BERLIN — Navneet Bali, founder and CEO of LyvInn Hotels, said he is delivering a hostel-hotel brand expressly to serve the growing number of young, tech-savvy European travelers.
During an interview at the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA in March, Bali said this generation has always been tech-savvy, but the level they have collectively reached now is even higher up the scale.
This cohort of travelers require a brand throughout their hotel journey that employs tech of that focused standard and usefulness, Bali said.
“It also is making the brand more investor-friendly. … It generates a higher room revenue per square meter,” he said.
Bali, who has worked for online travel agencies, founded Meininger Hotels and worked for IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Holiday Inn brands, said his experience has prepared him for his new endeavor.
“I have seen it all, and the key thing, of course, is technology. When you create something that is completely new, you don’t have legacy,” he said. LyvInn “is a very efficient machine. … We will see AI as an enabler, where it will not change the soul of the hotel, but it will be a digital coordinator that will manage all the back-end."
LyvInn has one operating hotel, a 164-room property in Frankfurt.
He added LyvInn will be aimed at those looking to make connections with city and other travelers.
“Co-working and social spaces, digital nomads, leisure and business,” he said.
Now that Bali has a team assembled, the company's next task is growth. Much of Europe is on his radar, he added, notably, Berlin, Paris and London.
Bali is targeting start-up cities, places young people are getting jobs and creating business, such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Madrid.
For more from LyvInn Hotels' Navneet Bali, watch the video or listen to the podcast above.