Teleporting for the First Time to Dohyo in the Yotel Hotel
The futuristic facade of the Yotel stares down at Tenth Avenue right at the corner of West 42nd Street.
When I heard about a sumo-themed restaurant in a futuristic hotel in Hell's Kitchen, my initial response was, "So what?" I knew that theme restaurants often let the food lag, since they know the theme will be the draw. Boy, was I wrong.
Are you going to let this thing mutilate your bag? His name is Yobot, and he's no R2-D2.
Despite the Japanese-sounding name, and a few other Japanese flourishes to the concept and the premises, Yotel is an English hotel chain. The gimmick is that consumers will want to save money by putting up with a smaller rooms (under 200 square feet), in a hotel package that offers, instead of gyms and pools, a pseudo-hip ambiance in which you find yourself in a sci-fi landscape. Actually, this landscape feels more like you're stuck in The Jetsons or Lost in Space, thrall to a cartoon futurism that sputtered out in the '60s.
Upon entering the hotel, you see a bank of computers allowing you to check yourself into the hotel, where the rooms are known as "cabins." On the opposite side of the lobby, a robot called Yobot will take your suitcase and stash it in a designated squirrel hole. There's nothing picturesque or interesting about the robot -- it's all armature, like something installed in a car factory. Some tourists are easily impressed.
Beam me up to the fourth floor, Scotty!
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