Yotel Plans Upscale Brand and YotelAir in City Centers as It Targets 100 Hotels: Exclusive

Key Points

• Yotel is targeting 100 hotels by 2031, up from about 24, and is in active conversations about an upscale format with bigger rooms, upgraded bathrooms, and food and beverage, plus a city-center pod concept derived from airport brand YotelAir.
• Asia anchors the plan: Kuala Lumpur opens early next year, talks are underway with three major Asian airports, Thailand and Seoul are targets, and India is seen as a conversion opportunity the company has yet to enter.
• The Hilton affiliation gives Yotel access to Hilton Honors’ roughly 250 million members and Hilton’s booking channels, with the company expecting about two-thirds of business to come through direct channels — a different route from citizenM, which sold to Marriott.

Summary

Yotel plans to grow from about 24 hotels to 100 by 2031, and CEO Phil Andreopoulos told Skift the brand is building new formats to get there. Yotel is in active talks about an upscale version that keeps the compact, tech-led room but adds slightly bigger rooms, upgraded bathrooms, and food and beverage in better locations at higher rates, while holding on to the lean staffing model. It is also designing a smaller city-center version of YotelAir, its airport brand — closer to a Japanese capsule hotel in space efficiency, but with pods guests can stand up in — and plans to extend the brand into resort destinations. Asia carries much of the growth plan: Singapore, Japan, and Bangkok are open, Kuala Lumpur opens early next year, and Yotel is in talks with three major Asian airports over YotelAir sites. Thailand, South Korea, Jakarta, Manila, Vietnam, Australia, and conversions in India, where Andreopoulos said the company has “not even started,” are on the target list. Yotel’s affiliation with Hilton supplies distribution and access to roughly 250 million Hilton Honors members, and the company expects Yotel.com, Hilton.com, Hilton Honors, and the Hilton app eventually to generate about two-thirds of its business through direct channels. Yotel has kept ownership of its brand and design standards, a different path from citizenM, which sold to Marriott last year and now operates under long-term franchise agreements.