Premier Inn is a British hotel chain and the UK’s largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the likes of Travelodge and Ibis hotels.

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.

The Premier Inn chain can be found from Thurso in the north of Scotland to Helston, Cornwall in southwest 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. Hotels vary in size, with many smaller inns and large purpose-built city centre hotels.

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 that would otherwise have been demolished. Some hotels such as “Bristol Airport” in Sidcot are housed in older buildings