tl;dr – Hilton makes a move in the ‘smart-convenience’ sub-segment of ‘lifestyle’ travel.
Hilton recently announced an exclusive franchising deal with YOTEL. As part of the deal, YOTEL will become the first brand under the new “Select by Hilton” platform, bringing its 23+ global tech-forward, compact hotels to the Hilton platform. As part of Hilton Honors, travelers will be able to earn and redeem at YOTEL properties.
According to Hilton’s press release, YOTEL “launched in London in 2007, [and] has extended its innovative brand to hotels in key markets like New York, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Glasgow and Singapore with smart, efficient room designs that feature the YOTEL SmartBed™, which can transform from a flatbed to a sofa with the touch of a button, and tech-forward features like automated luggage storage.”
Hilton plans to scale YOTEL worldwide, to 3X its current footprint, so we’ll definitely be seeing more of these properties. I’m not much of the target traveler for the YOTEL brand, but the enhanced distribution of Hilton’s platform should make it more accessible for those folks who do rock with it.
