First off, calm down. No one is taking away your beloved ‘all-you-can-eat’ breakfast. Premier Inn is not closing all their restaurants—yet. But like a suspicious lump in your hotel pillow, there’s a bit more to this story than meets the eye.
Here’s the headline: some of their standalone restaurants, like the ones attached to the hotel but not inside it—think Brewers Fayre or Beefeater—have been quietly shutting their doors. It’s a strategic downsizing, not a full-blown apocalypse for the hash brown supply chain. Surprising fact: According to Whitbread (the company that owns Premier Inn), they closed around 200 of these standalone sites between 2026 and 2026. That’s the equivalent of you deciding to finally clear out your fridge—dramatic, but necessary.
Why Are They Closing? (Spoiler: It’s Not Because the Coffee is Terrible)
The main reason is money, which is usually the boring answer, but stick with me. Whitbread looked at their books and realised that running a giant steakhouse next to a Travelodge-style hotel was costing more than it was worth. The restaurants were often half-empty by 8 pm, and the profit margins were as thin as the slice of ham you get in a supermarket sandwich.
“But what about the Thyme restaurants inside the hotels?” I hear you ask. Good question, you attentive reader. Those are staying put. The in-hotel Thyme restaurants are the golden geese of the Premier Inn empire. They serve breakfast to frantic families at 7 am, and a surprisingly decent burger to weary business travellers who can’t work a microwave. Surprising fact: Premier Inn sells about 25 million cooked breakfasts every year. That’s enough bacon to wrap the entire M25 motorway in a crispy blanket.
