FAMILIES will be able to stay in hotels for less than a portion of fish and chips as a York chain releases rooms ahead of reopening to kick start the economy.

Staff at Travelodge hotels in York have been working around the clock ahead of welcoming back guests from Monday.

The chain has reopened three more of its hotels in York as part of a national programme designed to welcome back leisure customers from next week.

The teams at York Central Micklegate, York Hull Road and York Tadcaster opened on Tuesday this week, with bookings already coming in from business travellers who are currently allowed to travel and stay.

The budget hotel chain has also reopened its two other hotels in York - Travelodge York Central Hotel and Travelodge York Monks Cross - so that the city is fully equipped to welcome back business and leisure travellers and kick start the local economy.

All five Travelodge hotels in York will be featuring the group’s Covid-19 safety programme of cleaning and social distancing measures in line with government guidance, called TravelodgeProtect+.

To celebrate reopening after the longest lockdown and to help drive business to York the hotel chain has released more than two million rooms for £29 across its UK hotels.

For a family of four, a £29 family room works out at just £7.25 per person which is cheaper than a portion of fish and chips in many places.

Alison Barr, Travelodge district manager for York, said: “We are very excited to reopen three more hotels in York today alongside our two other hotels in the city. We are hopeful that by reopening our hotels early we can help kick start the local economy.

"We are getting geared up for a busy summer as the Staycation is set to be big this year. Also as we are the nation’s spare room provider, locals will be having lots of family and friends coming to visit this year and we will be hosting them. This is great news for the local economy as research shows, Travelodge customers will spend double their room rate with local businesses during their stay which can equate to a multi-million spend.

“Our TravelodgeProtect+ programme is sitting in the heart of our business as we reopen to safeguard and protect customers and our teams. During this lockdown, Travelodge had over 300 hotels open from Plymouth to Elgin providing accommodation for key / critical workers, business travellers who were allowed to travel and stay over plus local authorities and supporting vulnerable groups.”

Earlier this week Travelodge also announced it was opening 17 new hotels across the UK in 2021, creating 360 new jobs. These 17 new hotels are being developed by third party investors with an approximate investment value of £175 million.

It is expected that most of these 17 hotels will be open and trading in time for the summer season to enable more choice to customers. As part of this expansion, Travelodge is rolling out more of its premium economy SuperRooms and adding more Travelodge PLUS hotels to its collection.