Guide to RoadChef Lodge

RoadChef Lodge was the initial name for Roadchef's line of budget accommodation, aiming to offer better facilities than those recently opened by rivals Granada Lodge and Welcome Break's Travelodge. A night at the RoadChef Lodge initially cost £29, and each site was originally promoted in the style of "Hamilton Lodge".

The RoadChef Lodge logo used the standard 1990s Roadchef logo, with the word 'Lodge' beneath it in a large, cursive font.

In 1995, Roadchef registered the name Superlodge Ltd, but this was never used publicly. In 1996, drawings of a potential RoadLodge logo emerged, but again it's not clear if this was a serious proposal.

As the size of the market became clear, Roadchef looked at opening hotels elsewhere, such as by the NEC and Wembley. They worked very closely with Premier Lodge, who had been linked with Holiday Inn Express. With more Holiday Inn Expresses opening near motorways, there were rumours that RoadChef Lodge was about to be removed in favour of that name.

However, before this could happen Roadchef's motorway interests were sold, leaving behind their non-motorway hotels which were under construction. These opened under the name Ingram Hotel.

In 2000 the remaining RoadChef Lodges were branded Travel Inn, under a licence which allowed brand owners Whitbread to operate the hotels but not manage the staff. The new branding helped Travel Inn grow, and aimed to remove an association between the upkeep of the motels and that of the service stations.

Locations

The service areas known to have a RoadChef Lodge were:

• Clacket Lane (M25)
• Durham (A1(M))
• Hamilton (M74)
• Killington Lake (M6)
• Maidstone (M20)
• Rownhams (M27)
• Strensham (M5)
• Taunton Deane (M5)