The Caterer interview Laurence Whittle
The general manager of Yotel Manchester Deansgate speaks to Emma Lake about appealing to the millennial traveller with a fresh, vibrant and typically Mancunian offering
How did you get into hospitality? My career started when I was 15 years old. My parents were both chefs and my first job was with Marriott in banqueting. From there I moved on to Accor, starting with Novotel, before moving on to Mercure when it joined the UK, in Sheffield. Then I worked for Hyatt in Dubai and Louvre hotels in China, where I was based in Shanghai as pre-opening director for a number of sites. Then, when it purchased Radisson, I was based in Korea and Singapore for a while as part of that project. I then came back to the UK and did a short stint with easyHotel before joining Yotel.
So tell me about Yotel Manchester It’s an exciting brand. It’s still in its early days and finding its feet, but we’re moving for- ward very rapidly now. There was a gap in the market for a fast-paced, lively brand and it is a great fit for a lot of people. In Manchester the location of the hotel, just off Deansgate, is absolutely brilliant. We focus on technology, so we have self check-in desks and guests can connect to their TVs to watch Netflix in their rooms. I think we offer something a bit different and Yotel has a lot to offer the city in Manchester.
How would you describe your target market? It’s 25- to 40-year-olds: millennial, fast-paced people who are looking for a good location and something with personality – bright and loud and fun.
And what’s the split between domestic and inbound guests? They’re mostly domestic. Yotel is still trying to get its name known around the world – not necessarily in hospitality, as I think if you’re in the industry, you’re aware of Yotel, but to the average person there’s ground to grow the brand. Outside the UK our main market is Holland and we also have a great presence in the US. Hopefully we’ll reap the bene- fits from that, but mostly we have domestic, transient leisure.
You’ve said location is key – do you find that guests discover Yotel in one city and then book another for their onward travel? If you look at the brand itself there are some fantastic locations. There are hotels in New York, just off Times Square; in Boston, right next to the site of the Boston Tea Party; and in Washington next to the White House. These are funky, fresh places and we’ll start to see more of people bouncing between these major cities, looking for the same sort of vibrance they’ve been offered elsewhere.
There have been concerns that Brexit and the pandemic have led to a decrease in people hopping around Europe – what have you seen? I don’t think we’re seeing the demand we had pre-Covid, as I don’t think people have that full confidence back in that sort of travel, but I think that is starting to change. We have decent demand from Holland and
“I think if you’re in the
industry, you’re aware of Yotel, but to the average person there’s
ground to grow”
16 | The Caterer | 28 April 2023
www.thecaterer.com
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PHOTO: CARLO PALONI
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