Dubai-owned hotel group Travelodge has become the largest operator in London after opening a new 99-bed hotel on Ealing Broadway.
The budget chain, acquired by Dubai International Capital for more than $1bn nearly five years ago, now operates 40 hotels in the capital containing 5,714 rooms.
Travelodge is now ahead of Hilton, the former employer of Travelodge managing director Paul Harvey, the London Evening Standard reported.
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"We are now the largest hotel brand in London. We want to expand to 14,000 rooms in the capital by 2016 and to 30,000 rooms in the long term," he told the UK daily newspaper.
Demand is rising, he said, driven by a model that generates profits at $30 per room.
"It is great to see a big-name hotel firm like Travelodge enjoying such vigorous expansion," added London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Last year, Dubai International Capital made a cash injection of £20.1m into Travelodge in 2009 in return for lenders to relax their covenants.
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