us a free lift back down the road to our location! Cheers Alan!

Get There!

We made our way up the lift to reception and were ‘greeted’ by a member of staff who in all honesty couldn’t have cared less that we were booked in to review the place. We weren’t expecting red carpets and champers on arrival (although that would have been quite nice), but this wasn’t exactly the warmest of welcomes! Perhaps he was having a bad day….

After waiting half an hour we checked in to room #517. Apart from being a bit on the chilly side, the room itself was clean and tidy; a large double bed with contemporary wood effect headboard being the focal, above the bed a bright arty print (a bit of personality!), a desk, a kettle with tea and coffee and a small flat screen TV.  The en-suite bathroom appeared to be very new and fully functioning. The shower was better than most and there were ample clean, fluffy towels to go around. No fun sized toiletries though and hairdryers and irons were available on request (all stated on their website). Although there are no phones in the rooms, so best to arrange early….unless you fancy making a trip down to reception with wet hair and a crumpled shirt.

Travelodge’s press release states ‘Feedback from Travelodge customers stated they wanted an inviting, functional, warm, relaxing environment, with the main focus of the room being an extremely comfortable bed. To ensure Travelodge met this brief, they worked in cooperation with their customers so that they were involved in every decision and that the new room design met with their expectation and delivered on quality and service.’

Travelodge – you have succeeded! After a very lovely, comfortable night’s sleep, we are in agreement that the beds were ‘extremely comfortable’. Crisp white linen, perfect pillows and a mattress that makes you feel like you’re sleeping on a cloud - the type of bed you could laze about in all day.

The burning question though - would we stay there again?

Yes. All in all this Travelodge served its purpose. It’s in a great location, just a stone’s throw from the tube station, a short walk to the river and close to a selection of little bars and cafes. A tad pricey at £103 per night, but we had everything we needed for a nights stay. Travelodge Southwark, we’ll be back.

Fancy booking a room? Just visit www.travelodge.co.uk for more info!