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Whitbread has secured a site for a second Premier Inn hotel in Bath city centre after signing a lease agreement with developer Frank Capital.
The 152-bedroom hotel will be built on Lower Bristol Road, replacing the vacant former Beazer House office block. Planning permission was granted in September 2024 and construction is due to begin in early 2026, with opening targeted for 2028.
The six-storey building will include an on-site restaurant and bar. It will expand Whitbread’s Premier Inn offer in the city centre to more than 250 rooms.
Whitbread said the hotel will be designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and run on renewable electricity, having pledged to cut carbon emissions from its direct operations to net zero by 2040.
Paul Smith, acquisition manager for Whitbread, said: “Securing a new location for our customers in Bath city centre is a significant achievement in our south-west growth story. There is a well-known undersupply of budget hotel rooms in Bath, and this new location will help us to meet the consistently high, year-round demand we see for Premier Inn bedrooms in the city.
“Our guests are sure to love the prime, central location, just minutes from world-famous visitor attractions and Bath Spa train station, and we anticipate they will make a significant contribution to the city’s visitor and business economy through their spending during their stay.”
Bath attracts about six million overnight and day visitors annually, according to Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Natasha El Shazly, general counsel at Frank Capital, added: “We are delighted to have exchanged contracts with Whitbread and now look forward to working with the design team, led by TP Bennett, to deliver an exemplary new build hotel that is both respectful of its significant heritage context and forward thinking in its approach to sustainability.”
Whitbread operates 850 hotels with more than 85,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland. It has said it sees potential to expand its network to 125,000 rooms.
