Pub restaurants at new Premier sites
Whitbread, the leisure group, plans to open a Beefeater Grill and a Brewers Fayre at its two new Premier Inn sites in the coastal resorts of Weymouth and Weston-super-Mare.
Around £14m is to be invested at the sites, which will add nearly 180 bedrooms to Premier Inn's existing UK portfolio of more than 580 hotels and 42,000 rooms.
Contracts have been exchanged for a 60-bedroom Premier Inn on Dorchester Way in Weymouth, including a Beefeater Grill, plus a 116-bedroom Premier Inn on Dolphin Square in Weston-super-Mare, which will feature a Brewers Fayre. Both deals are subject to planning permission.
Premier Inn acquisition manager Richard Pearson said: "Premier Inn is in growth mode and we have turned up the burners to ensure we can expand our portfolio in line with the strong customer demand for our hotels and restaurants.
"There are opportunities for us in the west of England and we have gaps to fill in our UK network. These sites help to fill those gaps and increase the accessibility of Premier Inns to our customers in attractive seaside and leisure destinations."
Last month Whitbread reported an 8.8% rise in like-for-like sales at Premier Inn for the 50 weeks to 17 February 2011, which helped contribute to a 6.7% increase overall for the group during the period.
