No-frills hotel group Premier Inn is to launch a new compact “city centre” spin-off chain, with bedrooms that have an area of just 11.4 square metres each.
Called Hub by Premier Inn, the hotels will be aimed at “customers who value price, location and design over space“.
Each room would have a desk that folds into a bed and luggage storage under the bed as “every centimetre is optimised”.
In a bid to win over the Facebook generation, the hotels will also have their own app so customers can book and check in online, as well as pre-select their room temperature, light settings and in-room music.
Parent company Whitbread plans to open its first Hub, with 167 beds, on St Martin’s Lane in Covent Garden in autumn 2014, with up to 40 sites to be opened by 2018.
The smaller rooms and building size should mean 25% lower operating costs compared to existing Premier Inns in central London.
Whitbread has trialled the Hub concept with five prototype rooms at its Premier Inn in Kings Cross.
