USA to spearhead Yotel's expansion beyond Europe
Yotel, the Japanese-pod style hotel chain, has revealed plans to expand outside Europe, with its first property to launch in the USA next year.
The company, which was launched in 2007 by chief executive Gerard Greene and Yo Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe, will open a hotel in New York in spring 2011. The hotel, located near Times Square will be the first Yotel located outside an airport environment.
Yotel, which is backed by Kuwait-based investment company IFA Hotels and Resorts, currently operates three hotels at Gatwick and Heathrow airports in London and Schipol airport in Amsterdam.
Its cabins are aimed at business travellers stopping over between flights, or in case of delay, and are bookable for a minimum of four hours or for overnight stay.
Yotel Times Square, which will be co-designed by The Rockwell Group and Softroom, will feature 669 cabins. It will be part of Related Company's 1.2 million sq ft, 60-storey Leed-Silver complex comprising residential units and a Frank Gehry-designed Signature Theatre.
Greene said the New York hotel was the first of further Yotels located outside of airports. "A solution to boring and expensive hotels Yotel uses radical design to offer the customer an exciting product and better value for money," he said.
"Not satisfied with airports we are now transferring a successful brand to city centres across the globe"
Joe Sita, president of IFA Hotel Investment, added: "Yotel is different from other investments we have in the hotel sector and we truly believe it represents the future. It is a brand that is going to grow exponentially in the next few years."
Plans to open 20-plus Yotels in next two years >>
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By Kerstin Kühn
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