YOTEL was created by YO! Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe OBE and YOTEL’s first CEO Gerard Greene. The idea was conceived by Simon after he was upgraded into first class on a British Airways flight. He decided to translate the language and the luxury of airline travel and a touch of Japanese influence into a small but luxurious cabin.
Gerard had spent years staying in boring and expensive hotels and decided to do something about it. In 2002 he met with Simon, secured funding for a prototype cabin from our partners IFA Hotels & Resorts and then pulled together a team to evolve Simon’s idea into reality. Together they embarked on an incredible journey to open the first airport hotel in 2007. YOTEL now has three modern airport hotels (Heathrow T4, Gatwick South Terminal, Schiphol Amsterdam) and one big city centre hotel near Times Square in New York. More hotels are being planned across the world including Asia, east and west coasts of America and Europe.
At YOTEL we are very passionate about hotels and we have tried to create a 'First class experience at an affordable price'. YOTEL cabins are slightly smaller than traditional hotels rooms but through great design we offer a beautifully designed, high tech, flexible smart space to suit individual needs in which to relax, refresh, connect and sleep. We know the things that usually irritate you about hotel rooms and we've tried to take them all away !
