Bötel was the son of tenor Heinrich Bötel. He began his voice training with Mathieu Lorent in Hamburg, and later continued his studies with Ernst Grenzebach in Berlin. He made his professional stage debut in 1905 at Theater Aachen as Lancelot in Edmond Audran's La poupée. From 1906 until 1910, he was committed to the Komische Oper Berlin where he was lauded for his portrayal of the title role in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. From 1909 to 1911, he sang in several operettas at the Theater an der Wien; most notably creating the role of Armand Brissard in the world premiere of Lehár's Der Graf von Luxemburg in November 1909. From 1912 to 1914, he was committed to the Raimund Theater in Vienna, and in 1914–1915 he was a member of the Halle Opera House. He spent the next two decades performing roles from the tenor buffo repertoire at the Berlin State Opera. In 1917, he created the lead tenor role of Hans in the premier of Jugend by Ignatz Waghalter at the Deutsche Opernhaus in Berlin. He also appeared at the Kroll Opera House from 1928 to 1931 and frequently as a leading tenor in operettas in Berlin opposite soprano Fritzi Massary. He retired from the stage in 1935.
