So I was in London last week for the Travolution / PhoCusWright Summit, which was a solid event. But this isn’t about the event. It’s about the Yotel.

The Yotel is coming soon to an airport near you. Founded by Simon Woodroffe (founder of all things Yo, including Yo Sushi) and Gerard Greene in 2005, Yotels are currently found in London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with plans to be in Frankfurt within the year. Think of them as mini-hotels. You get just the space you need to rejuvenate yourself on a layover or after a long flight.

The beds, showers and entertainment centers are super plush - I could totally get comfortable in these “pods,” which are based on the Japanese capsule hotels. Prices run about $50 for a standard room for 4 hours, and $70 for a deluxe room (larger bed, larger room, entertainment system).

I think this is a great concept and I wish Simon and Gerard the best of luck with it. I know I’ll be staying in a Yotel the next time I have a layover in one of their airports!

I’m looking forward to attending and speaking on a panel at the Travolution Summit next week. We’ve got a great lineup of folks, including Philip Wolf from PhoCusWright, Steve Hafter of Kayak, and Ian McCaig from lastminute.com, which should make for some interesting discussions.

There’s definitely been some things happening in the meta-search space of late to talk about - namely Microsoft’s acquisition announced yesterday of Farecast for $115 million. This comes on the heels of Kayak’s acquisition of Sidestep in December.

Of course, as a meta-search site focused on the hotel space, we’re excited to see so much activity in this area - hope to see you next week in London!