Yotel said it will launch its brand in the United States in June with the opening of Yotel New York located on West 42nd Street and 10th Avenue at Times Square West. The budget hotel will feature 669 stylish “cabins,” the company’s term for rooms.
Guests check in at airline-style kiosks. The hotel also features Yobot, the a luggage robot that stores left luggage and is part of a baggage management system. Yotel’s Premium Cabins, which are under 200 square feet, come with motorized moving beds for saving space; monsoon shower; Technowall with TV, music and power services; workstation; free Wi-Fi; and complimentary breakfast
Eighteen First Class Cabins and three VIP two Cabin Suites, come with private outdoor terraces and hot tubs. Yotel New York also will feature 18,000 square feet of flexible work and entertainment space:
Dohyo, the Japanese word for the Sumo wrestling platform and descriptive of Yotel’s original table sharing concept, is the hotel’s restaurant. Tables lower and raise for Japanese-style seating and a performance entertainment area out of dining hours. A Club Lounge features individual Club Cabins for meetings and private parties, bar and a DJ booth. A Studiyo is designed for meetings, yoga, cinema, events and parties. Finally The Terrace, which the company said will be New York’s largest outdoor hotel space, features two bars, pagodas, fire, and blankets for autumn evenings
Yotel New York can be booked for stays starting on June 15 at rates from $149 per night. A 3D walkthrough of the hotel is available at www.youtube.com/yotel.
Designed in collaboration with the Rockwell Group and Softroom, Yotel was originally conceived by the founder of Yo!, Simon Woodroffe, and realized by Yotel CEO Gerard Greene. “I was lucky enough to be upgraded to first class on British Airways,” said Woodroffe. “I went to sleep with the conundrum of how to create a flexible and convenient hotel experience at an affordable price. The Yotel brand is launching its first city center hotel, I expect Yotel to be in the world’s top 10 hotel brands in the next 10 years. Yotel totally fulfills the holy grail of retailing, a top-end product at a below expectation cost.”
“A solution to expensive and boring hotels, I wanted Yotel to use innovative radical design to create a mixture of luxury, fun, comfort and excitement at an affordable price, turning the hotel industry on its head,” said Greene CEO.
IFA Hotel Investments, a subsidiary of international resort and residential developer IFA Hotels & Resorts, oversees the investment in the Yotel brand. “We’re very excited about the opening of Yotel in New York,” said Joe Sita, president of IFA Hotel Investments. “Yotel is different from other investments we have in the hotel sector and we truly believe it represents the future of the hotel industry. It is a brand that is sure to grow exponentially over the next few years.”
Yotel launched as a revolutionary hotel concept in the summer of 2007, with its first location inside London’s Gatwick South terminal. In December 2007, the brand opened its second airport location inside London’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 4, followed by its third location in the airside transit area at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, in September 2008.
For more information, visit www.yotel.com.
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