Premier Inn to open one of their biggest hotels in the UK with 400 rooms
PREMIER INN is due to open one of their biggest hotels in the UK.
Plans have been revealed to transform a vacant office block in south east London into a 400-bedroom hub by Premier Inn hotel.
‘Hub by Premier Inn’ hotels are compact city-centre hotel developed by Whitbread – which is the parent company of Premier Inn.
They are designed to provide great value stays in central locals, with space efficient design and modern amenities.
The planned 400-room hub by Premier Inn hotel is set to be the first one south of the River Thames.
Dorset House is nine-storeys and features over 90,000 square feet of space that will be transformed into a hotel.
The location is just a stone’s throw from London’s Southbank and is less than a 10-minute walk from either Waterloo or Blackfriars stations.
Derek Griffin, head of acquisitions for Whitbread, said: “Since launching our first hub by Premier Inn in Covent Garden in 2014, we’ve built a successful network of 18 hotels across London and Edinburgh, offering guests affordable stays in prime city centre locations.
“As we’ve grown, we have been actively seeking the right opportunity south of the river and Dorset House represents a perfect fit.”
Derek added how Dorset House’s location is close to the vibrant Southbank arts and culture district, which is home to the Southbank Centre, National Theatre and BFI Southbank.
“With Dorset House now part of our secured development pipeline, we’re looking forward to working with Southwark Council to bring our vision to life,” he continued.
There are also plans to transform a former office building at 35 Red Lion Square in Holborn into a 165-room hub by Premier Inn and Phoenix House in Vauxhall to a 180-bed Premier Inn.
All Whitbread-owned hotels will be powered by renewable electricity from 2025 and the company aims reduce water consumption per sleeper by 20 per cent by 2030.
Across the UK and Ireland, Whitbread has more than 85,500 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms from 850 locations.
Whitbread also sees the long-term potential for 125,000 bedrooms in these two core markets, with London being an important focus for expansion.
The 400-bed hotel will be one of the largest in the UK, alongside similar size ones such as Canary Wharf Westferry Premier Inn.
But the largest in the UK is at London Gatwick, which has 700 rooms in total.
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Inside the biggest Premier Inn in the world
The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor, Kara Godfrey, visited the largest Premier Inn in the UK.
The Premier Inn hotel is literal steps from the Gatwick shuttle – just take the lift down and cross the road and it is right in front of you.
The hotel is open 24/7, due to its nature as an airport hotel, but has more than 10 self-check-in booths for a speedy rush to your room, although the four very slow lifts leave something to be desired if you are in a rush.
The rooms have great views, so you can watch some of the planes take off.
There is also a Nespresso coffee machine and kettle with chocolates, a large shower with toiletries and towels and a mini-fridge with complimentary water.
Plus unlike many hotels, they’d placed a USB socket near the bed, so you don’t have to worry if you forget your plug.
Rooms start from £43, with Premier Plus room upgrades from £10.
Two course dinner with drink and buffet breakfast package from £26.49pp.