Yotel plans upscale brand and city-center YotelAir as it targets 100 hotels
Yotel is developing new formats, including an upscale brand and smaller city-center YotelAir hotels, aiming for 100 properties by 2031.
Yotel, which currently operates about 24 hotels, plans to grow to 100 properties by 2031, according to CEO Phil Andreopoulos. The company is in talks to launch a more upscale brand that keeps Yotel's tech-focused, compact-room philosophy but would feature slightly bigger rooms, upgraded bathrooms and food and beverage offerings, in better locations at higher rates.
At the same time, Yotel is designing a smaller, city-center version of its airport-focused YotelAir brand, with pods guests can stand up in, closer in space efficiency to a Japanese capsule hotel. The company also plans to extend YotelAir into resort destinations.
Asia is a key growth priority: hotels are already open in Singapore, Japan and Bangkok, with Kuala Lumpur set to open early next year. Yotel is in talks with three major Asian airports over new YotelAir sites, and the target list includes Thailand, South Korea, Jakarta, Manila, Vietnam, Australia, and conversions in India, where Andreopoulos said the company has "not even started."
Yotel's affiliation with Hilton provides distribution reach and access to roughly 250 million Hilton Honors members. The company has retained ownership of its brand and design standards, a different path from citizenM, which sold to Marriott last year.