Pubs and brewing group Marstons’s has added to its fast-growing chain of lodge-style hotels with the opening of a new site in Ipswich.

The new lodge, which has been built alongside the Mermaid, the group’s pub-restaurant in Yarmouth Road, close to the junction with London Road, has resulted in the creation of 15 additional jobs.

It has a total of 27 bedrooms, including family, double, twin and disability access rooms, and is expected to appeal to both the leisure and business markets, with the Mermaid providing a food offer on the same site.

“The pub has become so popular with customers, it made sense to give them somewhere to stay,” said Julie Markham, who manages the pub. “The lodge is looking great, and we are excited for everyone to come and visit here.”

Dave Carvell, area operations manager for Marston’s, added: “We developed and built the lodge due to the success of the Mermaid pub in the local area. We have also created another 15 jobs for the local area with the opening of the lodge and we are already taking bookings.”

Marston’s has more than 1,500 pubs around the country, including around 30 in the East of England, with the network of lodges now totalling more than 40, of which Ipswich is the first in the region.

Besides the flagship Marston’s brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, the group also owns Bank’s Brewery in Wolverhampton, Wychwood in Witney, Oxfordshire, Ringwood Brewery in Ringwood, Hampshire, and Jenning’s in Cockermouth, Cumbria.