NEWPORT'S Travelodge has become one of company’s first hotels to reopen today (Wednesday).

Budget hotel chain, Travelodge, has kick-started its official hotel reopening programme by opening 68 of its hotels across the country, which includes its Newport, Isle of Wight branch on Lugley Street.

The hotel chain, which operates 573 hotels across the UK, will then start to reopen 100 hotels per week.

During the lockdown, Travelodge kept 62 hotels open across the UK to support key and critical workers, less vulnerable groups and local authorities.

The company has now invested in multi-million pound Covid-19 safety and social distance programme, Travelodge Protect +.

The programme has been developed by a dedicated cross functional hygiene strategy team and will become the way Travelodge operates going forward.

The programme includes a number of cleaning and social distancing regimes, from linen and towels being thermally disinfected to staff monitoring the number of customers in a designated area.

Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge spokesperson said: “We are delighted to be welcoming customers back to our Travelodge hotels and excited to be reopening our Newport branch today.

"With safety at the forefront of our business, we have worked closely with our hotel teams that stayed open during the lockdown, government and industry bodies to develop our new Covid-19 safety programme.

"This programme is designed to keep our customers and teams safe and has been implemented into all Travelodge hotels.”