Whitbread PLC has secured planning permission from the City of Edinburgh Council for the conversion of Capital House into a new 195-bedroom Premier Inn hotel.
The £21 million investment will see the 65,350 sq ft vacant office building on Festival Square transformed and extended to create a latest format Premier Inn with a ground floor restaurant and bar.
The hotel is expected to welcome more than 56,000 business and leisure guests annually, generating an additional £8.1 million per year in visitor expenditure. Around half of that spend is anticipated to support city centre businesses, based on nationwide customer spend data from Whitbread.
Jill Anderson, Acquisitions Manager for Scotland at Whitbread, said, “The visitor economy in Edinburgh is thriving but there remains an unmet demand for additional budget hotel rooms in the city. Capital House represents an excellent opportunity for us to deliver new Premier Inn bedrooms at affordable prices for our customers in a fantastic city centre location.”
She added, “The location is ideal for both business and leisure customers. It is sustainable and highly accessible with direct bus, tram and rail networks within a short walk, it’s a stone’s throw from the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) and Exchange District and is close to tourist destinations like Edinburgh Castle, Usher Hall and other theatres.”
Whitbread submitted the application in May 2025 after acquiring the building in late 2024. With planning now approved, the group is preparing to move forward with development.
The project adds to Whitbread’s existing network of 14 Premier Inn hotels across Edinburgh, which currently welcome close to a million guests a year and generate more than £32 million in annual visitor spending.
Across the UK and Ireland, Whitbread operates more than 85,500 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms and has set a long-term goal to expand to 125,000 rooms.
The Capital House conversion has been designed by LMA Architects. A visual of the proposed development was submitted as part of the planning application.
Picture credit: Whitbread PLC
