Whitbread Plc, the owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, working with its development partner Demar Holdings has secured a resolution to grant planning permission for an 80-bedroom hub by Premier Inn hotel on Camden High Street (114-119 Camden High Street).
The hotel, which will be built on the site of the former Sports Direct store on the corner of Camden High Street and Delancey Street, will be Whitbread’s second hub by Premier Inn hotel in the borough of Camden on opening.
Louise Woodruff, Acquisitions Manager for Whitbread, said, “Camden is one of London’s best destinations. Its unique character, connections and world-class attractions make it an extremely popular destination for domestic and international travellers and demand for hotel rooms in Camden Town and across the borough is growing.
'Our popular hub by Premier Inn brand, with its high-quality design and compact bedrooms, brings a flexible and stylish new hotel to Camden High Street and will create many long-term benefits for the area.”
Camden Borough Council’s Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission to comprehensively redevelop the Sports Direct retail store into the new hub by Premier Inn hotel on Thursday 23rd January.
The permission allows Demar Holdings to demolish the current retail building on the site and create a four and five storey brick hotel building in its place. A ground-floor retail space and three apartments for social affordable rent also form part of the development.
Whitbread has been expanding its network of hub by Premier Inn hotels since launching the brand in 2015, with hotels opening and trading in nine locations across London and three locations in Edinburgh. A further five London sites (including Camden High Street) are also on-site or in planning.
The hub by Premier Inn brand features ‘compact’ bedrooms, enhanced by useful technology such as Smart TV’s and clever lighting, and a through-the-day light touch ‘Lounge’ dining and quality bar offering.
Woodruff added, “We spent a lot of time talking to the planning team at LB Camden when designing the building. Our goal was to create a building which suits its context, fits our operational requirements and would make a positive contribution to Camden High Street.
“When it opens the hub by Premier Inn Camden High Street hotel will create 35 new full- and part-time job opportunities, with recruitment focussed locally, and will support established businesses as our guests go out to eat, drink, see live music and generally make the most of the local area.”
Based on current occupancy rates, Whitbread estimates that close to 40,000 guests will stay at the hub by Premier Inn at Camden High Street every year. An Economic Impact Assessment submitted as part of the planning application predicts that these guests will create up to £1 million of additional visitor expenditure in the Camden area every year.
Whitbread is actively looking for new sites for hub by Premier Inn as it seeks to grow the brand in London and key cities across the UK. A full list of locations Whitbread is targeting to grow the hub by Premier Inn brand in London is as follows:
hub by Premier Inn target locations in London include: Barbican, Bethnal Green, Bloomsbury, Brixton, Camden, Chelsea, Clapham, Euston, Finchley Central, Greenwich, Hackney, Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, London Bridge, Notting Hill, Paddington, Putney, Richmond, Shepherd’s Bush, South Bank, St Paul’s, Stratford, Twickenham, Walthamstow, Waterloo, Whitechapel, White City Vauxhall
The hub by Premier Inn at Camden High Street was designed by Morris + Company Architects and Gerald Eve acted as planning consultants.