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Published by Zach Busekrus
Welcome to Behind the Stays — a podcast that shares the stories behind your favorite boutique hotels, short-term rentals, and hospitality brands and the hosts, operators, and entrepreneurs who’ve brought them to life. Every Tuesday and Friday you’ll meet the military veterans, retired flight attendants, tech entrepreneurs, school teachers, single moms, hoteliers, and real estate investors who are all, in their unique ways, shaping the future of travel and hospitality. Discover how these visionaries — from all over the world — have built stunning landscape hotels in the mountains, designed bohemian bungalows on the beach, erected eclectic off-grid and nature-immersed escapes, and so much more. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Behind the States is hosted by Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance.
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Fresh off Independent Hotel Show Miami, Zach and Ben break down two days of conversations with eight owners, operators, and investors from across independent hospitality. Before the full interviews roll out on This Week in Hospitality, this is the recap — the ideas that kept surfacing across every mic session, the moments that caught us off guard, and what these conversations say about where independent hospitality is actually headed. Whether you own a property, back one, or build for the people who do, consider this your shortcut to what the industry's sharpest independents are thinking right now. Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Check out Lake.com claim your exclusive discount: https://www.lake.com/partners/behind-the-stays — Every few weeks, someone emails me a vision for a stay they want to build. Edoardo is one of the rare ones who actually went and built it. Before Nature Nooks, he was a startup co-founder and product manager who'd done a stint as a senior program manager at Dollar Shave Club. Then he walked away from tech, bought seventeen acres of raw land in Sullivan, Maine, and — in a single summer — stood up a glamping retreat of three Scandinavian cabins and two mirrored domes. What makes his story worth studying is the tension running through it. Edoardo approached this like a real estate investor and a project manager, the kind of operator who builds a hundred-row spreadsheet of cabin suppliers and works a glamping trade show with a pen before breaking ground. And yet what he built is anything but clinical — every unit is named after the night sky and, at the same time, after a woman in his family, from Gaia for his grandmother to Vesta, the Roman goddess of home and hospitality, for his mother. In this episode, we get into the decisions a lot of you keep asking me about. Why he chose Maine over the obvious glamping markets like Colorado or Arizona, and how regulations, cost, and proximity to Acadia National Park all factored in. Why he landed in Sullivan rather than Bar Harbor proper, and how sitting between the two halves of Acadia became a feature rather than a compromise. Why the local regional bank understood his forecast when the big national banks kept saying no — and how a ping pong event had something to do with it. How he's testing not just unit types but the amenities inside them, from telescopes to tubs to which dome gets the early reviews. And why he's deliberately holding his ADR below market in year one and treating it as a marketing expense, optimizing for occupancy, reviews, and learnings over short-term rate. It's a masterclass in doing your homework and then actually jumping — and a reminder that the difference between the people who email me an idea and the people who build something real usually comes down to whether they were willing to figure the rest out along the way. https://naturenooksacadia.com — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Blake Danner has spent his career inside the rooms where lifestyle hospitality was invented. Eleven years alongside Ian Schrager opening the Clift, Sanderson, and Shore Club. Seven years as founding COO of the Sydell Group, where he helped create Nomad, The Line, and Freehand — 11 hotels in seven years. A stint running operations at Proper Hospitality. And now, as COO of AKA Hotels & Hotel Residences, he's running a 16-property luxury serviced residence portfolio where the entry-level monthly rate starts at $30K and the loyalty program charges $750 just to join. This week, Blake makes the case that the mid-size independent operator isn't just surviving — it's winning. He explains why he's "completely unhireable" by big brands, what he learned from Schrager about staying culturally voracious, and the Andrew Zobler lesson he still carries: never sacrifice brand DNA, no matter how big the check. He tells the Delano pool story — suits outnumbering swimsuits — and why the Nomad once turned down a million-dollar group that wanted a banner over the front desk. Then the crew digs into Skift's latest loyalty data showing credit cards and banks now outrank hotels as the most rewarding loyalty programs in the eyes of travelers. Blake's response: boo hoo. If your product is good enough, people will skip the points. The conversation turns to Neil Jacobs' new operating company backed by Constellation Hotels — his pitch for a "third way" between global management scale and solo passion projects. Blake co-signs the thesis and adds: AKA doesn't want 50 properties, and that restraint is the whole point. Stream The Hotel Daddy Podcast Follow Blake on