Friends,

Last week I had the delight of departing just after 4am from Istanbul, which meant either a midnight Uber from Asia to Europe or a night at the airport. Gratefully, the latter was a viable option.

YOTEL is an 2007-era concept that launched in Britain and now operates a small but growing footprint globally. The brand specializes in pod-style hotels — which are not to be confused with Japan’s capsule hotels — located in airports and city centers. More accurately, YOTEL rooms are a well-branded hybrid of a Wyndham Microtel and a cruise ship cabin.

They’re not really “pods,” per se — more like efficient hotel rooms tucked into commercial spaces that might otherwise go unused. And for a short airport overnight or nap, that’s perfect. Anything longer and you might start to feel like you’re living in The Truman Show.

My wife and I first tried their Amsterdam Airport location in 2016 and were fans overall. I’ve also visited, though not stayed at, their Orchard Road property in Singapore, which looks a bit more substantive than their terminal-based outposts.

In Istanbul, I arrived to a friendly check-in agent who confirmed my reservation and gave me keys to my room. While they were charging almost $400 USD for a room on a walk up basis (supply and demand, baby) my pre-booked rate was much cheaper. I made my way upstairs — excited to see the room, take a shower, send emails, and go to sleep for six or so hours.

Except my key did not work.

So I headed back to the front desk, where I was met with a kind apology and a new room. This time the key worked.

The hallways, dimly lit in YOTEL’s trademark purple, felt a little tired. While my memory of Amsterdam’s design was “space station chic,” Istanbul’s common areas felt more like a dated Courtyard or Hampton Inn badly in need of new carpet.

My room didn’t have a window — some do — and the vibe reminded me of a basement-level L&D room at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Not a complaint, just a comparison. I was there to sleep.

The rooms are small though totally comfortable for one person. The wifi was super fast, too — and the shower had stellar water pressure. The bed was also reasonably comfortable. I knocked out some work, took a shower, and fell asleep with five hours until I needed to wake up for my flight to Paris.

Thirty minutes later, someone was knocking at my door.

I awoke fairly disoriented and jumped out of the bed, only for whoever was knocking to realize that they were at the wrong room. Perhaps they were also given inoperable keys? While we may never know, I was just glad to get to go back to sleep.

And sleep I did, for another four and a half more hours, before taking one more shower and finding my way across the gigantic check in hall to get a boarding pass for Air France’s 4:20a departure for Charles de Gaulle and my onward connection to the USA.

Credit where it is due: how fresh do I look in this photo for it being 2am? That’s all you, YOTEL.

Would I stay at YOTEL again or recommend it to you? Sure — if it’s the best option, I won’t hesitate. But I also wouldn’t go out of my way to book one.

The YOTEL brand suggests a product that’s sleek, modern, and clean. In my experience, it’s more like sterile, efficient, and vaguely cruise-shippy (which feels nicer to say than “hospital-y”).

Still — in the middle of IST with an early flight? I was very grateful to get a few hours of sleep in a real bed.

Fly well.

Links

Great video on how Southwest is keeping soda cans from exploding this summer.

Incredible story about an American caught in Iran last week; always a good idea to register for STEP (an an American) while abroad — and to have a local guide.