Guernsey Premier Inn-coming!

Thursday 27 June 2019

After success in Jersey, Premier Inn is setting up shop in a second Channel Island, with £35million plans for the hotel franchise to come to Guernsey.

Works for the 100-bedroom hotel will take place on a derelict site on the outskirts of the island’s town St. Peter Port and are due to be completed by December 2021.

According to the hotelier, it was the popularity of the Jersey Charing Cross branch which opened in July 2018 that has encouraged them to expand their Channel Island offering by setting up in Guernsey.

With Jersey anticipating its second Premier Inn as part of £70million plans to breathe life into the north of town – proposals which are still awaiting Planning permission – Guernsey is now bringing in similar initiative to rejuvenate the long since derelict Admiral Park. 

Pictured: Jersey's rejuvenation plans (left) are similar, but larger scale than Guernsey's approved development (right).

Premier Inn’s Head of Acquisitions in London and the South, Derek Griffin, told Express: "We launched our first Premier Inn hotel in the Channel Islands almost a year ago. The success of the hotel at Charing Cross in St Helier has given us the confidence to invest in a further site on Jersey and now our first Premier Inn on Guernsey. 

The Guernsey proposals – which have now received planning approval – will also include office accommodation, a restaurant/brasserie and a 384-space multi-storey car park.

Work is due to begin in the next 4-6 weeks with the demolition of Sydney Vane House and the main project will begin in autumn of this year.

Speaking about what benefits the hotel will bring the island, Mr Griffin added: “It will bring a different type of accommodation to Guernsey, diversifying the accommodation offer for business and leisure guests. 

“It will also create new year-round jobs with the UK's leading hotel business, and our strong brand and established marketing channels will help to promote the island to existing Premier Inn customers who may not immediately think to visit.”

Pictured: Guernsey's first Premier Inn will replace a long since derelict site.

This sentiment was echoed by Steve Marie Managing Director of Comprop – the property developer undertaking the project – who hopes the project “will mean jobs for local residents, expansion opportunities for island businesses and a significant boost for the tourism industry." 

Major upgrades to the general infrastructure of the surrounding Elizabeth Avenue will be carried out as part of the development, along with extensive landscaping of the area. 

Guernsey building contractor JW Rihoy & Son has been awarded the contract for the complete Admiral Park development.

Mr Marie added: "It also presents the first new construction of large scale offices for a number of years which will give added flexibility to the office market."

The plans could also incorporate other amenities such as a cinema – which is hotly anticipated by locals – but the property developer said that no operators have yet signed a contract for the site. 

"We are not ruling out the opportunity for a cinema on the site and would welcome any approaches from operators and explore opportunities if they arise. Our discussions with Whitbread, Premier Inn's parent company, have led to today's announcement, so all things are possible."