KOBU is to travel and real estate, what MR PORTER is to menswear — a highly curated and coveted resource of the world’s most imaginative dwellings and the visionaries who have shaped them.
Founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and creative Rich Northen and a team including former Mr & Mrs Smith curators, Soho House designers, fashion creatives and writers, each has left their mark along the way.
Within KOBU’s travel division, which is the core offering, each hotel and property is handpicked. More than just beautiful design, KOBU looks for spaces that create a mood so gravitational that they inspire you not only to visit, but to center your trip around them.
“From the moment you step foot in a KOBU stay you can sense the countless hours of craft and passion that have been poured into them— a feeling words can rarely portray.” – Rich Northen, Cofounder.
There is a great emphasis on showcasing the hotels on the site with the same meticulous attention to detail. Aleksandra Personick, KOBU’s Head of Content, is dedicated to bringing richness to each hotel feature, something that has been diluted down to product details in the age of e-commerce. Under her direction, each immersive feature masterfully captures the mood, thoughtfully leveraging high-quality photography and highlighting a curated list of local favorites to explore in the area.
“Stays such as Sussurro, an off-grid, sophisticated escape in Mozambique; Numeroventi, an artist and design residency in Florence; Piaule, a spa retreat nestled in the deciduous forest of Upstate New York; or properties for sale such as Barefoot Luxury, 36 sublime homes along the coast of the Cape Verde Islands, have each created an experience so unique and authentic they deserve to stand out.” – Aleksandra Personick, Head of Content.
The KOBU brand and site recently underwent a full redesign under the direction of CEO Marc Personick, in an effort to evolve its brand to best support these incredible hotels and properties. Having recently partnered with Impala to offer bookings, KOBU are creating a seamless end to end experience that filters out the noise and thoughtfully rethinks the endless commodification of travel.
“The balance was to create an identity that was bold, yet minimal — one that would allow the hotels and properties themselves to shine through. We really pushed to create an experience that made exploration feel effortless, where you can just be in awe of each stay.” – Marc Personick, CEO
Inspired by the bold hoteliers, architects, and designers who have dared to challenge the conventional concept of a hotel, KOBU is well on its way to establishing itself as a lighthouse brand and platform for design travel.
About KOBU
KOBU, which means ‘inspiration’, is a group of like-minded people who value travel, property, furniture and objects by the quality of their design, functionality and aesthetic as well as their environmental impact. Kobu’s mission is grounded in the potential of offering a totally new service to the market that resists commodification and tells a deeper, more immersive story about spaces. The KOBU site is constantly evolving with new tools and services for users and the company is working with cutting-edge tech partners to roll out unrivaled user experiences to the platform.
