CoStar News
Budget hotelier Premier Inn has launched a consultation on its plans for a £200 million development in the heart of the capital’s luxury West End.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread bought the site at 5 Strand near Trafalgar Square in August 2022 from Clivedale Properties and ABIL Group and has now unveiled its plans for its largest hotel in central London. It is planning one of its Hub by Premier Inns, which have smaller rooms than the main brand. Whitbread said it would be making a £200 million-plus investment, including construction and related costs,
The group operates a number of Premier Inn and Hub by Premier Inn hotels in the borough of Westminster but none of the size and development cost of 5 Strand, and none in the heart of the West End.
The site was a partially demolished former office building with planning consent in place for a five-star hotel.
Premier Inn now intends to lodge a new planning application to Westminster City Council to retain the use and create a new hotel building.
The hotel would sit within the height and footprint of the consented 2019 scheme but would include 700 rooms, up from the 200 rooms, and that would generate eight daily deliveries rather than 30, it estimates.
Plans for a rooftop restaurant and bar have been scrapped in favour of a publicly accessible ground floor Bar + Block steakhouse restaurant and lounge.
The plans would be in line with Whitbread’s target of becoming a net zero business by 2040.
Subject to planning, 5 Strand is expected to open sometime during 2027. The purchase and development are being funded from Whitbread’s existing cash resources.
Whitbread has previously said the development, a major investment by the company’s standards, underlines its commitment to continue to invest in “expanding its presence in the popular London market where a significant proportion of Premier Inn’s future pipeline is located”.
The purchase also underlines its confidence in the Hub by Premier Inn brand. The brand was first introduced in 2014 and is designed for locations in major cities where property prices are relatively high.
Whitbread says its smaller room format is still able to generate attractive long-term returns in these locations, while providing affordable rooms. The rooms set out to be highly specified in terms of technology and target customers willing to trade space for a location at the heart of cities.
The site was previously sold in 2018 by BlackRock Real Estate for around £90 million and a new hotel scheme had been brought forward through a joint venture between property firms Clivedale and Indian developer ABIL.
The duo had been planning a luxury Park Hyatt comprising a 200-bedroom, 11-storey hotel with a ground floor lounge and restaurant, and an all-day restaurant on the top floor.
The current eight-storey building, built in the 1980s, was previously let as offices to Westminster City Council.
The building was the headquarters of Landsec before being occupied by Westminster City Council.
Conciliocomms is advising on the public consultation.