HOTEL bosses who had hoped to strike gold by opening Glasgow's biggest Travelodge before the Commonwealth Games have suffered a set back.

The launch of the new 171-bedroomed complex in Queen Street will be delayed until the autumn - a potential loss of tens of thousands of pounds in bookings by spectators.

The financial blow comes just weeks after the chain's property chief Paul Harvey said they were hopeful that the hotel, their largest in the city, would be ready for the Commonwealth Games.

But three months on and the budget chain says the new £12million hotel won't now open until the autumn.

The reason for the delay has not been given.

Travelodge officials are converting the 70s Charlotte House office block, previously owned by Glasgow City Council and the Strathclyde Pension Fund, into a 12-floor hotel - their second for the city centre.

There's already a Travelodge in Hill Street as well as a number of others in and around the city including Glasgow Airport, Braehead and Paisley Road. The new Queen Street hotel is one of 15 planned by the chain for this year at a cost of nearly £100m.

Travelodge chief executive Peter Gowers said: "With this further investment in new hotels, we're delighted to be expanding into great new locations such as this hotel in Glasgow where our customers want to go."

Glasgow Queen Street will create 35 jobs with Travelodge predicting the hotel will inject almost £3m into the city's economy.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk