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Whitbread announced it has “maintained momentum” in its plan to expand its estate, following the practical completion of a 274-bedroom Premier Inn in Southwark and a 180-bedroom hotel in Milton Keynes.
The Southwark site forms part of Frogmore’s £85m New Marlborough Yard development. The new Premier Inn, together with its on-site steakhouse, Bar + Block, will be Whitbread’s largest opening in London this year.
The site will also feature a public courtyard and park, and the hotel and restaurant are together expected to generate 90 new jobs when their doors open later this year.
The Milton Keynes hotel will be Whitbread’s sixth site in the city, and has been developed in partnership with Dominvs Group.
The 10-storey, 180-bedroom hotel and restaurant is expected to generate between 75 and 80 new jobs when it opens.
Whitbread said that the completion of both sites was achieved due to construction continuing during lockdown.
The group introduced additional on-site measures and practices in order to protect workers and the public while ensuring social distancing.
Whitbread will now begin fitting out the interiors of the hotels and restaurants, with both sites expected to open in autumn 2020.
Alex Flach, UK development director at Whitbread, said: “While the coronavirus pandemic has created significant challenges for the hospitality industry, we remain committed to our strategy of growing and innovating Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn in the UK and Ireland.
“Reaching practical completion of new Premier Inn hotels in Milton Keynes and on The Cut in Southwark takes us a step closer to adding 450 new Premier Inn rooms in the prime locations our customers want to be.”
He added: “The hotels and restaurants are in the heart of the action, look fantastic and we’re confident they will be very popular with our customers when they open later this year.”
Lee Saywack, development director at Dominvs Group, said: “We are extremely pleased with the success of our first partnership with Whitbread.
“The team were able to safely overcome the challenges of restrictions introduced by Covid-19 and deliver a product we are incredibly proud of. We look forward to working on future projects that contribute to the economic growth of local communities, especially and crucially over the next few years.”
