Computer-generated image of the Premier Inn hotel at Edinburgh Airport. Credit: Riverstone Hotels / Whitbread.
Premier Inn’s parent company Whitbread has secured ‘mind to grant’ planning permission from Edinburgh City Council for the development of a new Premier Inn brand hotel at Edinburgh Airport, Scotland.
The new 218-room “budget” hotel will open in 2028.
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Whitbread has collaborated with development business Riverstone Hotels on the project. The partners revealed plans in November 2024 to construct the hotel.
Riverstone proceeded to file a planning application for the L-shaped building, which will span ground level plus four storeys.
The permission follows months of “positive” discussions with Edinburgh City Council.
With the approval, Premier Inn will expand its footprint in the vicinity of Scotland’s “busiest” airport, which offers access to more than 155 domestic and international routes.
The new location will allow customers to walk from the main terminal to the hotel in less than ten minutes.
Currently, Premier Inn claims to cater to 16 million passengers annually at Edinburgh Airport with its two nearby hotels.
Whitbread acquisition manager Jill Anderson said: “Edinburgh Airport is in growth mode. Passenger numbers are increasing steadily, and the list of direct destinations is growing longer every year.
“As the airport continues to succeed and grow, so are we by investing in additional bedrooms for our customers to enjoy – in this instance, so close to the terminal that they will be able to walk from the airport to the new hotel in less than ten minutes.”
The hotel will feature Premier Inn’s new design for bedrooms, featuring Premier Plus rooms along with the brand’s ‘The Social’ area on the ground floor.
Anderson added: “We will work closely with Riverstone to agree the final details and ensure progress is made quickly, so we can add more than 200 new, affordable hotel rooms at the key gateway into Scotland as soon as possible.”
The latest Premier Inn is one of three new hotels that Whitbread is investing in across Edinburgh, planning to contribute more than 500 “budget-friendly” rooms to the city.
Premier Inn provides over 85,000 rooms across more than 850 locations throughout the UK and Ireland. The chain has plans to increase this number to 125,000 rooms in its primary markets.
In January 2025, Whitbread announced plans to open a new 81-room hotel at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland.
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