Pictured above: John Woodhall, MD Wakemans and Shaun Baugh, Director Wakemans

Property and construction consultancy Wakemans has expanded its portfolio of projects with budget hotel chain Travelodge and announced that it is advising on three major new hotels in Spain, as part of a European expansion programme.

Wakemans will advise on programming, operations, technical matters and the construction of the hotels, in Barcelona, Seville and Valencia and has also formed an association with a Spanish based company, Plan Project Management to deliver these three projects.

The 250 room Barcelona hotel is centrally located; the 199 room Seville hotel is located next to the el Prado Station; while the 110 bedroom Valencia hotel will be located next to the city's airport.  All three are planned to open in 2011.

John Woodhall, managing director at Wakemans said: "We are delighted to be working with Travelodge in Europe.  Our Travelodge team has developed a unique expertise during the many years we have worked with Travelodge.  We are also pleased to have formed an association with Plan Project Management who will provide specialist local knowledge of market conditions, which is vital when working outside of the UK."

Paul Harvey, managing director for international development at Travelodge, said each of the hotels was, "ideally situated to meet the demands of both Spanish domestic holidaymakers and the business community."  

"The recent downturn in Spain has meant that locations are presenting themselves at prices which are far more realistic when compared to the recent boom years and this has enabled us to build up a strong pipeline of properties across the country."

Travelodge already operates three hotels in Spain with two in Madrid and one in Barcelona and plans to reach 100 hotels in Spain by 2020 in a €1b expansion programme.