Yotel to open Manchester hotel

Yotel is opening a hotel in Manchester, its first non-airport property in the UK. The 258-room hotel will be in the city's Piccadilly district and will stand at 20 storeys tall. The development, which was formally approved by local councillors last week, will also include the conversion of the adjacent Grade II-listed Union Bank building. The new hotel will feature a lounge bar, a kitchen, conference room, meeting rooms, an office and a gym on the ground and first floors, with guestrooms on floors two to four. Yotel rooms are inspired by first-class airline cabins and feature monsoon rain showers, purple mood lighting and a "techno wall" with a flatscreen television and iPod connectivity. In July, Yotel revealed it will open its first hotel in Asia with a property in Singapore (see news, July 17). To read a review of Yotel New York, click here. yotel.com Graham Smith