Dive Brief:
- Lifestyle brand and hospitality management company Lark Hotels formed a joint venture with hotel brand and operator Life House, combining the pair’s hospitality portfolios and teams, Lark Hotels announced on its website. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
- Operating as Lark Hospitality, the new entity will comprise all Lark Hotels- and Life House-branded hotels, 33 restaurants and bars and the groups’ combined portfolio of nearly 100 “independent spirited properties” across the U.S. and Mexico, according to Lark Hotels. The companies’ leadership teams will also merge.
- The combination aims to “create a leader in the independent and boutique hotel management market,” according to Life House CEO Marc Ghobriel. The hospitality companies follow in the footsteps of several others that have inked brand partnerships to grow in the lifestyle segment this year.
Dive Insight:
Lark Hospitality will comprise nearly $1 billion in assets under management, representing more than 3,000 total keys across 27 states, according to Massachusetts-based Lark Hotels, which was founded in 2012. The new entity is expected to drive a total annual revenue of more than $150 million.
In addition to merging their hospitality portfolios, Lark Hotels and New York-based Life House will combine their respective leadership teams.
Lark Hotels founder Rob Blood, Lark Hotels CEO Peter Twachtman and Life House’s Ghobriel will head Lark Hospitality, with Blood as Chairman, Twachtman as CEO and Ghobriel leading the Life House transition team.
Other “key positions” from Life House will join the new entity to assist with “customized hotel management, day-to-day operations, hiring, technology and marketing services,” according to Lark Hotels.
Lark Hospitality plans on “investing in building a strong portfolio of brands across North America,” Ghobriel said in a statement.
The venture comes as a slew of hospitality companies expand in the luxury and lifestyle space as traveler demand for the segment ramps up. Hyatt Hotels expanded this year by means of acquisition, buying lifestyle hotel operator Standard International in August. Hilton did too, acquiring Graduate Hotels and the design-forward Nomad brand.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, partnered with hospitality group SBE to launch a “smart lifestyle” brand.
The Lark Hospitality venture comes several months after Life House founder and former CEO Rami Zeidan departed the company after The Information reported widespread customer dissatisfaction, per a report from PhocusWire. Life House was founded in 2017.
