Kayak Moves Into Hotels by Opening Miami Beach Property in Partnership With Life House
Skift Take
Skift has long speculated that online travel agencies might launch soft brands, and now Kayak is attempting to do so during a dire moment for the hotel industry. Whether independent hotels would see any value in using a software package through the Kayak app is a wide open question.
Travel-comparison site Kayak is launching into a new business, a 52-room tech-forward hotel in Miami Beach in partnership with Life House.
The Kayak Miami Beach, which was a Life House property that was a victim of the pandemic-induced travel collapse, will serve as a test lab for a Kayak-developed software package for independent hotels with the pitch being that it would capture all of the travel demand that Kayak can generate.
The property, according to Kayak co-founder and CEO Steve Hafner, would offer guests contactless check-ins and checkouts through the Kayak app, a trend that is hardly revolutionary. There would also be 24-hour access to hotel staff and support through the app, as well as amenities such as smart TVs and Marshall speakers.
Hafner told Skift Tuesday morning that the hotel software under development would aim to be an all-in one solution connecting property management systems, demand management, and communications, for example.
Additional properties are on the drawing board besides Miami Beach, Hafner said, adding that he would like to find a way give the software away to hotels for "fr
