UK-based hotel chain YOTEL is set to open its first property under its extended-stay brand, YOTELPAD, in East London next week.
While YOTEL is best-known for its compact rooms in airports and city centres, the hotel group is debuting its studio-style accommodation in the English capital on 1 July.
The new-build YOTELPAD London Stratford property includes 62 studios (or PADs), a 24-hour reception area, a grab-and-go outlet and laundry facilities.
The property will mark the European debut of the brand, and the third outpost worldwide – joining existing US properties in Miami and Utah.
The Stratford opening marks YOTEL’s seventh property in the UK and third in London, joining properties in Clerkenwell and Bethnal Green.
Ahead of its opening on 1 July, we took a tour of the property and spoke to Hubert Viriot – CEO of YOTEL – about the brand’s debut.
YOTEL's brand comparisons
The YOTELPAD aparthotel brand was created in 2018 to respond to rising guest demand for more flexibility and space within the accommodation sphere.
The group’s other brands include YOTEL, which operates city centre hotels, and YOTELAIR, which focuses on airport properties (see our review of the Gatwick property).
The group initially had plans to open its first YOTELPAD in the Swiss city of Geneva, however this eventually became a YOTEL instead – making way for the British debut.
We spoke to Hubert about the differences between each of the brands in the portfolio.
“[YOTELAIR is for] customers on the go, travelling at airports, connecting and requiring the perfect place to stay in between aeroplanes.
“That same customer staying for a short, typically two-night stay, in key cities, be it Geneva, New York, London or Tokyo, needs to be central area, close to work, entertainment and so forth – That’s what YOTEL is for.
“YOTELPAD is the third iteration – still targeting the same customer, but that person in a slightly different travel mode, potentially on a work assignment, digital nomad or on holiday. Suddenly they aren’t staying for two nights, but 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 nights, potentially with a partner, young family, with more luggage, requiring a little bit more privacy, and an area to dine.
“YOTELPAD is trying to be this perfect hybrid product between a residential and hotel stay…
“We’re trying to talk to the younger, nomadic guest, digitally connected but also price conscious and can’t afford a three-bedroom apartment in a huge condo in prime London.”
Finding a home in Stratford
The property is conveniently located in the heart of Stratford, home to multiple entertainment and sporting attractions as well as excellent connections into the city centre and major airports (most can be reached within an hour by public transport).
The seven-storey building is located on Broadway, at the end of Stratford High Street – a ten-minute walk to Stratford Station, served by the Elizabeth, Central and Jubilee lines, London Overground, DLR and National Rail services.
Plus, attractions within walking distance include Westfield Shopping Centre, a PictureHouse cinema and theatre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the ABBA Arena and London Stadium (home to West Ham FC).
Commenting on the choice of location, Hubert said:
“Where else but Stratford, which is kind of the future version of London, combining residential, retail, work, lifestyle, nature… I thought it was the perfect place to launch the brand.
“Being a newer part of town, we were also able to design a purpose-built YOTELPAD. Stratford is perfect to build a new product because this is what it’s all about here. It’s all new developments and so forth.
“I thought it was quite important to do a ground up development to launch the brand. In the future, we will consider converting existing properties. But to launch, I thought it was great to be able to demonstrate how a YOTELPAD works from A to Z.”
YOTEL expects to see a mixture of business and leisure guests at the property, owing to its location.
“We’ll see a very nice mix between the two, especially in a destination like Stratford, because of its multiple type of travellers. I think we’ll have a more corporate driven core demand, staying longer during weekdays – [perhaps] on an assignment in London, or maybe a nomadic traveller who lives in Edinburgh and comes to London for a week to work.
“But then, because we’re in Stratford and you’ve got the games, concerts and all the entertainment, you’ll also have a more transient leisure traveller, especially on weekends or in the summer season.”
The pad's public spaces
In contrast to YOTEL’s bold purple colour scheme, the YOTELPAD properties feature a black and yellow palette which has a more serious and business-like feel.
As you enter the property, there is a small and compact lobby with a manned reception desk and two digital check-in kiosks. YOTEL is also working on digitalising the customer journey, with guests eventually able to use a digital key to enter the property.
“The principle is you can self-operate here. It’s just much easier, especially on the longer stay basis, for you to be able to manage your stay directly from your smartphone.”
Also in the lobby is a grab-and-go space. While it’s not stocked yet, I’m told that all snacks and drinks (aside from the obligatory Coca-Cola) will be sourced locally – products will include the likes of Square Root lemonade and gin from a local distillery.
