The Student Hotel rebrands as The Social Hub to better reflect its guest profile and mission, with ambitions to double the number of properties within 7 years
• The Student Hotel rebrands as ‘The Social Hub’ to better reflect its hybrid hospitality offering and the mission to focus on community connections
• Valued at €2.1 billion in the last funding round, the hybrid hospitality company along with APG and GIC is set to expand its portfolio with 25 new properties across Europe, with seven already opening in the next three years
The Student Hotel, a favorite place to stay and connect for students, travelers, entrepreneurs and locals, has rebranded to ‘The Social Hub’. The growing organization now has a name that reflects its industry-leading hybrid hospitality model, as it announces plans with shareholders APG and GIC to double the number of properties to 50 across Europe.
With 11,000 rooms across Europe and a valuation of €2.1 billion in its last funding round, The Social Hub has transitioned from simply being known as a student hotel to a name that puts ‘Social’ central to its identity as a hybrid hub, connecting guests and the local community. The new brand identity has been created to amplify The Social Hub's hybrid hospitality offering. It reflects guests’ needs for flexible spaces that allow people to connect and find community – whether they are getting to know a new city or building a business network.
The Social Hub’s current 13 properties, with locations including Amsterdam, Berlin, Bologna, Florence and Vienna, offer a broad range of uniquely designed facilities, including large communal areas, student accommodation, hotels rooms, co-working, meeting spaces, gyms, bars, restaurants and community events programs.
Testament to its proven hybrid business model, in Madrid student rooms are sold out until March 2023, and the other occupancy categories are outstripping best projections. The Social Hub has played host to hundreds and thousands of businesses and guests throughout its 10-year journey and seen demand for co-working, meeting and community spaces continue to increase. The company is already devoting 15% of its portfolio to this, with plans to double square meterage in future locations, as well as plans to retrofit its current properties in the near future.
The new openings in 2022 form part of the first wave in the company's expansion plan to increase the portfolio by 100 percent, with seven more sites already in the pipeline to launch by 2025.
As part of the expansion plans, this autumn will see The Social Hub opening its doors at two new properties in Spain – the first in central Madrid and the second in Barcelona’s Poblenou district. They will be the first properties to open under their new brand identity and expect to welcome 1000 new members and over 50,000 thousand guests at each property in the first 6 months. A third property will also open this year in Toulouse.
Charlie MacGregor, CEO and Founder, The Social Hub, commented: “We’re really proud to be announcing the evolution of our company along with the opening of our new properties in Spain. We have changed our name to The Social Hub to put social impact at the heart of everything we do. Now more than ever there's a need for genuine connection and positive change, we believe, together we create a better society!’
Frank Uffen, Managing Director, Community & Partnerships comments: “The Social Hub sees our community through a new lens. Not only as students, travellers, digital nomads or entrepreneurs, but as one community with a shared mindset.”
One of The Social Hub’s steps towards creating better societies is the events program, which aims to improve social connections and features 200 events per month across the portfolio, including learning experiences, awareness days, networking events, sports classes as well as a wellbeing and mental health program and more.
This program of events is supported by a rapidly growing group of 200 ambassadors across Europe who represent a variety of communities and mindsets – and helps to connect the hubs to the city and support talent in the community. For example, The Social Hub Amsterdam was selected as the city’s official Pride Hotel for the second time in 2022, hosting Pride TV, Pride University and various diversity and inclusion events.
Founded in 2012 by Charlie MacGregor as a concept aiming to help students find their purpose with quality spaces for them to learn, stay, work and play. The hotels quickly started attracting a more diverse community – from local entrepreneurs and business owners to travelers and digital nomads. The rebranding from The Student Hotel to The Social Hub is the logical next step of amplifying its hybrid hospitality offering and its mission to focus on community connections.
About The Social Hub
Driven by a purpose to create a better society, The Social Hub is a pioneer in the hybrid hospitality industry, offering spaces where guests from all walks of life can learn, stay, work and play. With hotels located across Europe’s most dynamic cities, The Social Hub connects and creates a unique community of travellers, students, business professionals, neighbours, and more.
From hotel facilities, student and extended stay rooms, co-working spaces, through to auditoriums, gyms, event spaces and a comprehensive social impact programme, The Social Hub is a place where people can connect and learn from one another, build a community and engage in unique experiences that help spark ideas and make change happen.
Founded in 2012, The Social Hub is headquartered in Amsterdam and counts with more than 1,000 employees. The Social Hub’s total locations amount to 23, including 18 hotels and over 10,000 rooms currently operating in Amsterdam (two hubs), Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Delft, Eindhoven, Florence, Glasgow, Groningen, Maastricht, Madrid, Paris, Rotterdam, San Sebastián, The Hague, Toulouse, and Vienna. Five hubs are currently in development and opening in 2024 in Porto & Florence Belfiore, Rome in 2025, and Lisbon and Turin further ahead. For more information: www.thesocialhub.co.