Hotel operator Yotel has announced plans to move away from its international airport locations with the opening of a 669-bedroom property in the centre of New York, US.

Inspired by first-class airline cabins, the Yotel Times Square pod hotel is set to boast 170sq ft (15.8sq m) rooms fitted with rain showers, mood lighting and the group's 'techno wall' - including flat screen television. The new property will form part of developer Related Company's 1.2 million sq ft (111,484sq m) mixed-use scheme at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue, which is set to include a Frank Gehry-designed signature theatre.

Yotel Times Square will be co-designed by the Rockwell Group and Softroom, and will also incorporate a club lounge and one of the largest outside terrace spaces among New York's hotels. Gerard Greene, the hotel group's chief executive officer, said: "A solution to boring and expensive hotels, YOTEL uses radical design to offer the customer an exciting product and better value for money.

"Not satisfied with airports we are now transferring a successful brand to city centres across the globe." The Yotel brand was launched by YO! founder Simon Woodroffe and Gerard Greene in summer 2007, with the opening of its first site at the south terminal of London's Gatwick Airport.

A second pod hotel was opened at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4 in December 2007 before expanding to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, in September 2008. Image: Gerard Greene (left) and Simon Woodroffe launching their New York plans