NEW YORK—United Kingdom-based YOO Hotels and Resorts and Canada’s Opus Hotel Corp. have inked a brand partnership and 10-year expansion plan to develop and operate a series of Opus by Yoo Collection and Opus by yoo2 hotels across Canada and Mexico, as well as in select U.S. markets.
The exclusive partnership is expected to allow both boutique hotel groups to explore ground-up development, repositioning and management opportunities in North America’s key urban and resort destinations. The deal includes an exclusivity arrangement for Opus Hotel Corp. within Canada and Mexico. Opus Hotel Vancouver is not included in the partnership.
The first of these North American Opus by Yoo Collection hotels, the 110-suite Versante, is scheduled to launch in early 2019 at the Vancouver International Airport.
Yoo Hotels and Resorts is the hotel venture of the London-based Yoo Group, which was co-founded 18 years ago by designer Philippe Starck and entrepreneur and company CEO John Hitchcox. Yoo Collection is the group’s luxury hotel brand; the yoo2 brand offers a collection of eclectic boutique lifestyle hotels. The company’s portfolio also includes J Plus by Yoo.
“Opus Hotels Corp. is a perfect match for us,” said Hitchcox. “They complement our design-led philosophy with their market knowledge and hotel development experience. The partnership between Yoo Hotels and Resorts and Opus Hotels has created the perfect platform for growth and operational excellence of the Opus by Yoo brand across Canada, Mexico and selected markets in the U.S.”
Opus Hotels was founded in 2002 by John deC. Evans, one of Canada’s major urban and resort real estate developers. Evans called the partnership “a good fit for both Yoo and Opus.”
The partners indicated they are continuing to seek out new development, conversion, repositioning and management opportunities in order to strategically expand the Yoo Hotels and Resorts and Opus Hotels collection of properties.