GLASGOW is to receive a hotels boost this year as a 171-room venue prepared to open its doors.

The Travelodge on Queen Street, which will be the sixth in the city, is set to open in spring this year creating 35 jobs in the city and a cash injection of more than £13m.

Officials are converting the 1970s Charlotte House office block, previously owned by Glasgow City Council and the Strathclyde Pension Fund, into a 12-floor hotel - the second in the city centre.

There is already a Travelodge in Hill Street as well as a number of others in the city including Glasgow Airport, Braehead and Paisley Road.

The new Queen Street hotel is one of 19 planned by the chain for this year at a cost of around £140 million, creating a total of 450 jobs in the UK.

Other location targeted by the firm for expansion include London, Bristol, Poole and Weston-Super-Mare.

As reported in the Evening Times, plans have also been unveiled for a £30million Radisson hotel on the banks of the River Clyde.

The 176-bedroom venue will be built on a site near the SECC, the Clyde Auditorium and the Hydro.

The Radisson Red is the first new-build hotel in Europe run by the Radisson Group and the project will create 60 jobs.

It will be run and managed by Radisson but Forrest Hotels, a subsidiary of Glasgow-based Forrest Group, will be the owners.

Peter Gowers, Travelodge Chief Executive said: "The value hotel market continues to go from strength to strength, boosted by ever more cost-conscious businesses and the growth in independent leisure travel.

"To meet the growing demand Travelodge is continuing to invest in upgrading and expanding our network.

"These 19 new hotels, many with our new bar café restaurants, mark another important step in our drive to deliver greater quality for our customers.

"Our recently completed £100 million hotel modernisation programme has raised quality levels and led to strong growth from business customers to complement our traditional strength in leisure travel.

"We now see opportunity for hotels in 250 further locations across the UK and with early positive development momentum at the start of 2016, we are well positioned to deliver further strong growth in the years ahead."