In Brief: Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality company, is set to increase its footprint in Ireland with a new 156-room Premier Inn hotel at the culturally significant Limerick Opera Square.
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Whitbread to Open 156-Room Premier Inn at Limerick Opera Square – Image Credit Whitbread
Whitbread PLC has announced plans to build, operate, and own a 156-room Premier Inn hotel at the Opera Square development in Limerick, Ireland.
Whitbread PLC, parent company of Premier Inn, has acquired a site at the corner of Ellen Street and Patrick Street in Limerick’s Opera Square for a 156-bedroom Premier Inn hotel. The hotel will be built, operated, and owned by Whitbread following the site acquisition from Limerick Twenty Thirty. The project is part of Whitbread’s plan to develop a network of 5,000 Premier Inn hotel rooms across Ireland.
The Limerick Premier Inn will be the first private investment in the Opera Square development. The planned seven-storey hotel will offer a mix of Standard and Premier Plus bedrooms, as well as a free-to-use ground-floor lounge space for business and leisure travelers. The hotel’s opening is subject to an amendment to a pre-existing planning permission. Whitbread is expected to submit a planning application to Limerick City and County Council before the summer. Pending approval, construction could begin in 2027.
Whitbread currently operates six Premier Inn hotels in Dublin and Cork, totaling more than 1,000 guest bedrooms, with an additional six hotels and 1,000 guest rooms in development. The Opera Square hotel will expand Premier Inn’s presence to Limerick, Ireland’s third-largest city.
The Opera Square development is part of a broader urban regeneration project led by Limerick Twenty Thirty. Whitbread expects the new Premier Inn hotel to accommodate around 60,000 guests annually, based on the average occupancy of its trading hotels. In Limerick, Premier Inn expects to employ approximately 30 permanent team members, with recruitment focused within the city and county. All team members will be employed directly by Whitbread.
Premier Inn’s expansion in Ireland began with the acquisition of its first Dublin hotel location at George’s Street, Dublin 2, in 2019. Following subsequent openings in Dublin and Cork, the company increased its network target from 3,500 to 5,000 rooms across Ireland in May 2025, identifying more than 10 regional cities and towns for future locations, alongside further expansion in Dublin.
The Opera Square development includes plans for a civic plaza, city library, hotel, office accommodation, and housing within Georgian buildings. The Premier Inn hotel is one of the anchor developments in this project.
