Yotel expands to US west coast
London-based Yotel will open a pod-style hotel in San Francisco, its second in the United States.
It plans to convert the historic Grant Building at Market Street into a 200-room hotel in conjunction with New York real estate developer Synapse Capital.
The former office block has been boarded up since 2011.
Yotel already has budget hotels in London and Amsterdam as well as one in Times Square, New York, where the rooms are almost 50% smaller than typically found in the city.
The landmark Grant Building dates from 1904 and survived unscathed after the 1906 earthquake and fire.
San Francisco hotel occupancy is averaging at an all-time high of 80% and rates have increased 10% over the last year.
Average room rate in the city is about $200 a night.
Last week Yotel also announced tentative plans for a new hotel in Boston.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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