Instagram Connect with Blake on LinkedIn Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Check out Lodgify claim your exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/ — In just a moment you'll meet Austin Allison — co-founder and CEO of Pacaso, the co-ownership platform that's reimagining how people buy, use, and think about second homes. Austin's dad was a carpenter. They lived paycheck to paycheck in a home with unfinished plywood floors because they couldn't afford carpet. Austin started working job sites with his dad at six or seven years old, and the thing it taught him wasn't carpentry — it was that you can build anything if you decide to. By 17, he'd saved up four thousand dollars, bought a bank foreclosure, and watched the listing agent walk away from the closing table with a check that changed how he thought about money. A week after turning 18, he was enrolled in real estate school. That trajectory led to Dot Loop — a platform Austin built while simultaneously attending law school that went on to power more than half of all digital real estate transactions in the US — and eventually a sale to Zillow, where he worked alongside Spencer Rascoff and the founding team. But the Pacaso idea actually started earlier, back in 2013, when Austin bought a second home in Lake Tahoe and realized he hadn't just purchased a piece of real estate. He'd purchased a second life. In this conversation, Austin walks us through the full arc — from selling birdhouses as a kid to building a unicorn in five months, what it felt like to lay off nearly 300 people when the market turned, and why the six months after selling Dot Loop were some of the lowest of his life. We get into the mechanics of co-ownership, how it's fundamentally different from timeshares, and this new product called Infinity that's unlocking the 80% of luxury second homes around the world that sit empty because owners don't want renters — but would happily swap with other owners. And he makes this point that I keep coming back to — that the people stuck on the hamster wheel aren't the ones who can't afford the life they want. They're the ones who haven't made the decision yet. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
TikTok Go was supposed to turn creators into a hotel distribution channel. Instead, a Skift investigation found dozens of AI-generated fake videos attached to real properties — fabricated suites, nonexistent amenities, faceless accounts — with one Sedona luxury resort racking up 17 flagged videos. The kicker: the hotel doesn't even sell through TikTok Go's booking partners. Scott says forget the AI part — someone can now recommend a hotel they've never visited, show rooms that don't exist, and disappear while the property deals with the fallout. Then Airbnb quietly drops the most telling number of the year — testing reduced host fees as low as 6% when hosts drive their own bookings. Ben does the math: Airbnb just told you demand generation is worth nine points of margin. The host does the marketing. Airbnb keeps the customer. Edwin rattles off a staggering list of global STR bans and argues this is less generosity than regulatory hedging. And Google rolls out hotel bookings inside AI mode. Edwin delivers the sharpest take: hotels get the booking, but Google keeps the reason they booked. Discovery, intent, the "why" — all inside Google's walled garden. Hotels become the fulfillment layer. Plus: Marriott bets big on the NFL, Booking.com lets a fake https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Check out Lodgify claim your exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/ — In just a moment you'll meet Lauren Blanford from Lost Woods — a glamping retreat and event property built on 160 acres of northern Michigan that started with two bell tents, a porta potty, and homemade bagels hand-delivered at sunrise. Lauren and her husband Jason were living in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood, raising young kids, feeling like two ships passing in the night. They put their condo up for sale, found a property they wanted to buy, and were ready to make the leap. Then COVID hit — the exact week the world shut down. The condo had already sold. The other deal fell through. Everything they owned was in storage. They had no home and no plan B. So they started over. The original vision had been an event barn, but gatherings weren't happening anymore. They shifted gears, came up to northern Michigan on vacation, and found 160 acres of land with views that took their breath away. They bought it and started building something from scratch — slowly, deliberately, with whatever resources they had left. What's happened since is one of the more compelling small-scale hospitality stories I've come across. Lauren walks us through how guest feedback reshaped her entire business model — from glamping stays to themed retreats that now drive almost everything. Reading retreats that sell out instantly. A romance novel retreat built around a bookstore that opened in their tiny town. Mother-daughter camps that filled in a day. A perimenopause retreat that was born from a literal conversation at the dinner table during a previous retreat. We talk about the decision to close the business Monday through Thursday this summer so she could actually be present with her kids, how she went from fully dependent on Airbnb to 95% direct bookings and what that did for her cash flow and her sanity, and this idea she keeps coming back to — that the real growth opportunity for operators like her isn't more units. It's more reasons for people to show up. