Yotel partners US innovation platform Plug and Play to groom hospitality startups

DIGITAL-first hospitality group Yotel - which in last October opened its first Asian hotel in Singapore - on Tuesday announced that it will partner Silicon Valley's innovation platform Plug and Play to groom startups that will disrupt the travel and hospitality space.

"Plug and Play provides Yotel with a platform to discover, support and scale disruptive technologies that have the potential to positively influence travel and hospitality as we know it."

These technologies should help improve operational efficiencies and build brand loyalty, said Yotel.

Amir Amidi, managing partner at Plug and Play, said: "Yotel pioneered some of the earliest innovations in hospitality such as self-service check-in and guest-facing robotics, and we are excited to add them as one of our partners to help them remain as the leading hotel brand in innovation."

Hubert Viriot, chief executive officer of Yotel, added: "With 15 hotels under development... our new partnership comes at an opportune time to allow us to match promising startups with a global hotel portfolio."

London-based Yotel operates four airport hotels under the YOTELAIR brand in London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports; and three city hotels in New York, Boston and Singapore. A YOTELAIR in Singapore Changi Airport is being developed.