Premier Inn grew total sales by more than 15% in the final quarter of 2013.
Sales at the budget chain for the 50 weeks to February 13 were up by 13.3% with total room nights sold up by 9.7% to 14.3 million over the same period a year earlier.
Parent company Whitbread said Premier Inn continued to win market share, with revenue per available room (RevPar) up by 5.1% and occupancy up by 1.5 percentage points to 78% over 2012.
Total RevPar grew by 9.6% in the final three months of the year and total occupancy was 68.1%, up 2.5% points year on year.
The group plans to open around 3,500 new rooms this year and 4,500 the year later. The chain has a ‘pipeline’ of 10,500 planned rooms.
Andy Harrison, chief executive of the hotels, Costa Coffee and restaurants group, said in a trading update today: “Whitbread delivered a strong fourth quarter, with total sales growth of 14% and like for like sales growth of 6.8%, driven by a particularly good Christmas trading period and, to a lesser extent, favourable weather comparatives in January.
“We continue to invest in our product quality and the Premier Inn brand with the launch of ‘our best ever bed’ campaign.
“This is a central pillar of our enhanced refurbishment programme.”