Whitbread tops out flagship Brighton City Centre Premier Inn
Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest hotel company and owner of Premier Inn, has marked an important construction milestone at its new flagship hotel in Brighton City Centre.
The structural frame of what will become the Brighton’s second Premier Inn is now complete, paving the way for the opening of the new 187-room budget hotel in early 2028.
Representatives from the company and principal contractor Gilbert Ash gathered at the highest point of the building on Brighton’s West Street on Tuesday (25th August) to celebrate the achievement and recognise the teams delivering the development.
Simon Lancaster, head of construction for Whitbread in London and the south, said:
“It is always a proud moment topping out a new Premier Inn hotel, and it is especially significant at a location as prominent as West Street in Brighton. Completing the frame brings us another step closer to delivering a flagship new Premier Inn for the city, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their dedication, expertise and hard work in reaching this stage”
The West Street development forms part of Whitbread’s commitment to expanding Premier Inn in attractive city-centre locations across the UK where customer demand is high.
Set to trade as Premier Inn Brighton City Centre (Seafront), the new hotel will offer Premier Inn guests the choice of the brand’s latest format bedrooms and enhanced ‘Premier Plus’ rooms, with an integrated guest-focused restaurant on the ground floor.
Some of the City’s most interesting attractions, seafront destinations and independent shopping areas are within a ten-minute walk of the front door of the new hotel.
Simon Lancaster continued:
“Brighton West Street demonstrates the capability of Whitbread to continue to grow Premier Inn in some brilliant but complex city-centre locations. It reflects the deep experience we bring to development projects and the depth of our relationships with Gilbert Ash. The hotel will occupy one of Brighton’s historic hospitality locations and will become an important addition to both the Premier Inn network and the city’s visitor economy when it opens.”
Construction of the West Street development began in October 2025 following the acquisition of the site from a private developer. Once open, the hotel is expected to create approximately 40 new hospitality jobs and bring a long-term future to the former nightclub site.
Whitbread currently operates a Premier Inn hotel on North Street in Brighton city centre, alongside a wider network of hotels across the South Coast. Across the country, the business offers its customers a choice of more than 840 hotels and 86,000 UK and Ireland bedrooms.
