Travelodge UK has produced a mobile bedroom named Travelpod, which aims to bring a hotel experience to consumers in certain outdoor environments such as festivals, concerts, and other major outdoor events. The mobile rooms have a luxury double bed, bedside tables, lights, duvet, pillows, fully carpeted floor, dressing table with light, mirror, chair and even its own toilet.
Travelodge is running some tests this summer and plans on some customer trials at certain festivals next summer.
According to Wayne Munnelly, Travelodge’s Director of Sleep, “It is a great concept where guests can enjoy the festival, dance through the night and climb in to a nice comfy bed. Not everyone who goes to a concert wants to sleep in a tent - this is the ultimate budget fun alternative.”
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One of the great things about this initiative is that it will allow Travelodge the ability to reach out to consumers at large outdoor events, including those consumers that aren’t interested in a traditional hotel offering. The publicity, exposure, and unique experience they provide should prove to help in branding the entire company as well.
There is also incredibly opportunity in outdoor recreation. This Travelpod compliments a considerable shift in how consumers are experiencing camping and outdoor activities. Today, nearly 8 million U.S. households own at least one RV — a 15 percent increase over the past four years and there are over 30 million RV enthusiasts, including renters (Go Camping America). The amount of consumers that “rough it” is declining. Travelodge’s mobile room can be positioned as a middle-ground option, somewhere in between a tent and an RV or cabin. With the high cost of gas, many consumers have been holding off on RV excursions. The mobile hotel room provides a unique and attractive alternative.
Additionally, Europe has over 10,000 campgrounds and the United States has more than 16,000 commercial and public campgrounds. Many of these have small, individual log cabins which consumers can rent. If Travelodge partnered with campgrounds to offer these Travelpods, they could add a considerable amount of “rooms” without a lot of expense. The pods could be cared for by the campground, and a revenue sharing partnership would be an attractive proposal for widespread adoption.
While this move wouldn’t make sense for most hotel companies, it should prove to be highly beneficial for Travelodge. Kudos to Travelodge for the unique initiative.
