A NO-FRILLS hotel in Chatham Maritime is proposed by Whitbread, the hotel, restaurant, pub and leisure group

The company is in talks with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) about finding a suitable site.

The move follows the recent approval for a four-star hotel and conference centre being developed by Gillingham-based Jade Hotels.

Robert Clewley, Whitbread's Kent area director, said there was strong demand for Travel Inn accommodation.

The company wanted to boost the number of bedrooms from around 20,000 to 25,000 over the next few years. Chatham Maritime was an important site for a new Travel Inn, he said. The company recently opened a Travel Inn in Gillingham.

He said he was talking to SEEDA about the plan. "If we can find the right site in Chatham, we'd be in there like a shot. It's an exciting time for Medway and north Kent."

Meanwhile, Whitbread's operations across the county outperformed those in London over the Christmas period.

Mr Clewley said the atrocities of September 11 had affected London business. But outlets in the county had done especially well.

While tourists from America and Japan had stayed away, European tourists had come to Britain in good numbers. That had buoyed sales in Medway and Kent, Mr Clewley said. TGIs in Bluewater and the Malta Inn in Maidstone had done particularly well.

"There is a consumer boom going on but particularly in the South East and Kent because there is some trepidation about travelling to London. People tend to be eating locally."

Whitbread sales rose by an average 5.8% in the five weeks to January 5, with strong growth in David Lloyd sports, health and fitness centres, high street restaurants such as Pizza Hut, and pub restaurants such as Brewers Fayre.

Travel Inn business went up 3.8% and even Marriott Hotels, including the Tudor Park at Maidstone, which depend on international tourism, made a small gain.