Whitbread plc, the parent company of Premier Inn, has secured planning permission for a second hotel in Cork, signalling continued growth for the brand across Ireland.
The new 174-room site, located to the east of Cork city centre, received final planning approval on 28 October 2025. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026, around two years after the opening of Premier Inn’s first Cork property on Morrisons Quay.
The move forms part of Whitbread’s ambition to operate 5,000 Premier Inn rooms in Ireland. The company currently runs six hotels nationwide, including five in Dublin and one in Cork, offering a total of more than 800 rooms.
Whitbread first entered the Irish market in 2007 with a Premier Inn near Dublin Airport and opened its first Dublin city-centre hotel in 2021 on Stephen Street Lower.
In 2024, the group expanded its development target to include eleven regional locations, among them Killarney, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Sligo, Tralee and Westport, as well as Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford.
In addition to the new Cork project, Premier Inn has four Irish hotels currently in development.
These include two large Dublin city-centre sites at O’Connell Street and Jervis Street, both due to open in 2027, and further developments at Ushers Quay (D8) and Sandyford Business Park (D18).
Construction of another Dublin Premier Inn is expected to begin in 2026 with a target opening in 2028.
According to Matt Gent, development manager for Ireland, the brand’s broad customer appeal was driving its regional expansion.
He said: “The brand works equally well in popular towns and leisure locations as it does in global destinations such as Dublin, London, Berlin and Dubai. It’s one of the reasons why we believe so strongly in the opportunity for Premier Inn across Ireland and why we uplifted our network target to 5,000 rooms and eleven regional locations.
“Securing a planning grant for a second hotel is wonderful news for us and our customers, and I’m grateful to everyone who has been involved in getting us to this stage. With our success here, I hope it won’t be long before I can share more positive news of our growth across the country.”
