YOTEL has appointed Paul Harnedy as COO, where he will oversee global hotel operations and commercial strategy across the company’s portfolio of city center hotels, airport hotels (YOTELAIR) and extended-stay properties (YOTELPAD).
A hospitality professional with more than 30 years’ experience leading and developing multi-site operations across Europe and the U.S., Harnedy joins YOTEL from Cedar Capital Partners, where he served as EVP/head of asset management. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the operational and commercial performance of an international hotel portfolio spanning multiple markets globally.
Prior to this, he held senior positions including COO and managing director at Amaris Hospitality; VP, operations at Interstate Hotels & Resorts; and operations director roles with both InterContinental Hotels Group and RBH. Throughout his career, Harnedy has demonstrated a strong track record of delivering sustainable, long-term business success across a wide range of performance metrics, including exceptional profit growth, customer service levels and employee engagement. According to the company.
YOTEL has also added to its senior leadership team with the internal promotions of Michael Whitehead to SVP, people, talent & learning, and Ryan Dance to SVP, commercial strategy.
Having spent seven years with the company, Whitehead will now lead YOTEL’s global HR function, focusing on employee engagement, organizational development and learning and development. Dance will oversee the company’s integrated commercial strategy across revenue management, sales, marketing, commercial operations and digital and e-commerce to support sustainable global growth.
“As we scale YOTEL’s global footprint, the strength of our leadership team becomes increasingly critical,” said Phil Andreopoulos, CEO, YOTEL. “Paul brings a wealth of operational experience across international, multi-brand hospitality businesses and a clear understanding of what it takes to deliver consistency at scale. Alongside the promotions of Ryan and Michael, these appointments reflect our focus on building the operational and commercial capability needed to support disciplined, sustainable growth as we expand in both new and existing markets”.
The leadership announcements follow the recent unveiling of YOTEL’s five-year strategic growth plan, which will see the brand reach 100 hotels open and signed worldwide by 2031, with a focus on opportunities across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. The strategy is also supported by YOTEL’s exclusive agreement with Hilton, helping to unlock further international growth opportunities.
