Posted by PPIF on 08 October 2025
Hotel101's strategic approach to private placement: Building relationships beyond capital
The hospitality industry is witnessing a revolutionary approach to hotel investment and development, and Hotel101 is at the forefront of this transformation. At the Private Placements Industry Forum Europe, we sat down with Alain Stoeckli, Managing Director at Hotel101 Global, to discuss the company's innovative business model and strategic approach to private placement funding.
The Hotel101 model: Three pillars of innovation
Hotel101 operates on a unique hospitality and real estate investment platform built around three core pillars that set it apart in the competitive hotel industry.
Asset-light business model
Unlike traditional hotel operators, Hotel101 doesn't own hotel rooms. Instead, the company sells individual rooms to retail and institutional investors, creating a distributed ownership structure that reduces capital requirements while maintaining operational control.
Uniform room standards
Every Hotel101 room across the globe maintains identical specifications in terms of fit-out and amenities. This standardisation ensures consistent guest experience while streamlining operations and reducing costs.
Scale and efficiency focus
Drawing from its parent company's success in the fast-food industry – the same group behind Jollibee in the Philippines – Hotel101 emphasizes size, scale, and operational efficiency in its global expansion strategy.
The results speak for themselves. After nine years of successful operations in Asia, Hotel101 has expanded internationally with projects underway in Spain, Japan, and the United States, with plans to enter 25 additional countries over the next three years. The company's growth trajectory culminated in a NASDAQ IPO in June 2024, achieving a $2.4 billion valuation.
Why private placements?
Despite the successful public offering, Stoeckli emphasizes that private placements remain a crucial component of Hotel101's funding strategy, offering distinct advantages over public markets.
Certainty and speed
"Having done the NASDAQ IPO, that takes months and roadshows and anonymous investors," Stoeckli explains. Private placement offers certainty of execution, certainty of price, and significantly faster transaction timelines. The bespoke and customised nature of private placement deals eliminates many of the uncertainties inherent in public market transactions.
Flexibility in structure and size
Private placement provides the flexibility Hotel101 needs for its global expansion strategy. Rather than pursuing another large-scale public offering, the company can access smaller tranches of capital tailored to specific projects, countries, or regional platforms. This approach allows for more targeted funding that aligns with specific growth initiatives.
Relationship capital
Perhaps most importantly, private placement enables Hotel101 to build meaningful relationships with capital partners. "It's really that you build a relationship as a capital partner, ideally not only for one transaction, but as a repeat relationship where you can work together on the platform or the growth of the platform," Stoeckli notes.
This relationship-focused approach provides several benefits:
- Partners who understand the business model in detail
- Direct communication channels for problem-solving
- Transparent dialogue when challenges arise
- Long-term strategic alignment beyond individual transactions
Investor expectations: Transparency and continuous communication
Stoeckli identifies transparency as the foundation of successful private placement relationships. The process begins well before term sheets or deal signing, focusing on finding investors who understand and support Hotel101's business model.
Modern investors expect more than quarterly fact sheets and annual dinners. They require continuous communication and real-time insights into asset performance. "Nowadays, all investors expect almost live data or dashboards with real-life insights on how the assets are performing," Stoeckli observes.
This expectation stems from investors' own reporting requirements to their limited partners (LPs), creating a need for comprehensive KPIs and metrics. Hotel101 views this as a collaborative opportunity rather than a burden, fostering a "two-way street" approach to investor relations.
Market outlook: Significant growth ahead
Looking toward the future, Stoeckli sees substantial growth potential in the private placement market, particularly in asset-based finance and real assets.
The private markets continue expanding despite record-high public markets, driven by companies staying private longer and requiring alternative financing sources. Asset-based finance, including real estate and infrastructure, represents a particularly promising segment.
Currently valued at approximately $160 billion annually, Stoeckli projects the private placement market will experience high single-digit to double-digit growth over the next three to five years. His forecast suggests the market could reach $300 billion by 2030, nearly doubling from current levels.
The road ahead
Hotel101's approach to private placement reflects broader trends in modern capital markets, where relationship building, transparency, and strategic alignment increasingly matter as much as financial terms. As the company continues its global expansion, its emphasis on partnership-driven funding strategies positions it well to capitalize on the growing private placement market.
For investors seeking exposure to innovative hospitality models and global real estate opportunities, Hotel101's unique approach offers a compelling proposition that combines operational excellence with strategic capital deployment. The company's success in balancing public and private funding sources demonstrates the evolving sophistication of modern capital strategy in the hospitality sector.