Britain’s largest hotel group is to open a new hotel in the centre of Reading this April. The new 151-room hotel is in the heart of Reading town, just opposite the Oracle shopping centre, and is the second Premier Inn hotel in Reading.
The hotel group, part of Whitbread, has ambitious plans to expand the number of rooms in its portfolio from 35,000 today, to 45,000 by 2010. This month the group bought six hotels under the Tulip Inn and Golden Tulip brands, and made its first foray into Ireland with the opening of the Dublin airport property.
Reading is proving to be an attractive draw for hoteliers, positioned just 25 miles from Heathrow and 30 minutes by rail to London. Hilton is to open a 210-room hotel in south-west Reading in April 2009, and last year Malmaison opened a luxury 75-room boutique property, transforming what was once the Great Western Rail hotel. Accor also joined the growing market in 2006, with Novotel and Ibis properties opening adjacent to each other (click here for Business Traveller's review).
Accor group, which owns brands such as Sofitel and Pullman, opened two hotels in Reading in 2006 – the Ibis and Novotel. The 182-room Ibis Reading Centre is aimed at the budget market and is only a three-minute walk from the station. Next to the Ibis in Friar Street, is the new 178-room four-star Novotel, aimed at the mid-market business traveller.
For more information visit premierinn.com.
By Carmen Coyne
