Premier Inn owner Whitbread has bought three London hotels from the Real Hotel Company and the right of refusal to buy 12 more of RHC’s properties if they are put up for sale.
Whitbread will spend £12 million converting the hotels to Premier Inn hotels as part of plans to open a total of six new London hotels, with 1200 rooms, under the budget brand over the next three years.
It has bought the Quality Hotel (Westminster), Comfort Inn (Kensington) and Purple Hotel (City of London) for £18.5 million in cash, adding 400 new rooms.
Whitbread has also secured the first right of refusal to acquire all 12 of the remaining Purple hotels from RHC should they be earmarked for sale.
The proposed acquisition is subject to RHC shareholder approval and certain property related consents.
Premier Inn is also developing three new-build hotels in the Greater London area, adding another 800 rooms.
The three new builds are located at Waterloo, Ealing and Old Street in the City and are scheduled to open by 2011.
By Bev Fearis
