Lark Hotels and Life House are forming a joint venture that will bring Life House's hotels, restaurant and bars under Lark's management.
The combined entity — which will operate as Lark Hospitality LLC — will have a portfolio nearly 100 hotels — with roughly 50 coming from Life House — in the U.S. and Mexico, along with 33 restaurants and bars. Lark officials touted the joint venture entity as the "leading boutique brand and management company for hotels under 150 keys."
Lark founder Rob Blood will be chairman of the new entity, Lark CEO Peter Twachtman will continue in this role with the combined company and Life House CEO Marc Ghobriel will lead the transition team.
Lark was founded in 2012 with a focus on operating "lifestyle properties in high-profile destinations."
Life House started in 2017 as a tech-focused hotel management platform and brand, and Lark Hospitality will continue to operate hotels with the Life House branding, along with the Lark Hotels, Bluebird by Lark, Blind Tiger, AWOL and Lark Independent brands.
Current Life House investors Inovia Capital and Thayer Investment Partners will also be investors in the joint venture.
“There is no company that has made everyone at Lark Hotels sharpen their pencils more than Life House,” Blood said in the news release announcing the deal. “Over the last five years, they have made us think deeply about who we are as a company, what our value proposition is for our stakeholders, and who we want to be going forward. As we come together, we look forward to incorporating the best practices of both of our companies to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests, investors, hotel owners and teams.”
Ghobriel said the deal will be more than the sum of its parts.
"The complementary strengths of Life House and Lark, both geographically and operationally, create a leader in the independent and boutique hotel management market," he said. "We're eager to continue focusing on delivering a great experience, to guests at the properties we manage, as well as to their owners, and we plan on investing in building a strong portfolio of brands across North America."