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Worldwide: Hospitality brand YOTEL has appointed Paul Harnedy as chief operating officer, alongside two senior leadership promotions.
Harnedy will oversee global hotel operations and commercial strategy across YOTEL’s portfolio of city centre hotels, airport hotels (YOTELAIR), and aparthotel properties (YOTELPAD).
He joins from Cedar Capital Partners, where he served as EVP and head of asset management. Prior to this, Harnedy held senior positions at Amaris Hospitality, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, IHG, and RBH.
In addition to Harnedy’s appointment, YOTEL has also promoted Michael Whitehead to SVP people, talent and learning, and Ryan Dance to SVP commercial strategy.
Having spent seven years with the business, Whitehead will lead YOTEL’s HR function, focussing on employee engagement, learning and development, while Dance will oversee commercial strategy across revenue management, sales, marketing, commercial operations, and digital and e-commerce.
Phil Andreopoulos, CEO of YOTEL, said: “As we scale YOTEL’s global footprint, the strength of our leadership team becomes increasingly critical. 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.”
With 23 hotels currently open, YOTEL plans to reach 100 hotels open and signed worldwide by 2031.
Highlights:
- YOTEL has appointed Paul Harnedy as chief operating officer to oversee global operations and commercial strategy across its hotels, YOTELAIR and YOTELPAD portfolio.
- Harnedy joins from Cedar Capital Partners, bringing prior leadership experience at Amaris Hospitality, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, IHG and RBH.
- YOTEL promoted Michael Whitehead to SVP people, talent and learning, and Ryan Dance to SVP commercial strategy across revenue, sales, marketing and digital functions.
- The leadership changes support YOTEL’s plan to triple its global portfolio to 69 hotels by 2031 across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific regions.