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Hotel sales in the US are up 28% in the first half of 2026 — and a meaningful chunk of that activity is chasing bad Yelp reviews, not trophy assets. JMI Realty executive Drew Bridges joins the show to break down how his firm is using AI to source acquisition targets off terrible guest feedback. The specific deal: a Hilton Garden Inn in Austin bought for $100K per key that reviewers called "janky" and "a complete nightmare." Drew walks through the renovation math, why he's keeping the brand, and why only 184 of 789 US submarkets have outpaced CPI since 2019 — a stat that underpins his thesis that a massive basis reset is underway across the industry. Then the crew digs into Rafat Ali's latest column arguing that independent boutique brands have effectively become the outsourced R&D labs of the global flags. Graduate, Nomad, Standard International, Ace, CitizenM — all absorbed in the last two years. Edwin pushes back: maybe the right size for a great independent brand is just smaller than anyone wants to admit. Scott says 95% of what the public hotel companies do is shareholder theater. Ben says the Edition model — bring in a founder, protect the brand — is the playbook nobody's replicated. Spice of the week: Scott on Google's move toward agentic hotel booking and what it means for distribution. Zach on United's cinematic route reveal and the coming shift from performance marketing to storytelling. Ben on why the real risk isn't a failed bet — it's doing nothing in an industry full of dinosaurs. About the Guest: Drew Bridges Drew Bridges joined JMI Realty in 2011 as a Financial Analyst, where he underwrote new development, acquisition, and financing opportunities. Today he leads Investment Management for JMI's developed assets, overseeing property management, implementing capital expenditure and value enhancement strategies, and managing investor relations. A graduate of Cornell University, Mr. Bridges began his career at Archon Group in Dallas, where he worked on initiatives ranging from the acquisition of non-performing loan portfolios to the spin-off of what became Pillar Hotels and Resorts. Drew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewbridges/ Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Check out Lodgify claim your exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/ — Explore FerebeeLane: https://www.ferebeelane.com/ Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ferebee-2287566/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ — Twenty-five years ago, a kid with an English degree and a freelance gig writing about furniture realized something. People didn't want to just know what the sofa looked like. They wanted to know how it was made, who designed it, how many hands had touched it before it reached the showroom. The descriptions of the piece were fine, but it was really the stories that sold it. That kid was Matt Ferebee. And that instinct, that the story behind the thing is more valuable than the thing itself, became the foundation of FerebeeLane. Boutique, brand, and guest experience agency that he co founded with his partner Josh Lane over two decades ago. Their first big client was Hickory Chair, a premier furniture company in North Carolina that was fighting to stay relevant in a rapidly commoditizing market. Matt and Josh launched a magazine for them called Timeless, profiling watchmakers from Cartier and interior designers to contextualize the brand among the greats. That caught the attention of BlackBerry Farm. At the time, maybe 22 keys, hard to categorize, and often dismissed as a charming bed and breakfast. Matt interviewed founder Chris Bell, and within 18 months, FerebeeLane had assumed full responsibility for their marketing. To this day, BlackBerry Farm does no paid advertising. They're celebrating their 50th anniversary, and Matt's team is still right there beside them. In this conversation, we trace the arc from furniture copywriting to shaping the narrative identity of some of the most revered hospitality brands in the world. Matt talks about what he learned watching Blackberry Farm scale without ever compromising on guest experience, why he believes the current wave of rustic minimalism is often just a cash grab dressed up in Scandinavian language, and how his team brought Canoe Place in. A site dating back to 1697, America's oldest inn, turned nightclub, turned forgotten asset, back to life with a story rooted in place. We also get into what it means for a 15-person agency to land on Marriott Luxury Portfolio's approved list alongside publicly traded global firms, what that signals about where the major flags are headed, and why Matt believes the future of branded hospitality looks a lot more like. Treating a 90-room Ritz-Carlton as an independent boutique property, not the other way around. This is a fascinating conversation. You're really gonna love Matt. He and his team have done incredible work. So, friends, without further ado, get ready to meet Matt Ferebee. