MIAMI — A high-tech boutique hotel is opening in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
When it opens Dec. 28, Life House Little Havana will be the neighborhood’s first boutique hotel. The launch is also the first for Life House, a startup lodging brand based in New York and backed by California and London investors. The 33-room hotel — which offers private rooms and group rooms — will cater to “mature millennials” looking for more than fun in the sun at accessible prices.
“It’s for people who are seeking substantial experiences,” Life House co-founder and CEO Rami Zeidan said. The brand, which offers affordable lodging with stylish amenities, is designed to connect people with the community around them.
Life House has raised $70 million in funding from Silicon Valley-venture capital companies Global Founders Capital, Comcast Ventures and Trinity Ventures, and London-based real estate business Henley Investments. They’re betting that young travelers will gravitate toward the company’s tech-savvy, design-focused and local approach to travel.
It’s a niche that’s gaining traction. In 2013, Freehand opened an upscale hostel on Miami Beach. Just last month, the European hotel-hostel brand Generator opened in Miami Beach, with a mix of shared dorms and private rooms with large, comfortable common areas. Just a 15-minute walk from Life House Little Havana is the newly remodeled Tower Hotel Project, a 52-room hotel slated to open in February. (Construction delays pushed the opening back from its original September 2018 date.)
For travelers drawn to these lodgings, “What’s most important to you is value, value, value,” said Deanna Ting, senior hospitality editor for Skift, a travel trade publication that monitors trends. “It’s everything you need and nothing you don’t. They’re not skimping on everything, it’s not bare bones. But they’re being really careful about what they curate.”
Life House embodies other key trends identified by Travel Market Report, a hospitality trade publication: connecting guests with the local community and making sure hotels tell stories.
Unique to Life House is proprietary software that allows travelers to manage their trips though an app if they choose. Guests can reserve rooms, check in and out, get to know each other before arrival, and chat with a concierge throughout their stay. Forums on wellness, nature, food and nightlife allow guests to check out local happenings. And no more waiting in line — guests can stroll right to their room and use the app as a key.
“So much about our product is about the experience, and that includes the digital experience,” Zeidan said.
The technology also cuts costs. By having guests book directly though the app, Life House avoids paying commission to large-scale booking sites. “Technology allows us to circumvent the Expedias of the world,” Zeidan said.
The hotel will offer upscale touches — including Le Labo toiletries, a rooftop restaurant and bar with downtown Miami views, and a craft-cocktail cart that rolls the halls each evening. The rooftop will have a small wading pool. A standard queen room will cost about $149.
“We’re really trying to cater to people who want to stay at a boutique hotel but don’t want to spend $400 a night on it,” Zeidan said.
