Airbnb Signs Lark to Bring 75 Boutique Hotels Onto the Platform in One Deal

Airbnb's hotel push has been talked about for two years. This is what it looks like in practice: one signature, up to 75 properties. For independent hoteliers wondering whether Airbnb is a channel worth taking seriously, the shape of this deal — curated, portfolio-level, aimed squarely at small independents — is more informative than anything said on an earnings call.

Airbnb has signed a distribution agreement with Lark to bring more than 75 boutique hotels onto the platform. The news was announced by Lou Zameryka, Airbnb's global head of hotel enterprise and connectivity partnerships, and Rob Blood, Lark's founder and chairman, in separate LinkedIn posts.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Lark operates five brands and a collection of nearly 100 independent hotels across the United States and Mexico, all with fewer than 150 rooms. Zameryka said all of Lark's U.S. properties will be brought onto Airbnb.

Curation over coverage

Speaking with PhocusWire, Zameryka said Airbnb is focused on adding "unique, localized-feeling, hospitality-driven hotel partners."

"This was one of those opportunities to bring two companies together and add up to 75 hotels from Lark, all through one centralized partnership," he said.

He was explicit that Airbnb is not trying to match the breadth of a conventional OTA. "Whilst it's not necessarily the 'everything store' that every online travel agency is nowadays, our focus is really on curation, especially because that's what our customers are looking for," Zameryka said. "They're not looking for us to bring in anything that they wouldn't expect to see on the platform. They really want more of what they've come to Airbnb for."

The first stage of the hotel strategy, he added, is offering users options that "fit why they came to Airbnb in the first place" — a localised feeling, a guest-host relationship, a more distinctive stay.

That echoes CEO Brian Chesky's comment at Airbnb's Summer release in May that independent and boutique properties are "a little bit more on brand" for the company.

What Lark says it gets

Blood framed the deal in distribution terms. "This partnership gives our owners something rare: a diverse channel mix and direct access to guests who already love what we do," he wrote on LinkedIn.

"Airbnb travelers seek out unique, characterful stays, exactly the guests our hotels are built for. That's what Lark does best: helping distinctive independent spirited hotels stand out and reach the guests who value them most."

The team behind it

The hotel effort is increasingly staffed by people who built Booking.com's supply side. Zameryka, a Booking.com veteran, joined Airbnb in January specifically to build out its hotel strategy. In May, Airbnb announced that another former Booking.com executive, Andrea D'Amico, would join as VP of hotels, taking over from Jesse Stein, who returned his focus to leading Airbnb's wider real estate business.

For operators, two things are worth noting. First, Airbnb is buying supply in blocks through management companies and brand collections rather than signing properties one at a time — if you sit inside a portfolio, your route onto the platform may already be forming without you. Second, the stated filter is character and independence, not room count or star rating. That is a narrower door than Booking.com's, but a more favourable one for small independents.