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality On this week's episode the guys are joined by Alice Sherman, CEO of HVS Executive Search! Alice Sherman has placed some of the most powerful executives in hospitality. As CEO of HVS Executive Search, she's seen thousands of resumes, sat across from hundreds of owners, and walked the halls of Congress to lobby for the industry. Her message to the business? You're still hiring wrong. Years of experience is the most overrated qualifier in the industry. Cover letters are dead. And the best talent isn't chasing the big brands anymore — they're running toward independent, luxury, and boutique properties where they can actually build something. Alice breaks down what a modern resume should look like, why the Chief Commercial Officer is the new CEO succession play, and what happened when she went to Capitol Hill and realized most lawmakers had no idea hospitality employs more hourly workers than any other industry in America. Then the crew gets into the stories. Google just scooped up Spirit Airlines' entire operational data set — pricing models, booking curves, 100 million emails — for $10 million. That's less than Spirit spent building its headquarters. Why didn't anyone in travel bid $11 million? Timeshares are back, and Gen Z is driving the bus. 92% satisfaction. 80% occupancy. And the generation that hates commitment is apparently fine with shared vacation ownership. And Disney just invented a new metric to make sure Wall Street sees what's really happening: the cruise business is surging, and $12 billion says they're just getting started. About the Guest: Alice Sherman Alice Sherman is the CEO of HVS Executive Search, where she leads the firm's global executive placement practice across hospitality, restaurants, and private equity. She started her career on the floor, running operations in fine dining restaurants and boutique hotels, before moving through recruitment, training, openings, development, and brand communications. She joined HVS as an Associate and worked her way up, eventually overseeing the entire Americas practice before stepping into the global CEO seat in 2026. Alice advises ownership groups, C-suites, and boards on leadership architecture, succession planning, and organizational design, and is always glad to be a resource for stakeholders navigating an executive change. Alice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicesherman5 Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Explore Inhaven: https://inhaven.com/ Connect with Ashley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-ching-inhaven-b56a843/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Check out Lodgify and get an exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/ — Meet Ashley Ching — founder of Inhaven, former head of global merchandising operations at Tiffany & Co., and the person behind what might be the most important piece of research the vacation rental industry has produced in years. Here's the question Ashley keeps asking: every other hospitality industry — hotels, airlines, restaurants, car rentals — has a language of trust. Quality tiers that tell the consumer what they're buying before they arrive. Vacation rentals don't. And that single missing layer is behind almost every structural problem the industry can't seem to solve — from review manipulation to failed scaling attempts to the reason you still can't build a transferable property management brand. Ashley walks us through the Reasonable Hospitality framework her team developed alongside property managers and Steve Joyce, the former CEO of Choice Hotels. We dig into why service standards matter more than furnishings in determining where you fall on the quality spectrum, this care coverage ratio concept that quantifies what "boots on the ground" actually means, and why every attempt to put standards at the individual property level has failed. She makes a compelling case that most operators calling themselves luxury probably aren't — and that's not an insult, because only 3% of US hotel supply is actually luxury, and there's excellence at every tier. We talk about the luxury fallacy, why a Hampton Inn with an 8.2 rating doesn't mean it's better than a Ritz-Carlton with a 7.8, and what this industry could look like in ten years if it finally gets the foundation right. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Airbnb just partnered with TripAdvisor to bring 425,000 experiences onto its platform — a move that signals Brian Chesky isn't just dabbling in experiences anymore, he's building a second business inside the first. The crew breaks down what this means for the future of in-destination travel, why the real unfair advantage might already be sitting inside every host's guidebook, and whether this is Airbnb's best play in markets where short-term rental bans are tightening the grip on its core product. Edwin brings the European perspective: Barcelona's courts just sided with the city, 10,000 units disappear by 2029, and the ripple effects are spreading. Then the conversation shifts to IHG, which is taking a completely different approach to the owner economics pressure wave sweeping the industry. While Hilton cuts fees and Marriott rolls out rebates, IHG is pitching a full services package — marketing, digital support, training, group booking — and telling owners to trust the value. Edwin's challenge is sharp: don't tell me the service has value, show me the PL. The panel explores whether regional marketing studios could actually be the unlock and what happens when brands start making owners more dependent on infrastructure they don't control. The big closer: Blackstone just paid $2.5 billion for a 25% stake in AeroPlan, valuing Air Canada's loyalty program at $10 billion — more than the airline itself. Scott calls it a data and credit card gold mine. Ben says the airline business is a commodity and loyalty is where the differentiation lives. And somehow the whole thing detours into a love letter to Blackstone CEO John Gray's Instagram and