I passed a building site on the bus this morning, where there used to be a small Turkish supermarket. It's a medium sized corner site, and I remember some years ago there was a short-lived jazz club on the 1st floor above one of the shops on this site. A few months ago, the buildings were suddenly closed and demolished, and a sign now reads something like:
"Coming soon, a 127-bed Travelodge, right in Lewisham Town Centre". By making the new building 2-3 times the height of the previous one, the can squeeze over 100 rooms in ...
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It's on the road from Lewisham to Catford, on the southern edge of Lewisham Town Centre, about 5 minutes walk from the Clock Tower, and 10-15 minutes walk from the station.
As a frequenter of Lewisham both day and night, I think it's got pluses and minuses. On the plus side, the shops and market together provide a reasonable choice at good prices. The long-running fruit and veg market, unlike some in London, seems to do well. There's a decent M&S, and the usual Primark, H&M, TK Maxx etc. WH Smith survives by having the main post office in-store. A few minutes from the centre, Lee High Road has a lot of cheap cafes, restaurants and hairdressers, which are busy.
Transport is excellent, with the main National Rail station and the newer DLR and lots of buses. It's easy to get to places like Greenwich and Docklands on the DLR, and the City or West End are accessible on National Rail.
On the downside, there's a lot of traffic, and it's pretty dead at night. There's a popular Wetherspoons, and a newer Antic pub called Suttons which struggles to attract many people, apart from the weekly Sunday quiz night. There are a few more pubs scattered around, and a bowling alley. And I think that's about it for a night out in Lewisham town centre. (In contrast, nearby Greenwich and Blackheath are busy with a good choice of pubs and restaurants.)
So when I saw the sign for the new 127 bed Travelodge, on the 'wrong' side of Lewisham, I started wondering if it would actually work, and who would want to stay in a budget hotel in that part of Lewisham. The 'Murky Depths' writer above ponders the same question.
There's a Premier Inn opposite Lewisham station, which has been there for a few years. It's 2 minutes walk from the station as opposed to 10-15 for the new Travelodge.
Premier Inn describe the Lewisham location as:
"A bustling south of the river spot, with great links to central London and Canary Wharf"
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Will a Travelodge work here? What do you think?