Last month I went on back-to-back trips to two different Travelodge’s. They are a brand of budget hotels around, what I thought was just England, but turns out they are pretty much all over the world, or at least in Europe. I had never stayed in a Travelodge before, I have always been more of a Premier Inn kind of person, and, if you all want a TL;DR for this blog post, I am very much still indeed a Premier Inn kind of person.

Standard Travelodge Room

The first Travelodge I went to was in a place called Southport, it is a seaside area at the top of Liverpool, so not too far from home. It is so close, in fact, that I can use my free local bus/train pass to get there. So, as my mother said, it was a “cheap holiday”. Because, yes, the Travelodge, especially the standard rooms, are arguably, very cheap. They pride themselves on their “£36 a night rooms”, but in my opinion, that is just something they say to reel you in, a bit like how Ryanair has flights to Ibiza for “just £12” but they don’t mention the seat fees, food fees, baggage fees… etc.

I, however, turned out not paying £36 for a room, but it was still reasonably cheap. The next closest thing is a Premier Inn, which I hadn’t stayed at for a week since before I ever went to Australia, and since then I have mainly stayed in obscure overpriced Airbnbs and well, the Hilton. So, needless to say I wasn’t expecting much, which was good, because ‘not much’ was only just the tip of the iceberg. I shouldn’t comment much on the locations, as that’s not what I’m comparing, but it was a factor that contributed in both good and bad ways on both trips, and realistically, there is no harm in throwing it in- you can never have too much information after all!

I was already in a grumpy mood when arriving at the first Travelodge, in Southport. I got off the train, left the train station and realised I didn’t know where I was going. Which was fine in theory, I love to explore… but I didn’t have a drop of signal, in the middle what I thought was a hustling and bustling town. And it did seem like it was hustling and bustling and no one around me seemed slightly concerned with the signal issue, so maybe it was just my phone. However, the hustle and bustle consisted of mostly old people, you know, the type of old person who’s phone doesn’t have a touch screen and they turn it off every time they’re not using it which angers everyone else in their family. My nan being one of those people.

I didn’t think for a second I wasn’t going to have signal so I didn’t think to download the map before leaving home that morning, but I did exactly what I did in Australia that day when my eSIM conquer out on me and I had to navigate myself, on my fourth day ever in Australia, with no map or directions, without asking anyone (you know, because anxiety lol) to a store that sells SIMs, if I could do THAT, I could do this. And well, as you’re reading this now, it’s safe to assume I did do it. took 40 minutes to do a 10 minute journey but I went the wrong way… twice.

I walked into the double doors to find… nothing other than a small room with a staircase on the left and two lifts (or elevators for the none brits) to the right… even had a suspicious looking man sat on the floor. I went up in the lift to floor 1, which was the reception. Some may find this annoying or inconvenient- I however liked this tremendously, as someone who hates small talk, my biggest fear with hotels is the receptionist making small talk with you as you come and go from the building. But the reception being on a totally different floor from the entrance meant I could bypass the reception entirely. Never having to see them again until my departure… Oh how wrong I was, but more on that later.

They gave me my first keycard (again, I’ll touch on this later) and up I went to the 5th floor, bleeped myself in, to the hottest room imaginable, the window was open, slightly, and there was a fan, but I’ll talk more about the fan soon. The room was clean, ignoring the hair found in the shower upon arrival- and the dust, on well, everything. There was no hand soap, no shampoo, like the dispensers were… empty. The lack of plug sockets is just… disappointing for a hotel in 2024. It’s very dated, everything from the decor to the amenities. There isn’t a safe, and not only that- there isn’t a single drawer in the whole room. If you’re staying longer than 2 nights and want to unpack, prepare to put your underwear on the spare chair on display for all the housekeeping staff to see. 

There were a total of THREE plugs in the room, for everything. There were also no hooks. Everything you bring from every coat jacket or blazer or hat will have to fight for a spot on the 5 coat hangers. I was not the only person with problems- within 2 nights, two people just on my floor alone has issues with their cards, needed to change rooms and couldn’t sleep due to the fans outside the bedroom windows. They kept me awake, as well as other people.

Even when I was checking in, both of the people in front of me were finding concerns with their rooms and talking to reception about it. Not a good look at all in my opinion. Anyway… The closest plug socket to my bed was the desk, which was the only double socket in the entire room (with one being used by the kettle and if it’s warm, the other used by that fan I mentioned… it was very… dusty. I called him “Dusty Loudblade”, sounds like a member of a rock band) except the single socket on the mirror, the other side of the room. 

