NEOM has revealed its next hotel as YOTEL, the airport sleeper brand turned city-centre fuss-free hotel room provider. The YOTEL will be located in the giga-site’s OXAGON project, envisioned as the business and logisitical hub of the super-city.
The 300-key hotel will open in 2025, which means, as current plans stand, it will be the first hotel to open at OXAGON. According to YOTEL’s development team, it costs around US$148,000 per key to build a Yotel. This would mean the OXAGON hotel would cost around US$44 million to build.
Hotel facilities
Originally conceived as a pit-stop airport brand for layovers, that original YOTEL concept has since become YOTEL Air. There is also YOTEL Pad for longer stays and the newer YOTEL brand, which is what will be at NEOM. A YOTEL room is typically 30 sq m and are usually more environmentally friendly than larger, more amenity-packed properties.
Almost half of YOTEL’s guests are are between 30 to 49, while 28 percent are 50 to 64. A combined 44 percent of those staying in YOTELS do so for business or a combination of business and leisure.
“OXAGON’s ambition to house hospitality assets where innovative design, sustainability and technologies converge, echoes our core values at YOTEL,” said Hubert Viriot, CEO of Yotel. “We understand that the non-stop traveller craves destinations that won’t slow them down, and OXAGON promises to be a unique destination where new tech-enabled hospitality experiences can be live-tested. It is an honour to be one of the first hotels to open within a city redefining industries through sustainable innovation.”
The hotel’s location is at the heart of the integrated live-work-play Research and Innovation (R&I) district of OXAGON with a dedicated R&I campus.
“OXAGON’s hotel strategy is built around several pillars including technology, which is key for integration within a wider smart-city infrastructure,” said Vishal Wanchoo, CEO of OXAGON. “After a competitive selection process, YOTEL was the clear hotel brand of choice for the district, given our shared ambitions to focus on people-centric design, circularity and digital advancements.”
“YOTEL’s decision to open their property in NEOM’s OXAGON is a powerful endorsement of our ambition to redefine how people travel, stay and live. When complete, it will serve as the ideal home for modern travelers in search of thoughtfully curated and designed spaces, and we look forward to welcoming them,” added Chris Newman, executive director, Hotel Development at NEOM.