why the best business development tool in 2026 might just be a jog through Central Park with your phone out. — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Special Guest: Sarah Kopit — Editor-in-Chief of Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkopit Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Read "Please Do Disturb": https://pleasedodisturbbook.com/ Connect with Rachel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Check out Lodgify and get an exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/ — In just a moment, you'll meet Rachel Alday, co-founder of Abode Luxury Rentals and author of the forthcoming book, "Please Do Disturb." I brought Rachel back on the podcast because she's an awesome friend of mine, but also because the frameworks and lessons she outlines in her book have guided her and her team in building Abode Luxury Rentals into one of the most respected vacation rental management companies in the country. Early in this conversation, Rachel tells a story about a guest family that called her team constantly with complaints — and then asked to extend their stay. What her team discovered when they stopped being defensive and started being curious became the foundation for everything she's built since. She breaks down the framework behind it: three deceptively simple commitments she and her co-authors spent years uncovering — show up, make room, and build belonging. We get into the service recovery paradox, a concept Tim Ferriss personally pushed her to put in the book, and why managing a mistake well can create a more loyal customer than a flawless experience ever could. Rachel makes a sharp case for why outsourcing guest communication to AI might be the single worst place to cut corners, and where she thinks AI actually belongs in vacation rentals instead. We talk about the real cost-benefit of writing a book while running a business, what a breathing coach taught her about leading under pressure, and why presence — the kind where the rest of the world genuinely disappears — might be the most underrated competitive advantage in hospitality leadership right now. Friends, you're going to love this conversation. Be sure to order her book, "Please Do Disturb," wherever you get your books. You can pre-order it now, and there's a link in the show notes below. Without further ado, get ready to hear from Rachel Alday. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality This week we're joined by Sarah Kopit, Editor-in-Chief of Skift — the publication that fuels basically every episode of this show — and she came ready. We open on the story all of hospitality shared this week: Aman's brand-new, $6,000-a-night Amanvari turning away independent reviewer Ryan Walker at the gate on night two, then calling the cops on his driver. Scott and Sarah are inclined to give Aman the benefit of the doubt. Ben isn't — he thinks it might be the canary in the coal mine for a brand scaling faster than it ever has. From there we get into The Squeeze, Sarah's reporting on the crisis crushing America's small and mid-scale hotel owners. Record brand profits, owners barely cash-flowing, and a franchise model showing real cracks. We dig into why owners are revolting, what deflagging really costs, the financing fears keeping them locked to their flags, and the gut-punch of learning the Google reviews you spent eighteen years building don't belong to you — they belong to the brand. Then Marriott's new rebate: a real concession, or breadcrumbs tossed to the good boys who hit their guest-satisfaction scores? Sarah makes the case that the credit card companies are now the biggest force in travel, and that Amex and Capital One are building their own soft brands in plain sight. We close with a game — the hotel accounts winning on social, and the 99% still getting it wrong. This one's loaded. Come hang. — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Key Topics & Timestamps 00:00 — Intro 09:49 — Story #1: The Great Hotel Owner Squeeze 33:05 — Story #2: Aman’s YouTuber Fiasco 44:41 — Story #3: Marriott’s Owner Concession 55:01 — Hotel Social Media Game 01:06:23 — Spice of the Week — Special Guest: Sarah Kopit — Editor-in-Chief of Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkopit Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Connect with Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-rosolio-434b2a98/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/ — Vrbo just did three things most operators haven't connected yet: it purged 100,000 homes, surveyed 2,000 guests across seven countries, and started rolling out sponsored listings. Put them together and you get the clearest signal yet on where vacation rentals are headed. Tim Rosolio is VP of Vacation Rental Partnerships at Expedia Group, where he leads the supply and host side of Vrbo. He's also a Vrbo host himself. In his return to Behind the Stays, Tim and Zach get into what that survey actually revealed — and it wasn't what the industry has been selling. Quality isn't luxury. It isn't the private chef or the infinity pool. It's accurate photos, verified reviews, a fully stocked shelf, and linens and silverware worth touching. 81% of guests said they'd pay more for a stay they can trust to be consistent. Then there are the sponsored listings landing this summer — a pay-only-if-you-book model that lets hosts buy visibility without gaming the algorithm. Tim explains how it works, why bad operators won't be allowed in, and where it goes across Expedia next. The conversation also covers the "coach up or coach out" program behind the purge, why the future of discovery is personalization instead of a star-rating system nobody trusts, expanded distribution across Expedia's 70,000-business B2B network, and the one fear keeping every VRM up at night: owner retention in a market where 2022 numbers aren't coming back. Reach out to Tim on LinkedIn — he's an open book. