Premier Inn
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| Premier Inn | |
|---|---|
| Image:Logo premier inn 2007.gif | |
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Luton, England, UK |
| Area served | United Kingdom United Arab Emirates |
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Parent | Whitbread |
| Website | http://www.premierinn.com |
Premier Inn (formerly Premier Travel Inn) is the UK's biggest hotel brand, with over 32,500 rooms and more than 490 hotels. Originally opened under the "Travel Inn" brand name in 1987, it has been owned by Whitbread during its entire operation and was set up to compete with the Travelodge brand which was at the time owned by Forte.
The first set of Travel Inns were built and opened next to Beefeater sites during the late 1980s. Some of the sites included Basildon (1987), Cheltenham West (1988), Gloucester Longford (1988) as well as many others across the UK.
Since 1987 the hotel company has since grown to become the largest hotel chain in the United Kingdom with more than 490 hotels across the UK including two in Northern Ireland.
Like Travelodge it has a policy of mostly using new build hotels where all rooms are identical. However over the years and due to purchases of other properties this policy has been somewhat diluted, however most rooms are remarkably similar.
In 2004 Whitbread acquired the rival Premier Lodge from the Spirit Group for the sum of £505 million. This added an additional 141 hotels to the existing Travel Inn company and henceforth Whitbread re-branded all hotels as "Premier Travel Inn". The move to change the name partly resulted from consumer confusion with Travelodge. In 2007 in a rebranding exercise, all of its hotels were renamed as Premier Inn.
Contents |
[edit] Locations
Premier Inn hotels are found in city centres and also on the outskirts of towns/cities on major A-roads. Unlike its competitor Travelodge it is rarely found in motorway service areas, concentrating on locations where they are allowed to serve alcohol. Ownership by Whitbread (who traditionally were a brewery, and are now a pub and hotel chain) ensures that Premier Inn hotels are most often located next to a Whitbread Brewers Fayre or Beefeater family pub/restaurant. Although there are some exceptions, with some being next to a T.G.I. Friday's, which was previously owned by Whitbread. Premier Inn are expanding overseas to the United Arab Emirates, with two hotels opening early 2008.
[edit] Rooms
Rooms are very similar in all of the chain's hotels. All contain a double bed or twin beds, desk area, shelves, colour TV and en-suite bath/shower room. Rooms with an extra sleep-on sofa or pull-out beds are called family rooms - they are not usually priced higher than standard rooms, but nor are they usually any bigger (more beds in the same space). Sites which were previously Premier Lodge hotels have slightly smaller rooms but with the wider beds which were a feature of Premier Lodge. In 2006 Premier Inn revised their basic room design, but the rooms have the same level of facilities as before. From 1st January 2008, all rooms will be non-smoking.[1] The company currently offers a small number of rooms where customers are permitted to smoke; hotel rooms are not included in the country wide smoking ban.
[edit] Pricing policy
Premier Inn's daily rate is per room, regardless of how many people occupy the room (max 2 adults and 2 childred). Premier Inn quotes prices of "from £48" on their web site, but most hotels have a minimum rate of £55 or above. The price depends on location and day of the week : as with most hotel chains, higher rates apply within London and in other popular destinations.
All hotels have two different rates, a Monday-Thursday and a Friday to Sunday rate (Prices are generally higher on weekday nights than at weekends). Unlike Travelodge (their closest competitor), Premier Inn do not offer discounts for early bookings. Breakfast is available either in the attached restaurant or pub, but not included in the room rate.
[edit] Facilites
All Premier Inns have restaurants either within the hotel or on the same site. The restaurants are all brand named establishments, such as Barest and Slice or pub-restaurant sites such as Beefeater or Brewers Fayre which are also owned by Whitbread.
Breakfasts usually consist of two options. A full fried breakfast with all you can eat from the full English selection of bacon, eggs, beans etc. for £7.50, or the continental buffet selection only for £5.25. Up to two children, aged 15 or under, can eat breakfast for free when one adult purchases a full breakfast.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Whitbread plc |
|---|
Current Businesses:
Premier Inn ·
Beefeater ·
Brewers Fayre ·
Costa Coffee ·
Touchbase
|
| Annual revenue: £1,584m GBP (Image:Green Arrow Up Darker.svg10% FY 2006) · Employees: 49,848 · Stock symbol: LSE: WTB · Website: whitbread.co.uk |
Categories: Articles lacking reliable references from December 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange | Hotel chains | Leisure companies of the United Kingdom | Hotels in the United Kingdom | Hotels in England | Hotels in Northern Ireland | Hotels in Scotland | Hotels in Wales
