YOTEL Porto: robots, little human contact and comfort for the post-Covid era

Located on Rua de Gonçalo Cristóvão, near Trindade, in Porto, it will have about 150 rooms, gym, common spaces for work, restaurant, sky bar and a roof terrace with views over the city, accessible to guests and visitors.

At a time when social distance will remain essential in the fight against coronavirus, a hotel that is highly technological and that does not require human-to-human contact for most functions can prove to be a competitive advantage. The YOTEL brand is mainly aimed at business travelers, who have a good relationship with technology, being present in cities such as New York, Istanbul or Singapore. 

"I believe that the concept, in terms of offering what the customer needs and technologically advanced, is what people are looking for today, whatever their nationality. I believe that first there will be some interest in curiosity, I admit that yes. But installing the concept, I predict that the same phenomenon that we had in the USA will happen”, added the general director of UIP. After the opening of YOTEL in New York - which ended up happening as a matter of business opportunity, he revealed at the time - several other chains followed suit in terms of space organization and decoration, among others. 

YOTEL do Porto, overlooking the city, will be very similar to its Singaporean counterpart, but with the advantage of being housed in a building that was rehabilitated to receive it. The old meets the new without hurting the city but asking everyone to get to know it.

 "In Porto, room and product generation is already more advanced [than Singapore]. We have partnerships, for example in San Francisco, with startups that are in Silicon Valley to help us. And every quarter we have a presentation of their group where they try to sell us the product they are making”. The goal is to be at the forefront of technology, without losing comfort. The same principle applies to the bar and the restaurant, where the offer must be of quality, without being pretentious - in Singapore the goal has been achieved, in Porto we will still have to wait to confirm.

In the same sense, the Portuguese city will have rooms slightly larger than the international average of the brand, since to guarantee the 4-star qualification, the rooms must have a minimum of 17 square meters. "Ours will be between 19 and 20", reveals Carlos Leal, referring that the room services will be available during a different time, as determined by the authorities.