Whitbread PLC has acquired two freehold Future Inn hotels in Bristol and Plymouth, adding 292 bedrooms to the Premier Inn network, with conversion of both properties set to complete by mid-December 2026.

The FTSE100 hotelier bought the purpose-built hotels — one in Plymouth, one at Bristol's Cabot Circus — from Future Inns, a Canadian-based hotel company, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction completes on 2 October 2026. More than half the rooms will open as Premier Inn bedrooms at the beginning of November.

Knight Frank and Enterprise Hotels & Hospitality acted for Future Inns. Whitbread's in-house property acquisition team represented the buyer.

Why convert rather than build?

Using its in-house development and refurbishment expertise, Whitbread intends to have 155 of the bedrooms ready to book as Premier Inn rooms on 2 November 2026. The rebranded hotels will continue trading while the remaining rooms are refurbished, with the full transformation scheduled for mid-December 2026.

On completion, both hotels will offer Premier Inn's latest Standard and enhanced 'Premier Plus' room designs, plus the brand's latest guest-focused restaurant offer.

Alex Flach, development director for Whitbread in the UK & Ireland, said the deal shows "how flexible we can be to bring new locations into our secured pipeline". He added: "As we are converting the buildings into Premier Inns rather than building the hotels from scratch, we can bring our new rooms on stream very quickly for our customers."

Both properties were built in the mid-2000s and match Premier Inn's size and location requirements. "In a market characterised by supply constraints and high development costs, we are increasingly looking at going concern sales to grow our market-leading brands, and we are keen to hear from other operators who are considering their portfolios," Flach said.

What does it mean for the network?

Once converted, the two hotels will grow Premier Inn's footprint to four hotels in Plymouth City Centre and five locations in Bristol City Centre. Whitbread cites strong long-term demand in both markets.

The acquisition adds a further route to growth under Whitbread's Five-Year Plan, which combines new-build development, extensions, leasehold opportunities and strategic acquisitions. The plan targets 98,000 Premier Inn bedrooms across the UK and Ireland by 2031, with long-term potential for 125,000 rooms in the core market.

Premier Inn currently offers around 80,000 rooms across more than 800 hotels, with Germany the focus of expansion outside the UK.

What happens to Future Inns?

Future Inns developed and operated three UK properties since 2005. Managing Director Del Brett called the sale "an important milestone for our company".

The company will now concentrate on its original 197-bedroom UK property in Cardiff Bay, which will continue trading as a Future Inn "for the foreseeable future", offering accommodation, conferencing and foodservice.

Brett thanked colleagues, guests and suppliers in Bristol and Plymouth, and said the company trusted Whitbread to "update and operate these hotels to their usual high standard".

What happens next?

The transaction completes on 2 October 2026; 155 rooms go on sale as Premier Inn bedrooms on 2 November, with both conversions finished by mid-December 2026. Whitbread says it remains open to further going-concern acquisitions from operators reviewing their UK portfolios.