Premier Inn has opened its first hotel in Thailand, but not in the location it had originally planned for its Thai debut.
Last year, the budget chain announced its first hotel in the country would be in the capital, Bangkok, opening in mid 2016, but this property is now scheduled to open at the end of this year or early 2017.
Instead, the first Thai hotel is the Premier Inn Pattaya, (pictured left), a 164-bedroom hotel 10 minutes’ walk from Pattaya beach.
The Whitbread-owned group has also signed agreements for Premier Inn branded hotels in Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Phuket and Koh Samui.
As part of expansion in the Asia Pacific and Middle East, it has already opened two hotels in Indonesia, three in India and six in the United Arab Emirates.
A further 50 international hotels are planned by 2020.
Properties are due to open later this year in Dubai, Doha, Goa, Sentul in Indonesia and in Singapore.
