Pubs and inns offer something special with a great atmosphere, quality food and drink, and that all important friendly welcome.
Recent research from the Pub Accommodation Review 2025, based on surveys of more than 4,000 consumers and operators, found half of those who stay in pubs or are interested in doing so say that pubs provide a friendlier atmosphere (50%), more traditional and historic charm (53%) and more relaxed environments (53%) than any other type of accommodation.
The research commissioned by Stay in a Pub, supported by VisitEngland and Zonal Hotel Solutions and conducted by CGA by NIQ also found two thirds of consumers (67%) say pubs offer the best range of food and drink and 39% think they offer a more authentic local experience.
Pubs with accommodation can tap into a dual-income model, blending hospitality with overnight stays. Whether catering to tourists, business travellers or event-goers, rooms can provide a steady revenue stream beyond food and drink sales.
Diversify unused space
The Discovery Group, the 16-strong pub operator, has three pubs with letting rooms: the Cartologist in Durham, the Old Swan in Gargrave and its latest opening the Law in North Berwick, East Lothian.
The Law has recently reopened after a six-year closure and a £850,000 refurbishment with Star Pubs, and an additional investment from The Discovery Group separately to refurbish the upper floors with 11 letting rooms.
“You’ve got to diversify now in pubs every space has to be sold at every point whether it’s a function room or a meeting room. Diversification is the name of this trade now,” says The Discovery Group director Andrena Smith-Bowes.
“Don’t have any space that can’t be used. It’s a hard world out there in pubs. Use every bit of space. Sometimes it’s a huge outlay at the start but you’ll get your money back.”
She considers each business that has potential for rooms by looking at the local area and points out that they need to target a range of customers whether that is tourists, business people or local people to drive bookings.
“East Lothian in general is not overpopulated with hotel rooms. The market is far stronger in East Lothian than a lot of other areas,” she says.
Having the right reservation system in place that is able to make bookings, ensure pricing is right for the area, can flex rates and collect data is an important factor to making sure the rooms are a success.
“You don’t want a huge system but it’s got to be user-friendly and it’s got to capture the data,” she says.
“We would rather set a fair price for rooms and then get the secondary spend out of the customer. There are a lot of places where you look at the room rates and you’re like, wow, how are they getting that?”
She admits that in much of the summer, bedrooms can take “care of themselves” but in the quieter months they “have to work really hard” to drive bookings.
On average, about 70% of people staying at their pubs eat and drink in the venue. Upselling is really important and all customers are asked about booking for dining at time of booking and they offer incentives to keep them on site.
But how can operators take advantage of the hybrid model and ensure they improve their takings?
The Coaching Inn Group, the 36-strong operator and winner of Accommodation Operator of the Year at The Publican Awards 2025, says 40% of its overall revenue comes from its rooms, which accounts for its single largest revenue stream and it admits it is the most profitable.
Hannah Harrison, group revenue & sales director at RedCat Hospitality, owner of The Coaching Inn Group says its pubs have an opportunity to something more than a room for the night with experiences such as countryside walks, roaring fires, great food and local charm.
“Guests choose to stay in pubs and coaching inns because they want a unique, characterful stay, and we find that those pull factors allow us to stand out,” she says.
“It’s important for the industry to move away from the mindset of using rooms as simply a vehicle for boosting food and beverage sales, or a ‘bolt-on’ to their existing offering. While it is true that, when done well, accommodation drives incremental spend across food and beverage, it is better to view the rooms as a strategic growth lever, driving profitability for the business as a whole.”
Guaranteed dinner reservations
Jayson Perfect, COO at Butcombe Group, formerly Liberation Group and winner of Best Accommodation Operator at The Publican Awards in 2022, says accommodation provides a successful diversified income stream.
The company is seeing strong demand, which is driving increases in direct bookings, occupancy and revenue.
Why a pub has to do so much more than sell a beer
Husband and wife team Sharon and Gordon Thompson have been in the pub trade for over 40 years and run five Shepherd Neame pubs with rooms – the Abbey Hotel in Battle; the Castle Hotel in Eynsford; the Woolpack in Chilham; the White Horse, Maldon; and the White Horse Inn in Boughton under Blean.
They started their careers in drinkers’ pubs, moved into more food-driven venues as the industry changed and now would not consider running a pub without bedrooms.
“You can’t just sell a beer. A pub has to be everything. It has to be a coffee shop. It has to be a pub. It has to be a restaurant. It has to be a meeting point,” says Sharon Thompson.
“And if possible, it’s great if it can be a hotel as well or an inn or B&B. You make a good profit from the hotel rooms and then that drives everything else in the building.”
While there are quiet times of the year, the pub uses this time to organise forward bookings, such as those for summer weddings. But these bookings are not going to happen unless the rooms are of a good quality and price range.
“It’s not as if you can just shove a bed in a room and think that is good enough. You have to put some investment into it. You have to make sure, especially post-Covid, that your rooms are immaculate and designed nicely,” she says.
“If you’ve got the space in your building. Let’s be honest, a lot of pub buildings in the UK are old, big buildings with a lot of unused accommodation. If you can transform that into hotel rooms. It’s a no-brainer.”
She advises licensees who might have less available income to invest in their rooms over a period of time opening a few rooms to start with and using the profits to invest in more rooms over time.
“We’ve done that in the past when we’ve not had a lot of money,” she says.
But getting the message out about the bedrooms is important to drive bookings. She says pubs must ensure they advertise on social media with good pictures of the rooms online and have a good website, as well as use third-party booking engines.
