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Avid readers of our trendwatching.com newsletter may recognize this one: YOTEL, a NO FRILLS CHIC hotel to be opened in London soon, brought to you by the people behind YO! Sushi and other YO! concepts. YOTEL will be a chain of funky NO-FRILLS CHIC hotels offering small but highly designed rooms (resembling sleeping pods now found in some first class airline cabins), featuring Sony flat screen TVs with surround sound speaker systems, WiFi access, a choice of hundreds of downloadable movies and CDs, double rotating beds, aircraft cabin mood lighting, and rain showers. Check in/out will be automated. However, the most interesting element of YOTEL is its windows, which are internal rather than external – they look into the corridors, which are in turn naturally lit through reflective mechanisms and channeling of light. This allows YOTEL to boldly go where other hotels simply can’t – tricky central city locations, airports, even underground. Reduced property costs and savings can then be passed on to consumers, resulting in a NO-FRILLS CHIC experience at NO-FRILLS CHIC prices: about GBP 70 (USD 135 / EUR 105) per night.

Opportunities

Affordable yet stylish hotels are the missing link in a world thriving on PLANNED SPONTANEITY: with low fare airlines and no frills rental car companies now spanning the globe, the only thing missing is new-style accommodation. YOTEL is already thinking big: starting in London this year, the company is inviting property owners in cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bucharest, Berlin, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Singapore, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Sydney to give them a heads-up about suitable buildings. One to watch closely, and not just if you’re in hospitality!