Premier Inn trialling smaller rooms in Cardiff hotel
Cardiff City Council has granted Whitbread, the parent company that owns Premier Inn, permission to increase the number of rooms in the hotel from 70 to 140, without any extension or external alterations.
Instead, the additional rooms at the three-storey hotel will come from reducing the width of the rooms and moving the existing corridor so that there are rooms on both sides, meaning some rooms will not have windows.
Whitbread declined to comment on whether the change in size would affect the price of rooms, or whether the smaller room concept would be rolled out in other hotels. However, on the planning application for the change it said: "Many guests at Premier Inns are in transit and/or spend little time in their bedrooms and Roath has been selected as a prototype for this new style."
Premier Inn has already experimented with smaller rooms at some city centre hotels and says guests are "perfectly willing" to use a room with no window. A key feature of the Hub by Premier Inn brand is its compact bedrooms, some of which also do not have windows.
The hotel restaurant and bar area will also increase in size.
Whitbread grows again in 2016/17 but warns of tougher outlook >>
Premier Inn growth drives Whitbread sales up 7.6% >>
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