Premier Inn has announced it will open its first hotel at Abu Dhabi airport early September 2013, way ahead of the 2020 target that was set when the deal was signed with Abu Dhabi Airports Company in 2010.
Speaking exclusively to Hotelier at Dubai’s AHIC conference which opened its doors yesterday, managing director, Darroch Crawford revealed that the 300-key property, Premier Inn’s second in the emirate, will employ just short of 100 staff.
It has been reported that Britain’s biggest hotel chain invested some AED120m ($32.7m) in its dedicated airport hotel, when the initial deal was struck.
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Crawford said that Abu Dhabi airport, currently handling some 12 million passengers, was chronically under-served by hotels and the Premier Inn property would provide dedicated accommodation located directly opposite terminal 1 and 3 of the airport.
The hotel will be managed by general manager, Paul Bridger, previously head of the chain’s Dubai Premier Inn property. “That hotel won the Premier Inn hotel of the year award in 2011, so we know the Abu Dhabi is in a safe pair of hands with Paul,” Crawford said.
The Abu Dhabi property is part of the group’s strategy for growth in the Middle East. Crawford has confirmed the company has several properties in the pipeline including two in Doha, one of which is currently under construction.
The group is also in discussions to operate a hotel in Saudi Arabia and is "close to signing a hotel in Oman".
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