Travelodge has unveiled a new brand image

The move comes as rival Whitbread says it is selling its Marriott UK hotels to focus on its low-cost Premier Travel Inn business.

Travelodge - bought by private equity firm Permira in 2003 - is to add 15,000 rooms and create 4,500 new jobs.

Sales rose 13% to �163m ($312m) last year, buoyed by 17 new sites and online bookings, which are cheaper to process.

According to Travelodge, the budget sector is the fastest growing part of the UK hotel business, with the number of rooms set to increase by a third to 100,000 over the next five years.

It plans to add to its existing estate of 258 hotels. Whitbread's Premier Travel Inn chain is larger with more than 28,000 rooms across 461 locations.

Heading for market?

Travelodge recently completed redecorating all its older hotels and has earmarked �20m for promotion of a new brand image over the next two years.

"We have implemented a new low cost business model that delivers strong growth and allows us to offer consumers the best room rates around," said Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn.

Monday's announcement fuelled speculation the firm was planning an early stock market listing.

However, Mr Hearn said the company was looking to tap into the potential growth in the sector over the next two years.