The Travelodge just off the A12 at Capel St Mary has become one of the first among 500 hotels in the budget hotel chain to benefit from a major refurbishment programme.

The 32-bedroom hotel, which was opened in 1995, underwent a two-week makeover without any interruption to day-to-day operations, at a cost of £200,000.

The refurbishment included the installation of new luxury beds and a new room design, with the work being carried out the Travelodge’s own local “MIB” (Men in Black) in-house maintenance team.

The work was part of a company-wide brand investment of £223million this year to help further grow the business and strengthen its brand.

The investment includes 14 new Travelodge hotel openings this year (12 in the UK and two in Spain) as well as the refurbishment programme which alone with cost £57m.

Deirdre Marco, Ipswich Capel St Mary Travelodge hotel manager, said: “We are very excited to have been selected as one of the first hotels across the Travelodge estate to benefit from this investment.

“The work was carried out with no disturbance to our day to day operation and the feedback we have received from customers has been outstanding. Everyone loves the new warm, contemporary feel of our new room and there is no doubt the hero of the room is definitely the Travelodge Dreamer bed.

“The demand for good quality branded budget accommodation in the area is growing at great pace, particularly as we enter the busy summer months, and now that we have a new room design we are offering even greater value in the local marketplace,” she added.

By the end of the year, Travelodge plans to have refitted more than 50% of all its rooms, with more than 7,000 completed at the end of the Ipswich Capel St Mary refurbishment. By autumn 2014, 85% of Travelodge’s estate will incorporate the new room design, meaning the makeover will see an average of more than 50 rooms refurbished every day for the next 18 months.