IKEA, the world-famous home products firm that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, is planning to roll out a chain of budget hotels across Europe.
The furniture retailer is aiming to open about 100 of these boutique low-cost hotels across the continent, which will feature neither IKEA’s products nor its brand name.
Operated by an international hotel management company, the new chain will vie with established budget hotel brands such as Travelodge, Premier Inn and Formule 1, as well as new entrants Motel One, citizenM and B&B Hotels.
The first property within the chain is expected to launch in Germany in 2014, with further openings earmarked for the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Poland and Scandinavia.
Inter IKEA, which holds the rights to the IKEA concept and trademark, already owns a few hotels and has several more in the works, but the new project would be its first official hotel chain.
