British hotel chain Premier Inn has confirmed plans for a new site in Hunstanton, Norfolk, with parent company Whitbread proposing a 108-room hotel.
Whitbread said it is in the early stages of talks with planning officers at the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk regarding the scheme’s design.
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A formal planning application is expected to be lodged in the autumn.
The proposed “multi-million-pound” development would include the brand’s latest bedroom formats, among them its upgraded Premier Plus rooms, a restaurant focused on guest usage and dedicated on-site parking.
If planning consent is granted, the Hunstanton property would become Premier Inn’s first hotel on the North Norfolk coast and the first new site in the county since Premier Inn opened on the Great Yarmouth seafront in 2019.
Whitbread acquisitions manager Paul Smith said: “Hunstanton is one of the UK’s best-known seaside destinations and a place we’ve wanted to bring Premier Inn to for some time.
“It attracts visitors from across the East of England and beyond, yet it does not currently offer any branded hotel rooms to visitors.
“We believe a Premier Inn in Hunstanton would be a great addition to the town’s tourism offer, providing visitors with the quality, value and reliability they expect from the UK’s leading hotel brand while helping to support local businesses, jobs and year-round economic activity.”
The move comes as Whitbread steps up activity in Norfolk.
On 9 July, the company secured planning consent for the full redevelopment of its existing Norwich Nelson hotel.
The business said it is also examining further possible sites for Premier Inn hotels elsewhere in the county.
The new hotel is expected to be located in an “underutilised area” of car park, known as Seagate East Car Park, Southend Road.
Whitbread anticipates that, once operational, the proposed Hunstanton hotel would deliver “multi-million-pound benefits” to the local economy through wage payments and extra year-round visitor spending from guests. Premier Inn currently runs close to 850 hotels across its main UK market.
