Hotel group Whitbread shook off worries over economic conditions, announcing first quarter 2026/27 results with sales volumes up, and forward bookings strong.
Group sales were up 2% at GBP727m, with Premier Inn hotels in both the UK and Germany performing positively. Accommodation sales in the UK were up 3%, with revpar up 2%, outperforming the comparable midscale and economy set. The group’s London hotels delivered particularly strongly, with sales up 7%, and revpar up 4%.
Improving Occupancy Levels
Occupancy in the UK was up at 79.1%, compared with 78.6% in 2025. Germany saw a greater improvement, with occupancy during the first quarter at 71.7%, up from 67.4% the prior year.
The group said its forward bookings into summer 2026 are greater than at the same time a year ago, providing it with confidence that it will deliver its full year forecast figures. The group is under pressure from activist shareholder Corvex, with calls for a different focus to that currently being pursued.
The company’s growth in Germany led to a 13% increase in total accommodation sales, year on year. The revpar measure was an average of EUR63 across the German properties, while at established hotels this rose to EUR73.
In April 2026, Whitbread opened its seventieth hotel in Germany, as it looks to head to 100 properties before long. To mark the milestone, it opened two hotels on the same day, the Premier Inn Hamburg City Berliner Tor and the Premier Inn Berlin City Spittelmarkt. Since then, it has launched a 144 room hotel in the university town of Göttingen.
The company continues to actively pursue growth in Germany, with Premier Inn Berlin Kopenick among the sites booked for a 2027 opening.
“Strong leisure bookings mean that our forward booked position is ahead of last year and we remain confident in the full year outlook,” said CEO Dominic Paul. “With a favourable supply environment in the UK and Germany, we are focused on driving our best-in-class commercial and efficiencies programmes whilst at the same time reducing our capital intensity by GBP1 billion.”
Whitbread continues to grow its portfolio across the UK and Ireland. Openings so far in 2026 have included the Hub by Premier Inn London Farringdon, and a Premier Inn in Bognor Regis. The company has also won approval for development of a Premier Inn hotel in Carlisle.
The Premier Inn Brand Grows in Ireland
In Limerick, Ireland, construction is under way on a 156 room Premier Inn, as the group heads towards a target of opening 5,000 rooms across the country. Currently, the group operates six Premier Inn hotels in Dublin and Cork with a further six hotels in the pipeline.
The company is also adding hotel rooms at many hotels, by repurposing its restaurants. Its Beefeater and Brewer’s Fayre restaurants will be closed, or sold off, with up to 600 additional bedrooms created as a result. Premier Inn will continue to offer breakfast for guests, but will no longer have an evening meal offer at its hotels.
