Hotel Entrepreneur Thinks Small
The hotel room's in the airport terminal, but there's a catch: It's tiny.
March 20, 2008 — -- For travelers looking to escape the crowds and chaos that have become part of the air travel experience, look no further than Yotel, purveyor of the world's smallest hotel room.
Located uniquely inside the airport terminal buildings at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, Yotel offers luxurious, albeit small hotel rooms inside the departure lounge.
Yotel's creator, Simon Woodroffe, said the idea was to bring the first-class luxury of 37,000 feet down to ground level.
"It's luxury for everybody," he said. "It's the $50 first-class seat."
A room costs as little as $50, and since they're rented out hourly, they can cost even less.
Yotel rooms have all the features of a normal hotel room -- WiFi Internet connection, flat-screen TVs, nice bathroom and desk -- only packed into a 30-square-foot space.
Woodroffe said Yotel's small size, modern aesthetic and clever features make it "the iPod of the hotel industry."
His inspiration came after being upgraded to a sleeper bed on a British Airways first-class flight.
"I woke up realizing the solution was around me," he said. "All I needed to do was find the designer of the BA first-class cabin and ask them to help me design a hotel."
When asked whether the Yotel plan would work in a country where size matters, Woodroffe pointed to another American concept -- convenience.
"We are 20 paces away from check in," he said. "You're not going to be late."
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