Aside from this, there are no communal spaces, giving the sense that the property is designed for the individual traveller rather than someone seeking social spaces. Unlike YOTEL properties, this property does not have the 24-hour Revolve lounge/dining space.
“Typically in a YOTEL, the rooms are much more compact, so the view is that you’re doing work, meeting friends, socialising, dining outside of your room and that’s when you go to Revolve.
“In a YOTELPAD, which is much more homey, there’s more space in your room [and] you’ve got a kitchenette. You’ll do far more inside your pad than you would inside the hotel room.
“So this hotel is not equipped with a co-working space. Some YOTELPADs will [have this]. It’s a question of size. We have only 62 rooms here – the target is independent travellers.”
Larger YOTELPAD properties, however, may feature a “lighter version of Revolve, where it’s more like a lounge”.
Studio apartments
Categories include Queen Room and Studio Pad (16.6 sqm), Studio Pad Plus (18 sqm) and Premium Studio Pad (22 sqm). There are five accessible accommodations in the property, which feature the same design and amenities.
Since the rooms are small, I can’t imagine guests staying here for an extended period of time but rather using them for additional space and flexibility to cook and work in their rooms.
“We’re trying to target this kind of six night/one week stay, which is growing across the world… This is a relatively small property, so I think you’ll have a longer stay customer base during the weekdays, a shorter stay during the weekends. Some people, when they relocate to London, need to spend a month somewhere and they may like a place like here. I’m sure we’ll have some of them, but it’s not the main purpose.”
“Demand for extended stay used to be corporate workers in big multinational companies. It still exists. But that’s a small part of the segment. And the big part of the segment now is digital nomads.”
“We see the purpose of travel being increasingly incredibly blurry. It’s work, it’s leisure, it’s a mix of everything and as a result, flexibility is critical. It’s not just “I want a good hotel room to work from”, it’s also “I want to be able to stay, invite my friends, maybe cook a little bit because I’m staying for a week”.
“In a not so distant future I think we’ll have to look at segmentation [of corporate and leisure guests] differently because everybody’s a bit of everything. It’s about understanding this requirement.”
Pad features
The design is bright and minimalist, with wooden-slats extending from the ceiling to the headboard, floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the cityscape, and pops of yellow.
As with the other YOTEL properties, the rooms include the comfortable SmartBed, but also feature a sofa which varies in size depending on the room layout – note Queen Room and Studio Pad categories don’t have this feature. Further furnishings include a small coffee/dining table with an adjustable height, a large desk for working and a kitchenette.
Kitchenettes are equipped with cutlery, crockery, a microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster and Nespresso coffee machine – with the Premium Studio Pad also including a hob and a dishwasher.
Note that the Queen Room is more like a hotel room than apartment – it does not have a kitchenette as such, but a counter.
“If your average guest stays four or five nights, you don’t need to have a giant kitchen. Nobody’s going to cook a full six course meal for twelve people when you’re on a four-night stay in a place. But you may want to cook yourself a breakfast or, you know, some noodles or something. Having a nice little kitchenette makes sense, right?” explains Hubert.
Bathrooms, meanwhile, are housed within a glass-frosted space and include walk-in rain showers and large-sized Urban Jungle amenities – though studios feature the sink in the main room area.
Triangular-shaped areas jut out of one side of the building, which means that rooms on this side of the property feature an interesting nook-style window-side space, home to a small lounge spot for reading or catching some natural light.
What's next?
When it comes to YOTELPAD, Hubert is confident about the expansion of the brand – particularly given the rise in demand for extended-stay properties.
“We are pretty confident that we’re going to see a strong growth of YOTELPAD across Europe. We’re anticipating a pretty good market response.”
Returning to the notion of blurry boundaries between the corporate and leisure guest, YOTEL is also planning to combine its offerings in dual-branded developments to cater to various travellers under one roof.
“The idea is to launch the product showcase, and then roll out either on an independent basis as it is right now – single use properties – or very likely on a dual-branded basis with YOTEL. Where you have a transient element and the long-stay.”
Indeed, the group opened its first joint hotel and pad in Miami in 2022, complete with communal areas. There are also plans for a YOTEL/YOTELPAD to open in the US city of Atlanta in 2026.
Aside from the extended-stay brand, YOTEL is also growing its footprint worldwide, with properties set to open in Tokyo this year, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur in 2025, and Lisbon, Long Island City in New York and Saudi Arabia in 2026.
