IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR) enters the Netherlands with Yotel, the revolutionary new hotel concept which is creating a stir across the hotel industry.

Construction of the 55-cabin Yotel has started in Amsterdam with plans to welcome guests in early 2008. 

“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,” said chairman and managing director of IFA HR Talal Jassim Al-Bahar.

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 two, 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.

“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,” said Woodroffe.

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.- TradeArabia News Service