Life House CEO Departs After The Information’s Report on Company

The founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Life House, Rami Zeidan, has resigned and left the board, board member Chris Hemmeter told shareholders in an email on Monday. The board hired two travel industry veterans to take over the company’s management.

The shakeup follows a February 14 report in The Information which cited customers and employees accusing Life House of misrepresenting its technical prowess and mismanaging the operation of its customers' hotels. Travel industry executive Christopher Cave will take over as interim CEO. Cave previously worked at FlightHub, a Canadian online travel agency.

The Takeaway

Life House founder has resigned as CEO, left board
Board appoints travel industry veterans as interim CEO, CFO
Shakeup follows report from The Information on company

At the same time, Life House appointed FlightHub’s CFO, Marc Ghobriel, as CFO. A Life House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Zeidan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Life House, which was founded by Zeidan in 2017, has raised over $100 million from Tiger Global Management, Trinity Ventures and other investors to support its efforts to reinvent the modern hotel experience using technology. The startup provides a host of management services to independent boutique hotels, from operating their websites to hiring staff to, in some cases, redesigning their properties from the ground up in order to transform them into Instagram-chic destinations.

In February, The Information reported that owners of at least a third of the hotels managed by Life House had recently tried to terminate their contracts with the startup, citing concerns around the mismanagement of hotel budgets, underpricing of rooms and a lackluster software product that fell short of customer expectations.

In the email, Hemmeter said the board was confident the new leadership “will steer Life House towards a bright, customer-centric future,” adding that their immediate mandate will be to “assess and improve the company’s operations while defining a revised strategic plan focused on creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

Paris Martineau (@parismartineau) is a feature writer and investigative reporter for The Information's Weekend section. Have a tip? Using a non-work device, contact her via Signal at +1 (267) 797-8655.