UK’s Whitbread plans 3,200 hotel rooms

Whitbread PLC, one of UK’s largest budget hotel and restaurant groups, plans to invest Rs 495 crore for setting up a chain of its Premier Inn hotels in India.

The hotel company’s subsidiary, Premier Inn India Pvt, which made its debut with a 105-room Bangalore hotel in November 2009, plans to add nine hotels in the next 3-5 years.

“Delhi opens this year, followed by Pune next year. Thereafter, we should be opening at least 5-6 hotels every year. By 2013, we will have around 10 operational hotels and another 15 under various stages of development,” said Aly Shariff, managing director, Premier Inn India.

Earlier Premier Inn had entered into a joint venture with Emaar MGF Land to set up the hotel chain in the country.

Emaar MGF with its associates owned 50.01% stake in the JV while the balance was held by Premier Inn India. However, Premier bought out Emaar in the joint venture.

“We bought out their (Emaar MGF) stake in the venture and are now developing all the properties ourselves,” said Shariff without disclosing financial details of the deal.

All the existing hotels and the upcoming ones will be owned, developed and managed by the Indian subsidiary. The management may also look at franchise and management contracts at a later stage.

“I think if a hotel company has the necessary resources and expertise to undertake franchise and management contracts, they should pursue it,” said Shariff.

By 2013, Whitbread PLC expects to have approximately 1,200 guestrooms and the overall investment of Rs 495 crore will buy them somewhere in the region of 3,200 guest rooms across the country.

Operationally, the company management believes their hotel business should mature in the third or fourth year of operation.  The management is confident of achieving profitability in 12-15 months from the launch of the hotel.

“Being the only hotel brand our properties are a pretty much standardised product offering. The positioning is at the top end of the budget segment. We are not a full-service hotel and the rates would depend on the location of the hotel. For instance, guestrooms at our Bangalore hotel are currently at Rs3,100,” he said.