“Pictures are very, very important because people pick by pictures. You’ve got to price it correctly and you’ve got to do your research,” she adds.
“You’ve got to be flexible with your pricing and responding quickly. Okay, you might be taking £20 off the price that you’d really like for the room, but they’re more than likely going to spend money on your bar and restaurant as well.”
Guests who stay overnight are naturally more inclined to dine in and Butcombe taps into this by offering guaranteed dinner reservations as part of the room booking process. Rooms also provide the opportunity to attract a broader customer base and create the potential for cross-selling services such as meals, drinks and events.
Perfect admits that expansion into accommodation is not without its challenges as rooms need significant investment in refurbishment, staffing and operational systems, alongside the need to meet regulatory standards.
He highlights the challenges of driving accommodation bookings in pubs, which requires a “thoughtful blend of marketing, customer engagement, and experience-led offerings”.
Perfect adds: “To boost occupancy, especially during quieter periods, pubs can leverage loyalty programmes, seasonal promotions and calendar-based events to attract guests and encourage repeat visits.”
Meanwhile, the award-winning Cheshire Cat Pubs & Inns, the seven-strong operator, is focusing on expanding the number of rooms across its estate whether in unused accommodation above its pubs or in outbuildings nearby. Currently it has 23 bedrooms across three of its pubs – eight at the Cholmondeley Arms, near Malpas, Cheshire, 10 at the Fitzherbert Arms, near Stone in Staffordshire, and five at the Roebuck, in Knutsford, Cheshire.
It recently added two more rooms to the Cholmondeley Arms, the former Great British Pub of the Year, in an unused cottage on the site, and is also looking at the potential for five to six bedrooms upstairs at The three Greyhounds Inn, Knutsford, Cheshire, as well as four potential new bedrooms in a barn at the Roebuck.
Tim Bird owner of Cheshire Cat Pubs & Inns says while the investment in rooms is an initial outlay it is a viable choice as “it’s pure profit.”
“Each day you don’t have to buy the room to sell so actually it’s all about getting people into the bedrooms,” he advises. “But you know you’ve got to do the maths and you’ve got to make it back.”
The company works hard promoting its rooms linking in with third-party booking engines, obtaining direct emails for customers and also taking a more innovative approach by linking the pubs with local activities and places to visit.
Swim and sauna
For example, the Fitzherbert Arms offers The Serenity Stay with an overnight stay in The Farmhouse, which includes breakfast and dinner, along with a half day wild water swimming and an hour lakeside sauna at the nearby Whitmore Estate Lakes.
“We book your swim and your sauna so it’s almost like you get away and do that, but at the same time you have got a cozy pub to sit in and eat and drink,” he says.
“We’re also trying to work with local tourism to promote Staffordshire, so we’re building a partnership with those people in order to help them help us and to help them.”
Overall, he believes there is a real benefit to add bedrooms to pubs and there is more flexibility with the changing habits of both staff and consumers.
While accommodation on-site was considered a major perk for managers and licensees but many now “want a life away from the pub”, which presents an opportunity for development in the unused upstairs rooms.
He advises any licensees considering transforming rooms or looking at potential outbuildings to get advice from a surveyor to see if there is an opportunity to develop guest bedrooms as there are important regulations that need to be considered such as escape routes in case of fire.
“The next step is actually getting quotes to create the bedrooms and starting to put costs together,” he says.
They must also take in account efficiencies in the design such as hanging hooks instead of spending large amounts of money on wardrobes that don’t get used.
If the licensee has a freehold then banks might be able to help as this will add value to the building, he advises. But there will be challenges with a lease or tenancy and he suggests licensees have that conversation with their landlords.
“You’re adding value to your building and you’re creating another income stream which will bring more food and beverage sales. It will bring pure profit in the end. If you’ve got 10 rooms and you get 10 rooms times £150 a night then you can do the maths. You know if that’s pretty good income,” he adds.
Guaranteed income
Miranda and Damian Knight, run three pubs in Cornwall – all of which have accommodation.
They have Punch pub the Star Inn, St Erth, along with the Cornubia Inn in Hayle that has seven rooms and the recently acquired Black Swan in Gweek, just outside of Helston, which has four rooms.
The Star Inn, which is located close to St Ives underwent a recent investment transforming the three letting rooms which have proved to be a real success.
“With letting rooms you can pretty much always guarantee you’re going to get some sort of income all year round. More so in the summer and it’s almost completely pure profit,” Miranda Knight says.
“Obviously, you’ve got a slight cleaning cost involved and an admin cost when it comes to sorting online platforms. If you can charge £120 a room you’re going be seeing at least £100 of that and then when people are staying in rooms they tend to eat with you,” she says.
“The bedrooms more or less run themselves as long as you’ve got a good team and also as long as the people staying have the right expectations.”
They also cultivate relationships with regular customers all year round making sure they are looked after and receive good room rates. She says that they also make sure the customer gets that personal touch.
“We introduce ourselves and we take them up to their rooms. We show them all the things we’ve got in the rooms such as Sky Sports and Sky Movies. In the winter months, when we get contractors staying with us, they want a bit of home from home,” she says.
“We’ve also got nice coffee machines in the rooms and things like that, which you don’t always get in in the big chains.”
While the Star Inn offers breakfast during the busy summer months, during the less busy winter months, it is sold on a room-only basis so the operators don’t pay to have a chef on-site to manage morning meals.
“You don’t want to be having your chef come in and wait around for two or three hours for people coming down for breakfast so we sell our rooms as room-only and that works really well,” she says.
