History
The chain started trading in 1987 as Travel Inn. The first site to open was next to The Watermill Beefeater restaurant in Basildon.
In July 2004, Whitbread acquired Premier Lodge, for £5 million.[4] This added 141 hotels to the portfolio. Whitbread renamed every hotel Premier Travel Inn.[5] Prior to the merger with Premier Lodge and rename, Travel Inn had also operated two sub-brands: Travel Inn Metro - for properties located in city centres, and Travel Inn Capital - for properties located in Central London.
In 2005, Premier Travel Inn opened its 500th hotel in Hemel Hempstead. In early 2006, Premier Travel Inn purchased 11 Holiday Inn hotels in England and Wales. These sites kept their leisure facilities such as a swimming pool and gym, except the hotel situated at Norman Cross Prison. Premier Travel Inn started to launch a new bedroom design during this year to move away from the differences of Travel Inn and Premier Lodge. Until then rooms had remained as they had been before, and new hotels were designed as Travel Inns.
In 2006, Premier Inn entered into a joint venture agreement with Emirates Group to launch in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.[6][7] The joint venture identified three sites in Dubai, creating more than 800 new rooms. The first Premier Inn in Dubai to open was a 300-room hotel at Dubai Investment Park. A similar size hotel at Dubai Airport, and a 220-room hotel at Dubai Silicon Oasis on Emirates Road, were opened. Dubai Ibn Battuta Mall Hotel has also been opened, connected to Ibn Battuta Mall.
Whitbread shortened the name to Premier Inn in October 2007;[8] by 2009 the business accounted for more than 70% of Whitbread's earnings.[9] In September 2007, Whitbread announced the purchase of Golden Tulip UK including six hotels trading in the UK under the Tulip Inn and Golden Tulip brands. The hotels were converted to Premier Inns on 2 October 2007.[10]
In September 2007, Premier Inn entered Ireland, when it took over the Tulip Inn in Swords, County Dublin.[11]
On 2 October 2007, comedian Lenny Henry became the face of the company's advertising campaign.[12]
In April 2008, Whitbread announced a £100 million expansion of Premier Inn in London over the following three years.[13]
In July 2008, Whitbread bought 21 Holiday Inn Express hotels from Mitchells & Butlers in exchange for 44 Beefeater & Brewers Fayre restaurants where it was not possible to build a Premier Inn.[14]
In October 2010, the Premier Inn hotels located at Roadchef and Moto motorway service stations were sold to Days Inn after the franchise agreement was terminated.
In 2011, the 600th hotel was opened in Stratford-upon-Avon. Premier Inn have sold off some of their smaller hotels (which had fewer than 30 rooms) to Good Night Inns. Most of these were Premier Lodge sites in less prominent locations. In July 2015, the 700th Premier Inn was opened in Kingston-upon-Thames, London.[15][16]
In 2016, Premier Inn launched its first hotel in Germany, in Frankfurt. As of late February 2025, it operates 61 hotels in Germany, with 37 new hotels in development,[17]
Also in 2016, the company began its exit from India and Southeast Asia.[18]
In December 2020, the company added 13 hotels in Germany through the acquisition of Ninety Nine, Four Side, Centro and Boutique 009 hotels.[19][20]
After the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, Premier Inn said three of its hotels in Maidenhead, Brentford and Tottenham were built with cladding.[21][22][23] All three were tested and found to comply with building fire standards. None of them had the same type as Grenfell Tower.
In May 2017, Premier Inn opened its first location in Qatar Education City, next to Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). This hotel also has a swimming pool and gym. Premier Inn opened its second hotel in January 2020 near Hamad International Airport, which is also located in the close vicinity of Souq Waqif, National Museum of Qatar and Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.
In March 2019, the first Zip hotel was opened in Roath, Cardiff.[24]
In 2019, Premier Inn acquired four sites in the Dublin city centre and Dublin Docklands including at Aungiers Street, Castleforbes Business Park, Gloucester Street South and Jervis Street.[25]
In April 2023, the company acquired a hotel in Austria and 5 hotels in Germany for £28.4 million.[26]
In 2024, the company made changes to its room design standard, including a movable circular desk/table instead of a static desk.[27]
In February 2025, the company opened its first hotel in Vienna, Austria.[28][29][30]
