Motorists embrace catnap and coffee breaks

A hotel chain which introduced £5 "catnap and coffee" breaks at selected establishments is extending the scheme nationwide.

Travelodge launched the special half-hour room rental idea on a pilot basis at eight hotels in October. But it has proved so successful with tired motorists that it is being extended to all of the company's 170 roadside and motorway hotels - with the break being extended to one hour, followed by a wake-up call.

Travelodge's sales and marketing director, Simon Gregory, said: "We were amazed at how well our initiative was initially received. There is no way we couldn't have rolled this out nationwide, because there was such an overwhelming response from motorists. We're aware of the problems of driver fatigue and realised from talking to a number of sleep experts that offering a full hour's rest would be even more beneficial to our guests."

The original offer came in response to the Department for Transport's advice that motorists should plan to stop for a break every two hours on a long journey if feeling sleepy. It was also suggested that one or two cups of strong coffee should be drunk along with taking a short nap.

In addition, as a reaction to the department's findings that driving between midnight and 6am is particularly dangerous when natural alertness is low, all roadside Travelodges in the UK will be offering half-price rooms for any guest booking in after 10pm.