Swindon & Wiltshire News
Premier Inn snaps up Bristol’s Cabot Circus hotel in Future Inns deal
Premier Inn owner Whitbread has bought the Future Inn hotel at Bristol’s Cabot Circus, converting the city‑centre site into a new Premier Inn as part of a two‑hotel South West acquisition that also includes a sister property in Plymouth.
The FTSE‑100 group acquired the freehold of the purpose‑built hotels from Canadian operator Future Inns for an undisclosed sum, with the deal set to complete today (October 2).
The two properties add 292 bedrooms to Premier Inn’s UK network, with more than half due to open as bookable rooms from 2 November.
Whitbread said the Bristol and Plymouth sites “match Premier Inn’s location requirements” and will strengthen its presence in markets where it sees strong long‑term demand.
Alex Flach, development director for Whitbread UK & Ireland, said converting existing hotels rather than building from scratch allows the company to bring new rooms on stream “very quickly”.
The rebranded Premier Inns will offer the chain’s latest Standard and enhanced Premier Plus rooms, plus its updated restaurant offer.
Full transformation of both sites is scheduled for mid‑December, after which Premier Inn will operate five locations in Bristol city centre and four in Plymouth city centre.
The acquisition underlines Whitbread’s shift toward buying going‑concern assets to support its Five‑Year Plan, which targets 98,000 Premier Inn bedrooms across the UK and Ireland by 2031.
Future Inns will retain its 197‑bedroom hotel in Cardiff Bay, which will continue trading under the Future Inn brand.
Knight Frank and Enterprise Hotels & Hospitality acted for Future Inns. Whitbread was represented by its in‑house property acquisition team.