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Sonder is back — sort of. Eight months after going bankrupt and stranding guests mid-stay, the brand name has been bought by a Vancouver affiliate firm that paid for one thing: search equity. The buildings are gone. The trademarks and 70+ domains remain. And because large language models still route travelers to Sonder’s optimized pages, that name is now targeting $100M in gross booking value over the next year. We get into what it means when a dead brand outlives the company that built it. Then: Fora’s $1B valuation. The travel advisor platform keeps scaling the human-agent model — but the team digs into the product it hasn’t built yet, and why the “ShopMy for travel” affiliate layer is still wide open for creators who aren’t full-time advisors. We also break down Google’s AI travel play. Fresh off its Q2 earnings call, Google is using travel to sell Wall Street its AI ad story — Direct Offers, IHG partnerships, AI Mode crossing a billion users, and checkout infrastructure that could let travelers book without ever leaving the search box. The question for operators: is Google becoming rented land, and a direct-booking competitor, at the same time? Plus, The Odyssey effect. From Petra to the “White Lotus Four Seasons” to Bangkok’s Hangover Hotel, we get into how films turn destinations into demand — and what hoteliers should actually do about it. Hosted by Zach Busekrus with Ben Wolff, Scott Eddy, and Edwin Kramer. Like, subscribe, and let us know which story you’d unpack further. — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Key Topics & Timestamps 00:00 — Intro 06:02 — Story #1: Sonder's Brand Gets a Second Life Through AI Search 17:51 — Story #2: Google Wants to Own the Entire Hotel Booking Journey 32:16 — Story #3: The Odyssey Is Creating the Next Travel Boom 45:11 — Story #4: Is Fora Really Worth $1 Billion? 59:22 — Spice of the Week — Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Connect with Glenn: linkedin.com/in/glennhaussman Explore "No Vacancy": https://novacancynews.com/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/ — Meet Glenn Haussman — thirty years in hospitality media, a decade helming No Vacancy News, and one of the most recognized voices this industry has ever produced. He's been in the rooms, on the stages, and behind the microphone longer than most people in this industry have known what a podcast was. He's not just a journalist. He's a mirror for this industry, and he's seen enough cycles to call out the patterns most people are still too caught up in to notice. We sat down together with no real agenda and covered a lot of ground. How to make Virgin Hotels cool again. Why Disney wins at hospitality but can't seem to crack the hotel business. The biggest opportunities sitting right in front of independent hoteliers today. Why the casino industry and the hotel industry keep operating in separate silos when they have everything to learn from each other. The future of creator-led businesses in hospitality. And why Glenn Haussman has seen Phish perform hundreds of times — which, once he explains it, makes complete sense. We also got into the craft. What it actually means to listen in an interview. Why the magic lives in the moment you didn't plan for. And what it took to go independent in 2016, when convincing a hospitality executive to sit in front of a microphone without a notepad was still a genuinely hard sell. Thirty years in and Glenn is still going places this industry isn't ready for yet. This one hit different. Stay with us. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta went on record defending the brand's 28-property portfolio — and the panel has thoughts. Is the multi-brand arms race really about guests, or is it just an elaborate play for developers and distribution? Edwin makes the case that independent hotels have a competitive advantage no loyalty algorithm can replicate. Scott drops the hottest take of the episode: loyalty points have become hush money for operational failures. And Ben shares a story about a boutique hotel that turned a jackhammer nightmare into a lifelong brand loyalist — no points required. Then the World Cup post-mortem. Bank of America's final numbers are in — $20 billion pumped into the U.S. economy, RevPAR up 90% in Kansas City, 55% in San Francisco. Miami crushed it. But three separate properties reached out to Scott after the final whistle with the same question: now what? No social strategy. No post-event plan. No follow-through. The panel unpacks what hotels actually got right, what they blew, and why this should be a wake-up call for independent operators ahead of the 2028 Olympics. And to close it out — a game. It's Route 66's 100th anniversary, and CoStar toured the surviving motels still operating along the highway. The panel plays Keep, Kill, or Reimagine across six properties. Clark Gable's old room, a freshly rehabbed motor court with a paint can still in the bathtub, and a pink-walled Santa Monica hotel sitting on land worth more than the building. Scott wants to build a diner on everything. Edwin wants to preserve the soul. Ben's doing the math. — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Key Topics & Timestamps 00:00 — Intro 12:07 — Story #1: Hilton’s 28-Brand Defense and AI’s Loyalty Shift 33:15 — Story #2: Did the 2026 World Cup Actually Deliver for Hotels? 43:23 — 100 Years of Route 66: Motel Draft (Keep, Reimagine, Kill) — Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
