Premier Inn to lodge plans for Limerick hotel 

156-bed hotel will sit with Opera Square development

Computer-generated view of the planned Opera Site in Limerick.

The Premier Inn chain is to open a new 156-bed hotel on Limerick's Opera Square development acquiring a site on the corner of Ellen Street and Patrick Street.

Parent company Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest hotel company, will make the first private investment in the development as part of its strategy to build a network of 5,000 Premier Inn hotel rooms across Ireland.

Currently the company operates six hotel locations in Dublin and Cork with another six hotels and a further 1,000 guest rooms in development.

Subject to an amendment to pre-existing planning permission, the seven-storey Limerick Premier Inn will offer a mix of the brand’s standard and enhanced bedrooms targeted at business and leisure travellers.

Whitbread is expected to submit a planning application for the hotel to Limerick City and County Council before the summer. Pending approval, construction could begin in 2027 with an estimated 60,000 guests staying at the hotel each year. The hotel would employ approximately 30 people on a permanent basis in the completed hotel.

Whitbread is currently developing a second Premier Inn hotel in Cork on the site for the former Coliseum cinema and leisure centre. Sitting in the mid-scale and economy sector of the hotel market, Premier Inn appeals to Irish domestic travellers as well as international in-bound travellers from the UK.

Matt Gent, Development Manager for Whitbread in Ireland said there is strong and rising demand for affordable, high-quality accommodation across Ireland.

“Limerick is a city we have been looking at for some time, trying to find the right Premier Inn location. Opera Square offers an excellent mix of centrality, connectivity and long-term potential for both business and leisure guests, and we’re pleased to be investing in a development that forms part of the wider regeneration of the city centre, something Whitbread has a long and successful track record of doing in Ireland and across the UK.

Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, said: “My priority since my election has been improving delivery of long-standing city centre plans. That includes Limerick’s Opera Square. We all want to see strong delivery of a dynamic mixed-use complex there, with a new civic plaza, city library, a hotel, significant office accommodation and a different focus for the Georgian buildings to focus on housing creating a vibrant and active urban quarter.

Limerick Twenty Thirty Chair, James Collins said: "We are particularly pleased to secure an investment of this scale from an international operator that has been actively seeking the right location in the city, demonstrating the value of Limerick Twenty Thirty’s strategy to unlock strategic sites and attract high-quality external investment that supports long-term regeneration."

“A 156-bedroom hotel at Opera Square, on top of everything else that is happening, will play a key role in energising the programme. On completion, it will increase dwell time in the city centre, support the wider commercial ecosystem emerging at Opera Square and increase the economic benefit for businesses in the area. This investment strengthens the overall proposition of the development and reinforces Limerick’s position as a regional capital of scale and ambition.”