THE Travelodge winter sale has begun, with 300,000 rooms in 452 Travelodge hotels priced from £9 to £25.

Sale room stays must take place between November 1 and January 31 next year. To book a sale room, go to travelodge.co.uk

With Christmas approaching, why not take advantage of the sale and book yourself a £9 bargain room.

■ Take a UK city Christmas shopping break where you can indulge in retail therapy and do some sightseeing, too.

With 66 cities to choose from you will be spoilt for choice.

Top UK shopping cities include Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

■ Whisk your partner on a romantic break in the Lake District or visit the coast and stay in Brighton, Scarborough or Blackpool.

■ Keep the children entertained over the 12 days of Christmas by visiting one of the many Christmas markets and fairs. The most famous are in Lincoln, Bath, Manchester and Birmingham. Or, why not visit Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2010 – London’s largest winter event, admission is free. The event features London’s biggest outdoor ice-rink, the giant observation wheel, Zippo’s Circus, rollercoaster rides, Angels Christmas market and Santa Land.

If you have family and friends coming to visit this Christmas, you could give them the gift of their own room by booking them into a local Travelodge hotel.

A Travelodge family room caters for two adults and two children, or three adults.

Each room has en-suite facilities, a king-size bed, a sofa bed, flat-screen TV with 18 free digital channels, free tea and coffee making facilities and wifi.

At Travelodge hotels that have a Bar Cafe, you can enjoy an eat-as-much-as-you-like English breakfast for £7.50 a person. For each paying adult, two children under 16 can eat for free. There is also a Bar Cafe evening meal menu, which includes popular dishes such as fish and chips, burgers, curries, pies and pizza.

You can save an additional 20 per cent on breakfast and order a two-course evening meal for £6 when booking online at travelodge.co.uk