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Friday, November 13 - 2009

YOTEL, the world's most revolutionary hotel concept, to be unveiled at ATM 2006 for Middle East travellers

  • United Arab Emirates: Thursday, April 13 - 2006 at 08:25
  • PRESS RELEASE

YOTEL, the world's most revolutionary hotel concept, will be the highlight of the Middle East's leading travel and tourism show, ATM (Arabian Travel Market) 2006 that will be held in Dubai from May 2 to 5, 2006.

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  • YOTEL will be the highlight of the Middle East's leading travel and tourism show, ATM (Arabian Travel Market) 2006.
    YOTEL will be the highlight of the Middle East's leading travel and tourism show, ATM (Arabian Travel Market) 2006.
A prototype of the radical YOTEL project will be unveiled at the event for the first time in the Middle East.

YOTEL was created by YO! Everything founder Simon Woodroffe and YOTEL CEO Gerard Greene. The idea originally came to Simon after he was upgraded into first-class on a British Airways flight to the Middle East, and he decided to translate the language of luxury airline travel into a small capsule-style hotel, which Gerard Greene evolved into today's reality.

Woodroffe said:

"YOTEL is poised to take the hospitality industry by storm, and ATM 2006 is Dubai's first opportunity to see what the big deal is. I am really excited to be showcasing YOTEL in Dubai for the first time. After more than three years of hard work, we have created a totally new concept, which has the potential to transform the hotel industry forever. It really took a quantum leap to create what we believe offers travellers aspirational luxury at an affordable price."


YOTEL, a cross between Japanese capsule hotels and business-class air travel, will open its first two 'cabin' hotels at London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports in September 2006, following a major investment by IFA Hotels & Resorts. At London Heathrow, a 40-cabin YOTEL will open within Terminal 4, while at London Gatwick, a 50-cabin YOTEL will open within the South Terminal building, following a unique agreement with the British Airport Authorities (BAA).

Woodroffe is the creator of the worldwide restaurant phenomenon YO! Sushi and is a well-known entrepreneur from the UK following a stint as a 'dragon' on the popular UK BBC2 television series, 'The Dragons' Den' where aspiring entrepreneurs vie for support from established business people. He and Gerard Greene will travel from London to take part in ATM 2006 and showcase their groundbreaking venture.

Greene said: "With YOTEL, we want to shake things up in the travel industry. It is all about thinking outside the box and creating a value-for-money, yet high-design, hip product that travellers desire. YOTEL will be the iPod of the hotel industry."

The YOTEL hotel prototype will be on show at the IFA Hotels & Resorts' Stand 3410 throughout ATM 2006 from May 2 to 5. IFA Hotels & Resorts owns a majority stake in YOTEL, and is behind its first two developments at London Heathrow and London Gatwick.
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Notes and media contacts

About YOTEL www.yotel.com:
With the signature YO! formula of innovation and entertainment, the YOTEL concept uses the language of airline travel and offers a business class experience for less than £80 a night. Designed by Priestman Goode, who have helped Airbus define the interior of the double deck aircraft of the future, the 'cabins' are 10m² and feature rotating double beds, techno walls, sophisticated lighting, pull down desks, monsoon shower, flat screen TV and wi-fi access. Cabins will be bookable in blocks of four hours enabling delayed and transfer passengers to relax privately in a hotel environment. In addition, passengers leaving on those early morning flights can stay the night before to catch some extras hours sleep in the morning and check in online from the comfort of their rooms safe in the knowledge that they are just a casual stroll for their next morning's departure. Early arriving passengers may also check-in for a few hours before going to a meeting.

However, the real innovation of YOTEL is its windows, which will face onto the corridor creating a "street", while at the same time providing complete light and sound privacy at the guest's wishes. This will allow YOTEL to open in tricky central city locations, airports, rail hubs and even underground. Reduced land costs add to YOTEL's ability to provide affordable prices.

About IFA Hotels & Resorts www.ifahotelsresorts.com

IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR) is a leader in the development of premier integrated and mixed-use hotel and tourism resort projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean region and Africa

Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of US$ 1.3 billion, IFA HR's main shareholder is Kuwaiti based International Financial Advisors (IFA). IFA Hotels & Resorts South Africa is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as of February 27, 2006.

IFA HR projects and investments in Dubai include The Fairmont Palm Hotel & Resort, the Fairmont Palm Residence (www.fairmontpalmresidence.com), the Crescent Resort on the Palm Island (to be managed by Fairmont Hotels & Resort), The Palm Residence (Al Nabat and Al Haseer), the Palm Golden Mile (www.thepalmgoldenmile.com) and the Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Laguna Tower Dubai (www.lagunatower.com). IFA HR's other projects are the Kempinski Alabadiyah Hills in Beirut (www.abadiyahhills.com), a shareholder in the Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut, the Zanzibar Beach Hotel & Resort (www.zanzibarbeachresort.com), the Zimbali Coastal Resort & Zimbali Lakes (www.zimbali.co.za), the Zimbali Lodge (www.zimbalilodge.co.za), the Fairmont Zimbali (www.fairmontzimbali.com), shareholder in 5 Lonrho Hotels in Kenya (www.lonrhohotels.com) and in YOTEL (www.yotel.com), which owns two YOTEL hotels in Heathrow and Gatwick, United Kingdom. IFA HR is also the force behind the super-premium Sheraton Algarve Hotel (www.luxurycollection.com) and Pine Cliffs Resort (Portugal) (www.pinecliffs.com), part of Starwood's Luxury Collection.

Globally, IFA HR have entered into strategic alliances and Joint Venture partnerships with leading companies such as Kingdom Hotel Investment Group (Saudi Arabia), Nakheel (UAE), United Investments Portugal, Savills (United Kingdom), a strategic alliance with RCI (part of the Cendant's Group) and Moreland Developments (Pty) Ltd (South Africa).

IFA HR aims to link its resorts to new parts of the globe, such as the US, the UK, Mauritius, Eastern Europe and the Far East. This will offer investors and tourists access to world class facilities through a network of hotels, residential resorts, vacation and residence club destinations.

IFA HR programme of brand acquisition and developer partnerships will continue into the future and is evidenced by the ever growing strength of its product range:

IFA - Hotels & Resorts
IFA - Lifestyle Membership Clubs
IFA - Vacation Ownership
IFA - Fractional Ownership
IFA - Hotel Ownership
IFA - Residences
IFA - Travel & Tourism

This unique product range enables IFA HR to continuously anticipate and deliver to the varying property investment and leisure requirements across the globe.

For further information please contact:
IFA Hotels & Resorts
PR Manager - Melanie Maier
Tel: +971 50 640 4674
www.ifahotelsresorts.com

Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications
Tel : +971 4 3988901
Fax : +971 4 3988941
Website: www.orientplanet.com

YOTEL - UK
Alice Swinhoe / Andrea Wait
Tel: + 44 20 7259 1100

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