Three new hotels will open this spring in Edinburgh, two of them off the Royal Mile on New Market Street, part of the New Waverley development, at the end of March, and the third in York Place.
All three will be Premier Inns and will mean 150 new jobs from reception staff to maintenance and 10 apprenticeships. Around half of the positions have been filled by those aged 16-24, many of whom were long term unemployed.
One of the New Market Street hotels will be ‘hub by Premier Inn’ which is a special branding. This is the first one outside London, and it is a new generation of compact city centre hotels where smart technology complements stylish design. The guests at hub control room settings with an Apple Watch, or iPhone or Android phone. They can even book in using one!
The modern rooms have great views over Edinburgh and to the River Forth. While every square inch is used thoughtfully we are assured the rooms will offer a calm haven the city centre.
The other two hotels also have great views of the city and feature a Thyme restaurant. All rooms have a luxury king-size Hypnos bed, 40″ flat screen TV and modern designs.
Meanwhile at Newcraighall Premier Inn will spend £1.8m extending their hotel and a further £1.2m will be invested at Edinburgh Central. Premier Inn now have 68 hotels in Scotland, all part of their expansion plans to have 85,000 bedrooms across the UK by 2020.
Simon Ewins, Chief Operating Officer for Premier Inn and hub, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be opening three new fantastic hotels in Edinburgh and it is great that we are able to bring so many jobs and apprenticeships to the city.
“hub is a new concept for us which we are really excited about, especially as this is the first one in Scotland and outside of London. We are confident our guests visiting the beautiful city of Edinburgh will enjoy this new digital experience and we will look to open more in Scotland in the future.”
Clive Wilding, Project Director for New Waverley said: “The opening of the two hotels at New Waverley marks an exciting turning point for the regeneration of this historic part of Edinburgh’s Old Town.
“It’s been a great working partnership with Whitbread, and together we are at last breathing new life into what has been a neglected part of Edinburgh’s historic city centre. The new hotels are already in good company – just along the street lie the Waverley Arches, a vibrant and completely different retail and leisure quarter which is already creating a real buzz around the city.
“The new hotels will contribute to this exciting mix at New Waverley which is continuing to attract more people back to the area, whether to live, work or visit.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
