Yotel Plans New Hotel in Belfast City Center

A yotel hotel sign on a yotel in New York City

U.K.-based hotel chain Yotel announced plans to open a new property in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The new location will be the chain’s first on the island of Ireland and will be operated in partnership with Andras Hotels, an Irish hotel operator.

The new Yotel, which is slated to open in 2026, will be in a newly-built structure situated in the historic Shaftesbury Square in central Belfast. It will be located just minutes away from many popular attractions, including Queen’s University and the Botanic Gardens.

The hotel will feature 165 rooms that are in keeping with Yotel’s philosophy of what it terms “prioritizing intelligent space-saving design, smart technology, and maximum comfort for visitors to the city.”

The new Belfast property will have self-check-in kiosks, keyless entry. And several amenities unique to the property, including what the Belfast chain calls “a dynamic food and beverage concept” as well as a fitness center and one meeting room.

Guest rooms – or cabins as the chain calls them – will feature adjustable mood lighting, traditional reclining SmartBeds, SmartTVs, and rain showers with Urban Jungle amenities.

The first Yotel, which opened in 2007, was at Gatwick Airport and was quickly followed by a second at London’s Heathrow Airport. The hotelier enlisted the help of aircraft cabin designers Priestman Goode to design and build a prototype of the desired Yotel room, now referred to as a “cabin.” The original prototype was featured in an exhibition called 100% Design in London.

Yotel co-founder Simon Woodroffe reportedly conceived of the cabin idea after being upgraded to the first-class cabin on an overseas British Airways flight.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)