IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR) is entering YOTEL, the revolutionary new hotel concept creating a stir across the hotel industry, into Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.  Construction of the 55 cabin YOTEL has started with plans to welcome guests early 2008.
Talal Jassim Al-Bahar, Chairman and Managing Director of IFA HR stated, “In line with YOTEL’s global expansion strategy, we are delighted to announce the partnership with Schiphol Group and our entry into the Netherlands. YOTEL is the hotel of the future, offering luxury accommodation at an affordable price and the concept of YOTEL is ideal for major transportation hubs and urban destinations that host a strong mix of leisure and business visitors. Amsterdam, therefore, provides the perfect location for the first YOTEL location outside the UK.”

The Schiphol site, YOTEL’s third property, will be YOTEL’s first air-side hotel, located inside the airport terminal after passport control on the second floor of lounge 2, close to Pier D. One of Europe’s busiest airports, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the ideal site for YOTEL - a dynamic environment servicing business and leisure travellers with over 44.2 million passengers passing through it per year.
The first of YOTEL’s pioneering, luxurious cabin hotels opened in London in July 2007, within London Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal building. A cross between Japanese pod hotels and business-class air travel, YOTEL is the brainchild of Simon Woodroffe, founder of the YO! brand who hit upon the idea after being upgraded to first-class on a British Airways flight, and decided to translate the language of luxury airline travel into a small capsule-style hotel.

Woodroffe commented “The radical approach of the YOTEL brand with the signature YO! formula of innovation and entertainment fits well with Schiphol’s visionary picture of the new world. YOTEL aims to make the airport experience as pleasurable as possible.  At London Heathrow, a 32-cabin YOTEL will open within Terminal 4 in December 2007.
Other international locations, in addition to this first air-side location at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, are already under negotiation and will be announced in due course.”

The next-generation cabins come fully equipped for all the needs of the business traveller with desks, free WiFi and wired internet access, workstations and ‘techno wall’ entertainment systems and all cabins come with the facilities expected from a comfortable hotel room to enable work, relaxation, sleep, refreshment and entertainment.  Available in ‘Premium’ double, and ‘Standard, large single’ all have en-suite bathrooms, in-cabin entertainment and 24hr room service.

The airport location and the fact that cabins are bookable in four-hour blocks means that delayed and transfer passengers will be able to relax in privacy while taking in a movie, or enjoy a refreshing shower. Passengers leaving on early morning flights can spend the night before with YOTEL to catch some valuable sleep before travelling, safe in the knowledge that they are just a stroll away from their departure point.
Al Bahar concluded: “YOTEL represents our commitment to partnering with innovative industry leaders, and typifies the diverse portfolio of products in our expansion plans. We’ve already witnessed great success at our Gatwick site and we feel very strongly that the growth potential of this concept continues to be strong.”
——-