Yotel has announced a series of senior appointments, including the promotion of Rohan Thakkar to Chief Development Officer, as the operator looks towards the next key phase of its global expansion plans.

Thakkar joined Yotel as Development Manager in January 2014, driving the growth of its US portfolio from New York with the first agreements in cities like Boston, Miami and San Francisco, as well as the first YotelPad and franchise agreement in Park City. He has since done the same in EMEA from a base in London. As Chief Development Officer, Thakkar will lead a global team and oversee the technical services of all Yotels.

Other appointments will form a centralised commercial brand team, in what is a new model for the business. Key hires include Edward Pinchard as Chief Commercial Officer; Olivia Donnan as Vice President Brand & Communications; Nader Nawwar as Vice President of Business Performance for EMEA; Travis Breen as Vice President of Business Performance for USA; Augustin Cacot as Vice President of Demand; and Clare Bastiman as Vice President of Commercial Operations. The newly formed team will report into Yotel CEO Hubert Viriot.

Speaking from Yotel New York at The NYU Hospitality Investment Conference, Viriot shared that Yotel is striving toward a goal of 50 hotels signed, in development or operational by 2025, increasing the current portfolio by 44% in less than three years. Recent openings include Yotel London Shoreditch and Yotel and YotelPad Miami – the first ever joint hotel and pad – with Yotel Geneva and Yotel Lisbon to follow shortly.