Whitbread plans £21m hotel in heart of Edinburgh – Daily Business

Whitbread has unveiled a £21 million plan to transform offices in Edinburgh city centre into a 195-bedroom Premier Inn.

The company acquired the 65,350 sq ft Capital House off Lothian Road last year from Federated Hermes when it was put on the market with a price tag in excess of £13 million. 

The building, neighbouring the Sheraton Hotel in Festival Square, has been the base for BNY Mellon, the global financial services company, which announced 150 job cuts earlier this year and the relocation of its remaining employees.

Whitbread will convert the building and rear extension into the latest format Premier Inn hotel with a ground floor restaurant and bar. 

The Capital House Premier Inn is expected to generate an additional £8.1 million per year in visitor expenditure through the external spending of more than 56,000 guests which are predicted to stay at the hotel every year.  Half of this external expenditure is anticipated to be spent supporting city centre businesses. 

The proposals signal the latest commitment from Whitbread to invest in Edinburgh as the business continues to see strong long-term potential for its bedrooms across the capital city.

Jill Anderson, acquisitions manager for Scotland at Whitbread, said: “The visitor economy in Edinburgh is thriving but there remains an unmet demand for additional budget hotel rooms in the city. 

“Capital House represents an excellent opportunity for us to deliver new Premier Inn bedrooms at affordable prices for our customers in a fantastic city centre location.

“We’re thrilled to submit proposals to transform this underused office building and bring life back into this corner of Festival Square.”

Whitbread has close to a million visitors to its current network of 14 Premier Inn hotels within the City of Edinburgh Council area. The business says its guests generate more than £32m in visitor expenditure to the Edinburgh economy every year.