Travel search engine Kayak, part of the Booking Holdings portfolio, has entered the brick-and-mortar hospitality space, unveiling plans to open the Kayak Miami Beach hotel this April.
Kayak is making the move in partnership with Life House, a New York-based hotel brand and management group that currently operates over 20 properties globally, including four Life House-branded hotels across the Miami, Nantucket and Denver markets.
Located along the Collins Canal at 2216 Park Ave., the 52-room Kayak Miami Beach will be housed within an art deco building that was constructed in 1934. The property was previously home to the Life House Collins Park hotel.
According to Kayak, the hotel will function as a "design lab," serving as a test site for the company's Kayak app and other lodging-related software innovations.
To start, Kayak will focus on showcasing a variety of new app capabilities at the Kayak Miami Beach, including 24/7 access to hotel staff and support; an expedited, 60-second check-in experience; and other digital amenities.
Kayak CEO Steve Hafner, left, and Life House founder and CEO Rami Zeidan are partners in the Kayak Miami Beach.
"We've been chewing on this for a couple of years," Kayak CEO Steve Hafner told Travel Weekly. "What we envision is being able to use your device to check in, check out, message housekeeping, make reservations, get takeout or delivery and have your room set up the way you want and personalized."
The Kayak app is currently being marketed to independent and boutique properties in need of a digital app solution, which Hafner said he believes can enable them to better compete with branded properties that have long had access to the large hotel chain apps.
"Even if these [independent] hotels have their own apps, consumers really don't want to download a new app every time they check into a hotel," said Hafner. "What we bring to the party there is that our app has already been downloaded by tens of millions of consumers. It's consistent. They know how it works. So, consumers will say, 'Gosh, I feel more comfortable choosing this independent hotel over a Marriott or Hilton because I know exactly what the check-in, checkout service experience is going to be like.'"
Hafner added that hotels that opt to use the Kayak app will also be highlighted within Kayak's search results.
Life House founder and CEO Rami Zeidan called Kayak's introduction of its app into the independent hotel sphere "particularly well timed."
A standard king guestroom at the Kayak Miami Beach hotel, which opens in April.
"The pandemic has catalyzed both traveler and hotel owner usage and comfort with technology solutions," Zeidan said. "And I think it's made hotel owners and operators more aware of how software can solve some of the operational and profitability problems [associated with] operating a small hotel."
Meanwhile, the Miami Beach hotel isn't necessarily a one-off for the Kayak brand. Hafner said that the company is already scouting locations for future outposts.
"Our intention isn't to turn Kayak into a hotel brand that competes with chains," Hafner said. "But we are going to be looking at different property sizes, different locations throughout the U.S. and abroad and then also different property types, not just hotels."
Reservations at the Kayak Miami Beach are currently open for stays beginning April 11. Introductory rates at the hotel start at around $229 per night.
CORRECTED: This report was updated on March 10 to correct the spelling of Rami Zeidan's first name.