Whitbread takes Premier Inn to Outer Dublin
Whitbread PLC, the UK’s leading hospitality group and owner of Premier Inn, has acquired the long leasehold interest of a development site at Sandyford Business Park in Dublin, D18.
The purchase marks the first acquisition by the hotel company in Outer Dublin as it continues to expand Premier Inn across Ireland – a market where it sees the potential for 3,500 Premier Inn bedrooms.
At Sandyford, Whitbread is bringing forward plans for a Premier Inn hotel of around 150-bedrooms on Arkle Road subject to planning.
Matt Gent, Development Manager for Whitbread in Ireland, said:
“Finding business-friendly locations for our customers is an important part of our growth strategy in Ireland, and we have selected a superb location for our debut in Outer Dublin at Sandyford Business Park.
“The Park has a lack of affordable branded hotel accommodation that Premier Inn provides, and I am confident we will trade well from the location.
“We are working with the existing occupier of the site as we bring forward a planning application for the development and I hope to be in a position to start building our first Premier Inn in Outer Dublin next year all being well.”
Whitbread currently operates a network of four trading Premier Inn hotels in Dublin City Centre as well as a large hotel at Swords, near Dublin Airport.
The largest Premier Inn in Dublin City Centre – at North Docklands with 262 rooms – opened its doors to guests on Monday 11th December and the company is gearing up to open its first Premier Inn outside of the capital at Cork early in the New Year.
Including the Sandyford acquisition, the company has more than 1,600 bedrooms either trading or in its secured pipeline in Ireland and is looking for new locations across Dublin as well as in Limerick, Galway, and Killarney.
Isobel Horan, Senior Vice President in the Hotels and Hospitality Group at JLL, which represented Whitbread on the acquisition said:
“One of the hallmarks of Whitbread’s success in Ireland has been its flexibility in acquiring development sites and this Sandyford acquisition continues the trend with a long-leasehold acquisition in a location which is under-served by budget hotels and is sure to do well for Premier Inn.”
Whitbread intends to submit a planning application to Dublin City Council in the New Year. The site is currently occupied by The Wall Climbing Gym at 5 Arkle Road, Sandyford Business Park, D18.
