Yotel Announces Ambitious Growth Plans for Australia and First Flagship Hotel in Melbourne

The innovative hotel group intends to disrupt the traditional hotel offering in Australia with a focus on key gateway cities and airports

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- YOTEL today announced its first hotel in Australia: YOTEL Melbourne, slated to open in 2022. The hotel has been signed under a management agreement with Cornerstone Partners Group, an integrated hospitality asset owner and developer with offices in Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia.

The 244-room property will be located on 63-69 City Road in Southbank – within walking distance of Melbourne's CBD, the Arts Precinct, Federation Square and the Melbourne Cricket Ground – to name a few.

YOTEL Melbourne will be a flagship property for YOTEL in Australia, featuring the brand's latest generation of cabins (YOTEL speak for rooms) all equipped with a SmartBed™ as well as YOTEL's signature KOMYUNITI spaces designed to allow guests to seamlessly switch between work and play, with areas for co-working, informal meetings, relaxing and socialising, serving up everything from flat whites by UK specialty roaster Workshop Coffee to signature cocktails on the outdoor terrace. The property will also feature a 24/7 gym and viewing deck with restaurant and bar.

"Over the past two years, we have been actively searching for the right locations and partners to roll out our brands in Australia, a key market for our global expansion and a key feeder market for our hotels in the US, Singapore and the UK. With solid market fundamentals and global appeal, Melbourne is the perfect gateway to launch our first property in the country. Moreover, we are delighted to enter the market with Cornerstone Partners Group, an international leader in hospitality and real estate investments," said Hubert Viriot, CEO of YOTEL.

YOTEL took the hotel industry by storm in Europe, the U.S. and Singapore thanks to its cleverly designed cabins popular with both corporate and leisure travellers who appreciate quality, technology, comfort and a sense of community, but don't need the fuss or price of a traditional luxury hotel. The Company now intends to replicate its success in Australia with a fresh take on the national hotel sector.

"Australia is a very sophisticated hotel market with strong stakeholders; however, we believe the affordable luxury segment has been underserved and that's what YOTEL intends to solve. YOTEL Melbourne will serve as a launching pad for our brand across the country, following a similar strategy as what we did in the USA, where we first opened a property in New York in 2011 and now have 10 hotels under management with extensive operational synergies and strong distribution channels. We are already exploring development opportunities in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and we are confident we will soon have a robust hotel pipeline in place, targeting both our international customer base as well as the domestic market," continued Viriot.

The group is planning to bring all three of its brands to the region - YOTEL (the city centre concept), YOTELAIR (located at airports and busy transport hubs) and YOTELPAD (designed around the long stay guest). 

YOTEL Melbourne will be owned and developed by Cornerstone Partners Group and architecturally designed by CHT Architects.

"Our group is focused on finding gaps in the hospitality markets across Asia Pacific. In Australia, we believe there is an avenue for disruptive brands such as YOTEL, which offer something completely new to the market. We were also impressed by YOTEL's global development pipeline, focused on key gateway markets, which fits perfectly with our strategy, therefore it was only natural to join forces on our first project in Australia in Melbourne, one of the country's most cosmopolitan and urbanised cities," said Jason Chong, CEO, Cornerstone Partners Group.