This week, the squad breaks down Norwegian Air's World Cup Instagram stunt that cost next to nothing and generated more brand equity than campaigns with budgets a hundred times the size. Eivind Hammer Myhre, who leads comms and marketing at Norwegian, joins us live to walk through exactly how it happened — the 25-minute brainstorm, the one phone call to get sign-off, and what came after when the whole thing blew up overnight. Then we get into the Ennismore story. Skift's Rafat Ali floated a thought experiment this week that reads less like an op-ed and more like a deal memo left on the wrong desk — a potential distribution and loyalty partnership between Airbnb and Accor's lifestyle hotel subsidiary ahead of a $3.7 billion IPO. Ben, Edwin, and Scott dig into whether the math actually works for owners, who benefits more, and why Wall Street keeps struggling to put a number on cool. And finally — Vrbo is launching sponsored listings. The beta is live. The full rollout is coming. And if you've been around long enough to remember what happened when organic reach died on Meta, you already know where this is going. Scott's spice of the week ties it all together: four stories that seem unrelated until you realize they're all asking the same question. How do you earn trust at scale? And what happens to the brands — and the platforms — that can't figure that out? — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Key Topics & Timestamps 00:00 — Intro 03:18 — Interview: Norwegian Air's Viral Women's Euro Campaign 26:53 — Story #1: Airbnb and Ennismore Hook Up 33:47 — Story #2: The Slow Death of Organic Discovery on Vrbo 39:52 — Story #3: South Korea Could Strip Hotels of Stars for Price Gouging 1:04:47 — Spice of the Week — Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts: Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality James McBride, Co-Founder & CEO of NIHI Hotels, joins the core four for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to build a legendary independent hospitality brand — from the jungles of Sumba to the halls of the Ritz-Carlton. James traces his career across some of the most storied names in luxury hospitality — Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood, the Carlisle, YTL — before partnering with Chris Burch to build NIHI Sumba, now widely regarded as one of the world's most exceptional and emotionally resonant hotel experiences. He breaks down the difference between operating inside a behemoth brand versus building something from scratch, and what it really costs — personally and professionally — to go independent. The conversation covers demand creation in the pre-algorithm era (think hot cookies at Malaysian airports and a chef moonlighting as a "technology butler"), how a yoga teacher ran NIHI's Instagram for its first five years, and why NIHI's most viral post — horses casting shadows on a beach at sunset — gets mistaken for AI-generated content daily. James also shares his philosophy on guerrilla marketing, the power of generosity as a brand strategy, and why scarcity may be the most underutilized asset in luxury hospitality today. On the business side, James gets candid about partner selection, equity, the emotional toll of betting on yourself, and what independent operators consistently get wrong: great product, poor storytelling. He argues that the GM running a flagged property matters more than the flag itself — that soul can't be systemized, only lived. A masterclass in brand building, emotional hospitality, and the courage it takes to build something the world hasn't seen yet. Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
Connect with Colin: linkedin.com/in/colinjamesnagy/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/ — The luxury hotel boom of the last decade produced more five-star rooms, more high-end brands, and more capital chasing premium travelers than any period in modern hospitality history. It also produced a lot of hotels that feel exactly the same. Colin Nagy has spent nearly a decade covering the business of luxury travel for Skift while leading global brand strategy for Instagram and Threads at Meta. He sits at a rare intersection — deeply inside the world of brand, culture, and consumer behavior, and deeply inside an industry he genuinely loves. That combination makes him one of the most clear-eyed observers working in hospitality today. In this episode, Colin and I dig into why luxury has optimized itself into sameness — and more importantly, what the brands getting it right are actually doing differently. We get into the role hospitality plays in a world where AI is accelerating isolation and people are hungry for real human connection. We talk members' clubs — the ones worth betting on and the ones burning through capital without a clue. We get into the macro disruption question most operators aren't asking loudly enough. And we talk about what world building actually requires — and why so few brands are willing to do the work. Colin isn't cynical about any of this. He's demanding. There's a difference. And if you care about where this industry is headed, this conversation will sharpen how you see it. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
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