founded 1987 founder whitbread headquarters dunstable united kingdom area served united kingdom united arab emirates ireland india germany key people alison brittain ceo parent whitbread website www.premierinn.com premier inn is a british budget hotel chain and the uk s largest hotel brand with more than 50 000 rooms and 700 hotels . it operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres suburbs and airports . the company was established by whitbread as travel inn in 1987 to compete with travelodge . whitbread bought premier lodge in 2004 and merged it with travel inn to form the current business under the name premier travel inn which was then shortened to premier inn . premier inn accounts for 70 % of whitbread s earnings . contents 1 history 2 hotel locations 2.1 united kingdom 2.2 ireland 2.3 united arab emirates 2.4 india 3 restaurants 4 advertising 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the chain started trading in 1987 as travel inn . the first site to open was next to the watermill beefeater restaurant in basildon . in 2004 whitbread acquired another hotel chain premier lodge for 536 million . 1 this added 141 hotels to the portfolio . whitbread renamed every hotel premier travel inn . 2 in 2005 premier travel inn opened its 500th hotel in hemel hempstead . in early 2006 premier inn purchased 11 holiday inn hotels in england and wales . these sites kept their leisure facilities such as a swimming pool and gym except the hotel situated at norman cross . premier travel inn started to launch a new bedroom design during this year to move away from the differences of travel inn and premier lodge . until then rooms had remained as they had been before and new hotels were designed as travel inns . whitbread shortened the name to premier inn in 2007 ; 3 by 2009 the business accounted for more than 70 % of whitbread s earnings . 4 in september 2007 whitbread announced the purchase of golden tulip uk including six hotels trading in the uk under the tulip inn and golden tulip brands . the hotels were converted to premier inns . 5 in april 2008 whitbread announced a 100 million expansion of premier inn in london over the following three years . 6 in july 2008 whitbread bought 21 express by holiday inn hotels in exchange for 44 beefeater & brewers fayre restaurants where it was not possible to build a premier inn . 7 in 2011 the 600th hotel was opened in stratford upon avon . in july 2015 the 700th premier inn was opened in kingston upon thames london . 8 9 hotel locations edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message united kingdom edit a suburban premier inn in orchard park cambridge the premier inn chain can be found from elgin in the north of scotland to helston cornwall in the south of england . hotels are found either in city centres or on the outskirts near to major a roads and motorways . in october 2010 the premier inn hotels located at roadchef and moto motorway service stations were sold to days inn after the franchise agreement was terminated . 10 hotels vary in size with many smaller inns and large purpose built city centre hotels . premier inn in a former office building in leeds 2012 most premier inn hotels are newly built although many of the chain s inner city locations in the uk are housed within redeveloped office buildings which would otherwise have been demolished . some hotels such as bristol airport in sidcot are housed in older buildings . ireland edit a premier inn in swords near dublin airport in 2007 premier inn entered ireland when it took over the tulip inn in swords . premier inn offer bus transfers to and from dublin airport which is nearby . 11 united arab emirates edit in 2006 premier inn announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with emirates group to launch in the gulf region . this is the first move to expand the brand beyond the uk . the joint venture has identified three sites in dubai creating more than 800 new rooms . room rates are expected to cost in the range of 50 or aed 400 . the first premier inn in dubai to open was a 300 room hotel at dubai investment park . a similar size hotel at dubai airport and a 220 room hotel at dubai silicon oasis on emirates road were opened . there is also a premier inn located in the abu dhabi capital centre and the new premier inn located in abu dhabi international airport which opened on 19 november 2013 . india edit in 2007 premier inn announced that it has entered into a 50 50 joint venture agreement with emaar mgf one of india s leading real estate developers to develop premier inn in india . this will be premier inn s third international market following the joint venture with emirates announced in 2006 . a total equity investment of up to 300m was to be invested in the joint venture over the following 10 years of which whitbread s share was to be 50 % . over the 10 year period the venture was to create some 80 hotels and over 12 000 rooms . the sites were targeted in the delhi region national capital region chennai goa hyderabad and chandigarh . citation needed restaurants edit all premier inns have an on site restaurant that serve breakfasts to guests at the neighbouring hotels with the exception of hotels which were holiday inn express where kitchen facilities were added onto the hotel for breakfasts only . most hotels are accompanied by a whitbread restaurant such as whitbread inns table table brewers fayre or beefeater . the majority of town city centre hotels have an in house restaurant called thyme . city centre hotels used to have a slice or barest restaurant whose design and menus were very similar . hotels that used to be premier lodges have a range of different restaurants operated by spirit pub company such as chef & brewer or fayre & square . former express by holiday inn sites have a mitchells & butlers restaurant either harvester toby carvery or vintage inns . some hotels have a third party restaurant that used to be owned by whitbread such as tgi fridays . newer inner city premier inns which have been built in smaller spaces have a restaurant called the kitchen . advertising edit premier inn was the first major budget hotel chain in the uk to invest in prime time television advertising . after travel inn and premier lodge merged animated adverts were used to advertise the merge . in late 2007 comedian lenny henry became the face of the campaign and is now in every advert . when in may 2011 the bbc s consumer television programme watchdog criticised its widely advertised 29 promotion having received complaints from viewers that it was almost impossible to book for that price because very few promotional rooms were available . premier inn stated that this was due to its rooms being popular . it also showed a story where premier inn misspelt many city and town names such as naming livingston livingstone and aberdeen aberdion . 12 online and digital promotion now drive a significant proportion of bookings made for the brand . premier inn have made substantial investments in both its main website and mobile app for smartphone bookings and these are further complemented by affiliate marketing whereby third party websites drive bookings onto the premierinn.com site . 13 see also edit helmont house north tower salford references edit osborne alistair 24 july 2004 . whitbread wins premier title . the telegraph . retrieved 25 march 2016 . premier travel inn unveils rebrand after hotels merger . brand republic . 3 september 2004 . retrieved 25 march 2016 . premier travel inn to rebrand . marketing magazine . 27 june 2007 . retrieved 25 march 2016 . downturn hits premier inn sales . bbc news . 16 june 2009 . retrieved 11 april 2014 . druce chris 26 september 2007 . whitbread s premier travel inn buys golden tulip uk . the caterer . retrieved 25 march 2016 . prosser david 8 april 2008 . whitbread to consolidate lead in london with 100m expansion of premier inn . the independent . retrieved 25 march 2016 . scuffham matthew 31 july 2008 . m & b and whitbread confirm details of asset swap . reuters . retrieved 25 march 2016 . http www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com 2015 07 whitbread opens 700th premier inn https www.thecaterer.com articles 359485 premier inn opens 700th hotel 1 archived march 1 2012 at the wayback machine . premier inn dublin airport . irishtourist.com . 2 archived may 24 2011 at the wayback machine . https www.whitbread.co.uk content dam whitbread download centre reports and results 2015 interactive annual report 2015.pdf external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to premier inn . official website premier inn india v t e whitbread plc subsidiaries and brands current beefeater grill brewers fayre costa coffee coffeeheaven premier inn table table taybarns touchbase former berni inn britvic david lloyd leisure hogshead pizza hut swallow hotels t.g.i. friday s threshers whitbread inns other samuel whitbread whitbread round the world race category v t e hotel chains accor adagio formule 1 f1 formula 1 ibis budget styles mama shelter mercure grand mercure mgallery novotel suite novotel pullman the sebel sofitel thalassa sea & spa carlson rezidor country inns & suites park inn park plaza quorvus collection radisson radisson blu choice hotels ascend collection cambria hotels & suites clarion comfort inn comfort suites econo lodge mainstay suites quality inn rodeway inn sleep inn suburban extended stay hotel frhi fairmont hotels raffles swiss tel hilton canopy by hilton conrad hotels curio collection doubletree embassy suites hampton by hilton hilton garden inn hilton grand vacations hilton hotels & resorts home2 suites homewood suites tru by hilton waldorf astoria home inn fairyland hotel home inn motel 168 yitel hospitality international downtowner inns master host inns passport inns red carpet inn scottish inns huazhu hotels hanting inns and hotels hi inn ji hotel joya hotel manxin hotels and resorts starway hotel hyatt andaz grand hyatt hyatt hyatt centric hyatt house hyatt place hyatt regency hyatt zilara hyatt ziva park hyatt intercontinental candlewood suites crowne plaza even hotels holiday inn holiday inn express hotel indigo intercontinental kimpton hotels staybridge suites marriott ac hotels aloft hotels autograph collection bulgari hotels & resorts courtyard delta hotels design hotels edition hotels element by westin execustay fairfield inn four points gaylord hotels grand residences jw marriott le m ridien the luxury collection marriott conference centers marriott executive apartments marriott golf marriott hotels & resorts marriott vacation club moxy hotels protea hotels renaissance hotels residence inn ritz carlton ritz carlton destination club st. regis sheraton springhill suites towneplace suites tribute portfolio w hotels westin pan pacific pan pacific parkroyal red lion hotel rl red lion hotels red lion inn & suites guesthouse settle inn taj hotels gateway ginger taj vivanta vantage 3 palms hotels & resorts america s best inns americas best value inns canadas best value inns country hearth inns & suites jameson inn lexington hotels & inns wyndham baymont inn & suites days inn dolce hotels and resorts hawthorn suites howard johnson knights inn microtel ramada super 8 travelodge tryp by wyndham wingate by wyndham wyndham grand wyndham hotels & resorts other 7 days inn ace aerowisata aman resorts americinn apex aqua archipelago best western boscolo budget host canad inns canalta center parcs club med club quarters coast cobblestone dan drury easy