Lübeck, Frankfurt am Main, London, 13.06.2023 - The final construction phase for the new Premier Inn Hotel, which is being built directly at Lübeck's main railway station, officially began today with the topping-out ceremony. Mayor Jan Lindenau as well as representatives of the project developer Citygrove, the operator Premier Inn and the construction company HTG emphasised the importance of the new accommodation in the street 'Beim Retteich' for the Hanseatic city. The hotel with 203 rooms and 68 parking spaces is to be completed and opened on the approximately 6000 square metre site by spring 2024.

At the topping-out ceremony, Mayor Jan Lindenau was pleased that construction work on the long-distance bus terminal is progressing according to plan. "In a few months, an important part of our redevelopment of the station district will be completed within walking distance of the Holstentor and the city centre, which will be further upgraded in this way. In addition, the good public transport connections are an important aspect of this project for me. This means that even more guests of our city will have the opportunity to travel in a climate-friendly and comfortable way".

Toby Baines, CEO of Citygrove, also looked ahead in his speech: "My anticipation for the day when the first guests stay here in a great location to the historic old town is increased even more with today. With this great hotel in a city that is a World Heritage Site, we are putting an exclamation mark on our real estate developments in Germany." Sebastian Schoenbach, Development Director Citygrove praised the collaboration with operator Premier Inn and general contractor HTG. "For such an outstanding location, such a rapidly expanding and creative hotel brand and an innovative construction company are exactly the right partners."

Dr. Michael Cratzius, Managing Director of general contractor HTG Hoch- und Tiefbau Gadebusch, sees the fact that the Lübeck hotel project has so far remained so well on schedule despite supply chain bottlenecks, a shortage of skilled workers, inflation and general economic conditions as a success of the interplay between all the players in the planning and implementation of the project: "All the employees at the construction site have shown huge commitment in the past months to master the numerous challenges." The Hamburg architecture and planning firm agn leusmann is responsible for the design of the building with five storeys and a staggered storey, which adapts to the curved street with a bend in the ground plan.

Chris-Norman Sauer, Acquisitions Director Germany of Premier Inn Germany, explains the special qualities of the new hotel in the Hanseatic city and the reasons for his company's decision to locate there: "Lübeck is both an economically strong metropolis and an attractive tourist destination on the Baltic Sea. Mainly because of this double demand, the accommodation market in the Hanseatic city recovered particularly quickly after the Corona pandemic and has developed very positively since then. Therefore we are pleased that Premier Inn is able to have such a good presence in Lübeck." 49 hotels of the brand are currently already open throughout Germany.

For Christian Martin Lukas, Managing Director of Lübeck und Travemünde Marketing GmbH, the location is not only interesting for guests, but also for those travelling from the Hanseatic city to other destinations on the Baltic Sea. "The combination of a city break and a holiday by the sea is becoming increasingly popular. For this, the location of the new Premier Inn is ideal." According to Christoph Bergob-Jachens, Project Manager Business Settlement at the Lübeck Economic Development Agency, Premier Inn as an internationally successful and well-known brand further enhances Lübeck as a location, especially for travellers from abroad: "Lübeck needs such international flair."

 

Background:

Citygrove is a property development and investment company specialising in commercial business and residential projects in the UK, Spain and Germany. There are many years of experience in the development of retail, leisure, residential, hotel and office properties. The construction projects are planned and managed from the company's offices in London and Madrid.

Premier Inn stands for dreamlike sleep and fair value for money. In around 50 Premier Inn hotels, business and leisure travellers will find a top offer in numerous German cities. This goes down well with guests: More than half of all Premier Inn hotels have already received a "Travellers' Choice Award" for guest satisfaction from TripAdvisor. The brand has also won several awards: Among others, in 2023 in a test of budget hotels by the TV channel n-tv as one of the top 3 brands with a quality rating of "very good", as well as twice in 2022 as an employing company on the basis of kununu ratings as "Top Employer" (freundin) and as "Most Wanted Employer" (ZEIT). In total, Premier Inn has secured around 80 locations in this country with about 15,000 rooms in more than 30 major cities. In its expansion, the popular hotel brand continues its successes from the United Kingdom: Premier Inn belongs to the long-established hospitality company Whitbread PLC with more than 840 hotels, around 84,000 rooms and a history of almost 300 years. www.premierinn.de

Whitbread PLC was founded in 1742 and is one of the oldest and most renowned companies in Europe. In addition to the nationally popular Premier Inn hotel brand, the group also includes the restaurant chains Bar + Block, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Cookhouse + Pub, thyme Bar + Grill and Whitbread Inns. Whitbread PLC is a listed company. It is listed on the FTSE100 index and FTSE4Good index. As a market-leading company in the UK, Whitbread is also setting industry benchmarks with its Force For Good sustainability programme, including a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, and announced the issuance of approximately EUR 625 million of green bonds in 2021. www.whitbread.co.uk

Press contacts:
Citygrove:
Sebastian Schoenbach
Associate Development Director
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7647 1700; Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 346 784
Mail: sSchoenbach@citygrove.com

Premier Inn:
Katrin Kleinhans
Senior Manager Corporate Communications
Premier Inn Germany
M +49 151 55067150
Mail: katrin.kleinhans@whitbread.com

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