An Ennismore IPO: Can Lifestyle Hotels Impress Wall Street? | Thibault Catala

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Can you IPO a vibe? 🙃

Accor is reportedly planning to take Ennismore public, the group behind Hoxton, Mama Shelter, 25hours, and a handful of other hotel brands that don’t feel like hotels.

If this IPO happens, it won’t just be a financial milestone. It will be a giant test on whether Wall Street and the financial markets/investors are finally ready to value more than just rooms, RevPAR and EBITDA.

Because let’s be honest: Ennismore isn’t selling beds. It’s selling belonging, culture, great lighting, staff with tattoos and espresso martinis. That’s a different business entirely. That’s a full different experience.

In my opinion, that could be big moment for the industry.
Most hospitality IPOs are about scale, margins, and efficiency. But Ennismore is built on community, design, and lifestyle. If public markets embrace that, we could see a huge shift in how hotel brands are built, with potential more focus on brand presence and culture than footprint (and performance? Or is the performance only the end results of the brand positioning/culture in the first place… You see the chicken/egg situation? ✌)

And if it flops? It sends a clear message: lifestyle still needs to live under the protective wing of the big guys.