Capital House in Festival Square, Edinburgh [image courtesy of LMA]
Capital House in Festival Square, Edinburgh [image courtesy of LMA]

Whitbread, the owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, has received confirmation from the City of Edinburgh Council that it has granted planning permission for the conversion of Capital House in the centre of Edinburgh into a 195-bedroom Premier Inn.

Whitbread will invest £21m in the conversion and rear extension of the 65,350 sq ft vacant office building.

Whitbread acquired Edinburgh Capital House freehold in late 2024 and submitted a planning application to change the use of the 1980s office block to a hotel in May 2025.

It will be Edinburgh’s 15th Premier Inn.

Jill Anderson, acquisitions manager for Scotland at Whitbread, said: “We are fortunate to have an established network of 14 trading Premier Inn hotels in Edinburgh which welcome a million visitors a year and drive £32m in annual external spending in the city.

“The strong year-round demand we are continuing to experience for our rooms in the city is driving the expansion of Premier Inn across Edinburgh, including at Capital House in the heart of the city centre.

“It is a sensational location for a budget hotel given its proximity to iconic tourist destinations like Edinburgh Castle, a host of theatres and concert venues, the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) and the Exchange District. 

“Getting the green light to convert the 1980s office into a latest format Premier Inn is a huge achievement for the team and we will waste no time in breathing fresh life into the empty building and adding another high-quality location for our customers in Scotland.”

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