Life House

Last updated
Life House
Industry Hospitality industry
FounderRami Zeidan
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
United States
Area served
North America
Key people
Rami Zeidan
Products Hotels
Number of employees
72 (2022)
Website www.life-house.com

Life House is a hotel brand, management and software company headquartered in New York City. It was founded in 2017 by Rami Zeidan and Yury Yakubchyk.

Contents

Life House opened its first hotel in Miami in January 2019. [1] Life House operates and brands independent hotels, using software that automates back office operations.

History

Unlike most hotel companies, which are backed by real estate investment trusts, Life House was the first U.S. hospitality company to also be backed by Silicon Valley venture capital. In 2018, the company announced its first capital raise with a $40 million funding round with Comcast Ventures, Trinity Ventures, and Rocket Internet. In July 2019, the company announced a $100 million funding round from real estate development firm Blue Flag Partners, bringing total outside contributions to $200 million in real estate equity and $10 million in venture capital investments. [2] Life House said it planned to use the capital to open new properties for travelers who want to “feel a better social connection, sense of community, and try something new”. [3] In December 2021, the company has raised $60 million in a Series C round of funding co-led by new investors Kayak and Inovia Capital. [4] Existing backers Tiger Global, Derive Ventures, Thayer Ventures, JLL, Trinity Ventures, Sound Ventures and Cooley LLP, among others, also participated in the financing, bringing the company's total venture capital raised since its 2017 inception to just over $100 million. In addition to the Fast Company award, in 2020, Life House was named one of PhocusWire Top 25 Startups. [5] As of April 2022, Life House operates over 55 hotels across North America. [6]

LH Little Havana - Terras 8.jpg

Business model

Life House began as a hotel brand and operator aimed at fixing “the broken and complex hotel operational model” to help small independent hotels with very little sophistication on the operational front. In 2020, the metasearch engine Kayak partnered with Life House to manage its first hotel in Miami Beach. [7] Kayak CEO Steve Hafner says the Miami Beach property will become a “design lab” to develop software for independent and boutique properties. The companies will also partner on two new hotels in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Life House software technology stack includes a mobile housekeeping application that walks housekeepers step-by-step through the room cleaning protocol, an app that automates early check-in / late check-out decision making, VIP upgrades and amenities, and allows staff to focus on service rather than consummating transactions. [8] After proving its software on the hotels it owns and operators, and with significant ongoing investments from Silicon Valley, it now also offers a white-label product that independent hotels can use to automate their operations. [9]

Branded hotels

In January 2019, Life House opened its first hotel in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. [10] Formerly known as The Jefferson Hotel, the property was built in 1926 in Mission Style architecture. Life House renovated the property and brought it back to its original roots with Afro-Cuban ceramics, tropical plants, and artwork by Cuban artist Leandro Feal. Today, it has a total of five branded properties:

Its Nantucket property has won numerous accolades, including Conde Naste Travelers’ 2021 “Hot List” of top new hotels in the world, [15] Travel + Leisure's 2021 “It list” of the best new hotels in the world [16] and Architectural Digest's “Great Design Awards” for hotels. [17]

More Life House hotels are in development, including:

List of awards or honors received

In 2019, Life House was named one of Phocuswire's Top 25 startups. Its Nantucket property has won numerous accolades:

In 2022, the company was named one of Fast Company's top 10 Most Innovative Travel Companies.

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References

  1. Mendal, Monica. "Life House Opens Its First Hotel in Miami". L'officiel. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  2. Tesse Fox, Jena. "With $100M in hand, Life House has big plans for small hotels". www.hotelmanagement.net. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  3. Baltic, Scott (16 July 2019). "Life House Secures $100M in Equity Capital". Commercial Property Executive. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. Azevedo, Mary Ann. "Kayak co-leads Life House's $60M Series C to 'reimagine' the hotel experience". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  5. "Hot 25 Startups 2020: Life House". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. Dunn, Bryan. "Life House Acquires IMPRINT Hospitality's Management Portfolio". Hospitality Net. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  7. "Kayak opening hotel, developing hotel tech in partnership with Life House". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  8. "Life House Lower Highlands — Hotel Review". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  9. "Kayak leads $60M Series C for Life House". www.phocuswire.com. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  10. King, Rachel. "Inside the newest boutique hotel in Miami's Little Havana". Fortune. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  11. Ogle, Connie. "'A come-as-you-are vibe': This new Miami Beach hotel restaurant hopes you eat and chill". Miami.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  12. Taylor, Elise (31 August 2020). "5 Fabulous, Last-Minute Labor Day Getaways From NYC You Can Still Book". Vogue. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  13. Hill, Lauren Jade (19 November 2021). "Design concept: Life House Lower Highlands, Denver". TOPHOTELNEWS. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  14. Leasca, Stacey. "Nantucket Is Getting a New Hotel Just in Time for Summer — and We Got a First Look Inside". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  15. Wu, Stephanie (18 August 2020). "Nantucket's Newest Hotel Has Secret Gardens and Vintage Vibes". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  16. Wogan, John. "It List 2021: Our Editors' Picks of the Best New Hotels in the World". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  17. Cochran, Sam (20 May 2021). "AD's 2021 Hotel Awards". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  18. Dobrosielski, Chuck (9 September 2019). "Life House to open 5 more hotels by spring 2020". Hotel Management. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  19. Dunn, Bryan. "Life House Delivers Ultra-Luxury Hospitality with High Profitability at the Wheatleigh Hotel in The Berkshires".
  20. "Life House continues hotel expansion across US and into Bali". Globetrender. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  21. Monk, Zoe. "Life House Hotels starts new journey with historic Choo Choo hotel in Chattanooga". Boutique Hotelier. Retrieved 6 May 2022.