Whitbread Plc, the owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, working with its development partner Red Rock Developments, has secured its fourth location in Dublin city centre.
The prime site on Gloucester Street in Dublin 2 will be redeveloped into a 108-bedroom Premier Inn hotel. The investment increases the business’ secured development pipeline in the city to more than 630 bedrooms and 830 hotel rooms across Ireland.
Premier Inn is expanding rapidly into Ireland as it grows its presence from a single trading hotel at Dublin Airport to 2,500 rooms in Dublin, with the potential for significant growth nationwide.
After signalling its intent to expand into the Irish market in 2018, Whitbread has secured 635 Premier Inn rooms in Dublin city centre in four hotels – at South Great George’s Street, Jervis Street, Castleforbes Business Park and now Gloucester Street.
The hotels, which are a mixture of freehold and leasehold acquisitions, are planned to open from early 2021 onwards.
Premier Inn has also recently secured its first location in Cork, a 183-bedroom hotel as part of the Morrisons Quay regeneration scheme on the banks of the River Lee, which is due to open in 2023.
After growing in Dublin and Cork, Whitbread sees the potential for Premier Inn hotels in other cities across Ireland including Galway, Limerick and Killarney. The business is seeking sites as freeholds, leaseholds, office to hotel conversions as well as going concern purchases.
Commenting on the acquisition, Head of Acquisitions for Premier Inn in Ireland, Kevin Murray said, "Our ambition is for Premier Inn to be the number one budget hotel chain in Dublin and across Ireland. We are investing strategically to secure the top locations that Premier Inn is known for and Gloucester Street, with its proximity to Trinity College and the south Docklands corporate market is exactly the type of location we are looking for. Securing the site is another important milestone for us and we’re actively seeking new freehold and leasehold opportunities across the city as we work towards our target of 2,500 Premier Inn Dublin bedrooms."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
