Premier Inn spend £3.2m on hotel extension
The Premier Inn on the Parade in Leamington Spa is being extended to become a 100 bedroom hotel at a cost of £3.2 m.
The extension will start in June and is expected to take about 20 weeks to complete, for a scheduled opening by the end of 2018.
Alongside 19 new bedrooms the extension includes a 148 cover Bar + Block restaurant.
Both the Premier Inn and Bar + Block brands are owned by Whitbread.
Chris Elliott, chief executive of Warwick District Council, said: ” We are delighted that Whitbread have decided to make an investment in the heart of Royal Leamington Spa adding to the very successful Premier Inn Hotel.”
Because the extension is into a Grade II listed building the work demands sensitivity to maintain the character of its external appearance.
Graham Hedley, project & programme manager at Premier Inn said: ” We have been working closely with Warwick District Council to ensure the conversion respects the heritage of the listed building. The conversion will not change the exterior elevations of the building on the Parade and we will retain existing internal features such as moulded cornices and fireplaces. The ground floor will be completely new as it has been stripped of any heritage value by the previous occupiers. Our alterations provide a positive heritage benefit and will bring a disused historic building back into productive and long-term use”.
Hedley went on to say: ” Our Leamington Spa Premier Inn is extremely popular. On average the hotel is 90% occupied throughout the year, and in the busiest seasons it is often completely full. Extending the hotel responds to an urgent business need for us and it provides an opportunity to introduce our exciting new Bar + Block restaurant brand to Leamington.”