The tv was small but I don’t watch TV, I did bring my laptop and other electronics, but the hotel don’t tell you that when you pay £12 for a week of wifi, that only covers 2 appliances. If you are a couple, both with smartphones, then already your allowance is used up and you will have to pay another £12 if you want to take a laptop, a Switch, iPad or anything else needing internet access. And it’s really bad wifi. Nothing loads. I was, for the entire week, onto the Pokémon go customer service team because my game stopped working. I tried deleting it, logging out, everything. Turns out, it was just the internet. Everything is just so slow. Like the doors on the lift.

Customer service for me, and every other person I spoke to during my stay, wasn’t the best. They even got me confused with someone asking for a TV remote on one of my many trips to reception to get a new keycard- even though the dude on the desk was the same dude to issue me a card just the day prior. He just looked at me confused. 
Me: “hello, my keycard has stopped working” 
Him: “were you the one wanting a new tv remote?” 
Me: “no, I need a new keycard” 
Him: … 
Me: … 

Depending what you’re staying in Southport for, I found it very out of the way from everything. The arcade’s, amusements, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, the beach, the cinema and well-known shops such as Dunelm, Pound Stretcher, Matalan and PetsAtHome are all on the other side of the bridge. It’s a hefty walk. And as I came out of the cinema of an evening, or looking out the window of a McDonald’s in the morning, all I saw staring at me was the premier inn. Just there. Mocking me.

Travelodge SuperRoom

Now this room was much better. But again, I was already a little grumpy before entering the room. This Travelodge was in the middle of Manchester. And I really do mean… in the middle. On the busiest pavement, smack-bang in the centre of Market Street, a very popular street for shopping. Just a tip- not the best location for someone with anxiety unless you really want to push yourself out your comfort zone. Only speaking for myself, but I found it very mentally challenging. I did leave a day early because of this.

The door was locked when I arrived, like, the main doors to let you into the building. Which is weird as I arrived a few minutes before 4pm in the middle of the week. the doors to places like this usually don’t get locked until the night, but maybe with it being situated on such a busy street, different rules apply here. But saying that, looking back now, throughout the whole week, I never had issues coming and going during the day time, I never had to bleep myself in with my keycard… weird.

Another man joined me outside as me confusingly tried to call the help button to the reception but with no response, until an already- checked in guest came to our rescue and swiped us in. The place was lot bigger than it looks but seemed surprisingly empty especially for the time of year (Late June & early July). Never saw another soul- not one person in the restaurant when I would walk down there even as what you would assume to be bustling dinner hours. 

The lifts are very rattly, especially the one on the left (you’d know what I mean if you’ve been or when you go). But maybe that’s just my fear of lifts- they do have staircases though. Did I use said staircases? Not once, I chose to risk my life in the rattly lift. There is, like most of the buildings on that street as night falls, a security guard at the door which was more than the other Travelodge had, but I think that speaks more negatively about the area rather than positively about the hotel. It is in a good location in regards to public transport, I could see the bus depot from my window (that wasn’t able to be opened by the way), and about 100 yards or less from Market Street Met stop. 

Depends how long you’re staying for. A week tram pass for all 4 zones will set you back £31, which is handy as I didn’t see much space to park your car, maybe there was around the back, I’m not sure as I don’t drive. I never had any of the food in the hotel (as mentioned it was always very empty in the restaurant so didn’t want to be the only person in there and I hate taking food to my room as then my room gets the stale food smell) so I can’t comment on that but from the menus that are in the rooms, it at least sounds nice enough. 

Considering this is a review on the room, there isn’t really much to say, at least not bad things. I really do think if you have to stay in a Travelodge and a Premier Inn isn’t an option, making the upgrade to the SuperRoom is worth the money. I am not a coffee drinker, so the fancy coffee machine they like to shove down peoples throats in the advertisements wasn’t really my thing, but there were … BED. SIDE. PLUGS!!! I was over the moon, ecstatic, brilliant, exquisitely happy. The theme of the room is a lot of a darker blue, making it seem a lot more cosy in my opinion.

As mentioned, the window didn’t open but the room never seemed too hot, and there were hooks on the back of the door! Still no drawers so your underwear displays shall have to carry on no matter which room you stay in but there is a… fancy grey chair! Oooo, ahhhh! There was a light behind the bed that turned on with a weird control panel, but then cut out after a few seconds. And the best part of the SuperRoom, which would be the only reason I go back, the one thing that made my overwhelming, anxiety-ridden week not only barable, but wonderful. The saving grace…

The TWO complimentary KitKats.