Whitbread opens the doors to its latest London offering at Paddington Station
Whitbread PLC, the parent company to Premier Inn, has opened the doors to its newest investment in London at Paddington Station.
The hotel is a first for the capital as it brings together two of Whitbread’s market leading budget hotel brands into one new building metres from the platforms of the Elizabeth Line and Paddington train station.
Featuring 369 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms, the hotel is one of the largest Premier Inn’s in London and completes Whitbread’s network plan for the Paddington catchment where it has invested heavily in recent years.
Its customers can now choose from more than 1,000 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms across four hotels in the catchment which collectively employ more than 200 people.
Jonathan Langdon, Senior Acquisition Manager for Central London, said:
“We saw the potential of the Paddington area to be transformed by the opening of the Elizabeth Line and the wider investment that was happening in this area. We seized on the opportunity to expand our network in the catchment and since spring 2022 we have opened more than 1,000 new guest bedrooms across four new large and easily accessible hotels.
“Our latest opening at Paddington Station is one of the most connected hotels in the country, being less than one hundred metres from Paddington Station and the Elizabeth Line, and by bringing two of our market leading hotel brands together into one building we have demonstrated once again how flexible we can be for the right location.”
The team behind the new Premier Inn redeveloped the site from an outdated office building to deliver the new hotel, stripping the office back to its frame within which the new hotel was created.
Set over five storeys (ground + five storeys of bedrooms), the hotel offers latest format Premier Inn bedrooms above the ground floor reception and restaurant spaces. Compact hub by Premier Inn bedrooms are located at level -1 where cutting-edge lighting technology is installed to mimic the effect of natural daylight in the bedrooms.
Whitbread has recruited 80 new team members to welcome guests to the Paddington Station hotel using its established relationships with the Job Centre Plus to promote the opportunities to residents living within Westminster and other central London boroughs.
Ahead of opening the company partnered with innovative community engagement platform ActionFunder to fundraise and offer volunteering time for local charities within a 1 ½ mile radius of the new hotel.
Team members employed at the new hotel voted on a shortlist of eight charities, four of which were selected to share an allocation of Whitbread’s local charity fund for the site. The team also provided close to 80 hours of paid volunteering time to improve a community hub in North Paddington ahead of welcoming guests. To see the projects funded and their updates please link to: https://app.actionfunder.org/fund/477
Mark Shearer, Co-Founder of ActionFunder said:
We are delighted to be working with Whitbread on their latest, innovative hotel opening in Paddington, West London. The management team and employees have jumped at the opportunity to deliver hyper-local social impact through the ActionFunder platform. In fact, all the 80 employees were involved in a vote which saw projects selected for funding and volunteering. It’s a great example of a business bringing benefits to the local community. We wish the hotel all the best following it’s opening.
The Premier Inn Paddington Station Premier Inn was officially opened by Mark Shearer, representatives of the development team, Premier Inn’s operational management team as well as local elected and non-elected stakeholders.
Whitbread now operates nine Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn hotels within the City of Westminster, offering its customers a choice of close to 2,000 bedrooms in the heart of Central London.
