Whether you’re in Miami for breezy cocktails, lazy beach days or to tour its thriving art scene, finding affordable accommodation can be nearly impossible. However, a new concept of hotels has just opened for booking in Little Havana and South Beach neighborhoods where lodging can be booked for under US$149 a night. Aimed at the “mature millennial”, the hotels are experience-driven with impeccable design, cult beauty brands and a social networking app for guests.
South Beach Queen room. Image by Life House
Life House is a new boutique hotel chain that is thinking outside the traditional four walls and into the overall experience for guests. It offers affordable and stylish accommodation and its own technology platform that supports a direct booking system and social network. Guests will be able to chat with other guests, make plans, join forums based on interests (i.e. nightlife, wellness, food, art, etc.), and ultimately meet in person. They can also get advice about things to see and do with locals who have been vetted by the community and who can organise events for guests such as dinner parties, exploring the local music and art scenes and surf trips.
South Beach living room. Image by Life House
CEO Rami Zeidan (real estate and hotel executive) and CTO Yury Yakubhyk (software entrepreneur) are aiming to “modernize an antiquated industry.” It’s the first lifestyle hotel company to ever be fully backed by Silicon Valley venture capital. Zeidan and Yakubhyk don’t own the hotels, instead the property owners hand over the buildings to Life House who renovate them and introduce a new “locally rooted lifestyle hotel” to the market. By keeping everything in-house, the company feels it can offer “a 4.5-star hotel experience at a fraction of the price.”
Little Havana living room. Image by Life House
“The problems in the hotel industry are multi-faceted and stem from technology and real estate – not solely price, or solely experience,” said Zeidan. “The ability to bring prices down and improve the guest experience requires a holistic solution to the technology, real estate, operations and branding. Life House is focused on all of these components, and our capital and expertise provide us with the opportunity to make it happen.”
Each Life House hotel has its own unique identity and is curated with local artwork and designs that reflect the neighbourhood. The Little Havana property “takes the form of a high-born expeditionist’s tropical mansion”, while the South Beach space – a landmark 1930’s building is an “eclectic, yet curated beach cottage, an artist’s retreat.”
South Beach quad room. Image by Life House
The hotels will host morning coffees and evening dinners to help guests integrate and feel at home. They have a variety of rooms, from standard king and queen size rooms to shared rooms that look absolutely nothing like your typical dorm rooms. Each one sleeps up to four people are complete with privacy curtains, high-end sheets and double mattresses. Rooms come with a Marshall bluetooth speaker, Diptyque candles and complimentary Le Labo toiletries. Sleek design is everywhere; even the white tiled bathrooms with brass and dark wood fittings are the stuff of every millennial’s Pinterest dreams.
Little Havana bathroom. Image by Life House.
Life House is now taking reservations. Its doors will open shortly in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood, quickly followed by a second location in South Beach. The brand will always offer a room category that is less than $149 (£115/€130) per night, and for a limited time, rooms will open at $109 (£84/€95). The company is planning to have 20 hotels under development in the US by the end of 2019. After Miami, the team will open new hotels in Denver and Brooklyn.
To learn more about Life House and book a room, visit here.
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