Premier Travel Inn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Premier Travel Inn | |
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| Type | Public owned by Whitbread Plc |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Luton, England |
| Area served | United Kingdom |
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Website | http://www.premiertravelinn.com |
Premier Travel Inn originally opened under the Travel Inn brand name in 1987, it has been owned by Whitbread during its entire operation and was set up to compete with the Travelodge brand which was at the time owned by Granada.
It has since grown to become the largest hotel chain in the United Kingdom with more than 470 hotels across the UK including two in Northern Ireland
Like Travelodge it has a policy of mostly using new build hotels where all rooms are identical. However over the years and due to purchases of other properties this policy has been somewhat diluted, however most rooms are remarkably similar.
In 2004 Whitbread acquired the rival Premier Lodge from the Spirit Group for the sum of £505 million. This added an additional 141 hotels to the existing Travel Inn company and henceforth Whitbread re branded all hotels as "Premier Travel Inn". The move to change the name partly resulted from consumer confusion with Travelodge.
In 2005 Premier Travel Inn acquired 7 hotels from Holiday Inn which were re branded under the Premier Travel Inn name.
Premier Travel Inn hotels are found both in city centres and often on the outskirts of towns/cities on major A-roads. Unlike it's competitor Travelodge it is rarely found in motorway service areas, instead concentrating on locations where the serving of alcohol is not banned. Its association with Whitbread (who traditionally are a brewery) has meant that their hotels are most often located next to a pub such as a Brewers Fayre.
Compared with most hotel chains rooms have a high degree of similarity between different properties. All contain a double bed, desk area, shelves, colour TV and en-suite bath/shower room. In some hotels they can provide a sofa with pull out bed. Hotels which were originally built as Premier Lodge feature slightly smaller rooms, however they also have wider beds, this was a marketing tool used by Premier Lodge before they were sold. In 2006 Premier Travel Inn revised their basic room design however the facilities provided are the same.
Rooms are charged for on a per night basis, currently from £47 per night for the cheapest properties, however rates c.£55 are more commonplace. As with all hotels higher rates apply within London. Premier Travel Inn have chosen not to follow Travelodge in charging different prices for early bookings, although there have been occasional special offers. Prices are generally higher on weekday nights than at weekends.
Breakfast is not included in the room rate, however it is available in the attached restaurant/pub for an additional payment.
