Life House is forging ahead with its expansion of boutique hotels in the US and Bali – alongside the launch of a hotel management company. Olivia Palamountain reports

Real-estate and hotel executive Rami Zeidan co-founded Life House in 2017 with software entrepreneur, Yury Yakubchyk, with a vision to reinvent “high-touch, locally-rooted lifestyle hotels at an affordable price point”.

The Life House difference is that it started out as a software provider aimed at fixing “the broken and complex hotel operational model” before morphing into a combination of tech provider, hotel manager and boutique hotel brand.

“We use proprietary complex software to make hotels run more seamlessly and reduce the costs of operating them,” co-founder and CEO Rami Zeidan told Crunchbase. “That allows us to build beautiful lifestyle boutique hotels and make them more accessibly priced to travellers.”Life House is now offering this white-labeled software-driven management platform to other independent hotels via sister company Life Hospitality, to help them reboot and come back fighting in the wake of Covid-19, alongside partnerships with hotel operators to renovate existing boutique hotels into its branded hotels.Life House ChattanoogaTo support owners in particular need of support following Covid-19 impact, Life Hospitality is offering no transition fees and no management fees until 2021, according to website Hotel Management.

With eight properties in the US (in Miami, New England and Denver) and its first international hotel set to open in Bali, the Life House formula clearly works. The New York based brand treats every property as unique, drawing on their location, history and cultural heritage to inform the design and vibe.

“Our hotels respond to the buildings and neighborhoods in which they live, not the other way around. We craft a bespoke narrative for each hotel, and every design decision is filtered through this narrative,” reads the Life House manifesto.Annex Bldg Living Room; Life House ChattanoogaHotels currently under construction include properties in Chattanooga, Miami and Bali, each of which is geared up to follow the Life House ethos of boutique hotels at an affordable price point, powered by world-class design, food and drink, technology and operations. Here’s what to expect…

Life House, Chattanooga, Tennessee, US

Life House will transform the Beaux Arts-style Historic Terminal into a wine bar and restaurant that celebrates the soul of musicians who passed through the property during the 1920s Jazz era. Life House Chattanooga; Train Car Cocktail Bar Set to open this winter, historic Pullman train cars will be revamped as private suites, with features that pay homage to exquisite locomotive designs, layered with mod interpretations of French Beaux Arts prints and the textile industrialist details that put the “Dynamo of the Dixie” on the map at the turn of the 20th century.Life House Chattanooga; Terminal Bar View The expansive site, positioned in the Downtown heart of Chattanooga, will also include a 1970s-revival lounge, 40-seat cinema, recording studio, and exterior courtyard lounges.Terminal Bar & Restaurant; Life House Chattanooga

Life House, Bushwick, New York, US

Set within a late-19th century bank, the Bushwick outpost of Life House will celebrate the story of a figurative Sicilian protagonist taking residence in a stoic limestone manor when it opens this autumn. Life House BushwickThe detailing expresses his passion for the expressive French Vaudeville theatre, a historic staple in the neighborhood during the turn of the 19th century. Rooms will include luxury bunk bed set-ups for families and friends. Life House BushwickA bar in the basement will present cocktails, food and theatrical shows, while the rooftop bar will offer views of the Manhattan skyline.

Life House, Seminyak, Bali

“Coming soon”, this property will take the form of a 180-room villa that marks the brands first international expansion to the lush tropics of Seminyak, Bali. Life House SeminyakThe design embodies sustainable Balinese practices of architecture, with local natural timbers and open-air terraces that echo the landscape. Life House SeminyakThe interiors are layered through the lens of an evolutionary naturalist who is immersed in the history and traditions of the Subak system and Tri Hita Karana philosophy, featuring hand carved rosewood and Balinese limestone. Life House SeminyakThe property will have a co-working lounge in partnership with a local coffee purveyor, a full-service restaurant and cocktail bar, fitness centre, spa and rooftop infinity pool.

What’s coming next? Trend reports available to download HERE