- Premier Inn plans 2,000 rooms in Ireland
- First Dublin city centre 97 bed hotel to open 2021
- Follows 213-room hotel at Dublin airport
- Budget hotels just 2pc of irish market
Dublin City Council approved development of a 97-room Premier Inn on the site of the former Dockrell’s hardware store on George’s Street, expected to open by summer 2021. Whitbread said the new hotel would include Premier Inn’s in-house Thyme restaurant.
In the planning application submitted to Dublin council by Grosam Properties Limited , it was noted that a hotel operator had already agreed to occupy the development, amidst Premier Inn plans to grow its Dublin portfolio to between 1,500 to 2,000 bedrooms. The group plans to open 15 hotels in Dublin before it expands into other cities like Limerick, Galway and Cork.
Plans include 100- to 250-bed hotels in locations such as Dublin’s docklands, the area around O’Connell Street and other city-centre locations to follow their first Irish property, a 213-room complex near Dublin Airport.
According to Fáilte Ireland, a total of 5,436 hotel rooms will be built in the Irish capital between 2018 and 2020. Entrants to the Irish market will include budget operators EasyHotel and Motel One. Recent STR Global analysis indicated that the demand for rooms in Dublin has pushed hotel prices up to record levels in Dublin.
Allison Brittain CEO of Whitbread/Premier Inn
Daniel O’Connor of JLL Hotels Ireland who advised Whitbread on its expansion in Ireland, said the Dublin market is a prime expansion city for budget hotel operators at the moment.“Dublin is experiencing considerable demand for hotel accommodation against a historic undersupply of bedrooms, particularly in the ‘branded budget’ hotel. The budget hotel sector comprises only 2pc of Ireland’s room count, compared to 23pc in the UK, which presents significant growth opportunities for branded operators such as Premier Inn. The search is very much on for the next opportunities for the business.”
Whitbread head of acquisitions in Ireland Kevin Murray said that this is the start of the London based hotel chain’s acquisition drive of live leasehold and freehold opportunities, including potential office-to-hotel conversions, as well as going concern purchases.
Premier Inn recently launched its first hotel in Germany and plans to open another 19 there.
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