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We are thrilled to debut the first episode of a brand-new Suite Spot series spotlighting the inspiring women shaping the hospitality industry, The Hospitality SHE Suite!
Throughout this series, TMG Brand Ambassador and Suite Spot Co-Host, Cassady Quintana sits down with female industry leaders to explore career journeys, key leadership lessons, and the power of supporting current and future generations of women in hospitality.
To kick things off, special guest and familiar face on the Suite Spot, Kat Woods of Hyatt joins us to discuss her hospitality career trajectory and how she is opening avenues for other women through leadership and the NYC Women of Hospitality organization.
Cassady Quintana:
Welcome to the Hospitality SHE Suite, where we spotlight the women shaping the hospitality industry.
Through conversations with leaders and changemakers, we explore career journeys, leadership lessons, and the experiences that have helped shape who they are today.
I’m your host, Cassady Quintana.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Hospitality SHE Suite, a brand new series brought to you by The Suite Spot where we will be celebrating women in hospitality and their stories. I’m your host, Cassady Quintana, and I’m super excited to bring you guys this new series. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while and definitely something that’s needed in our hospitality industry. And I have an amazing guest with me, no one better to bring on first, Kat Woods, Regional Vice President of Pre-Opening Operations at Hyatt. Kat, thanks for joining me.
Kat Woods:
Thank you so much for having me, Cassady. I’m so happy to be here, and congratulations on launching this amazing podcast.
Cassady Quintana:
Thank you. Yeah, super excited. Glad you’re here. Glad we can make it work. Obviously, I’m pretty familiar with your story, but for our listeners that may not know you and who you are and what you do, kind of just walk us through a little bit about how you got involved in hospitality and where, how you got to where you are today.
Kat Woods:
Happy to. So I will take it pretty far back. When I was in high school and was looking at universities to go to, I ended up being recruited to run track and field at the University of New Hampshire, which also happens to have a really strong hospitality management program. I was relatively familiar with the field because I had traveled a lot and understood that hotels and restaurants need people to manage them, but wasn’t entirely sure I understood that it could be a major. Admittedly, trying to balance my athletic schedule and my academic schedule, I thought, “Hey, this might be an easy major. Let’s do it. Could be fun.” And I think the rest is history because as those who have studied this type of thing know, it’s not necessarily an easy major, but it is certainly a blast. And it was apparent from day one that this was something I ended up loving. I started working in the industry. The classes at the time were very interesting to me because going to hotels and restaurants and resorts was something that as a college student I could identify with. The same can’t really be said when you’re talking about real estate or marketing or whatever these other majors are, right? So I just fell in love with it. Continued obviously on the athletic side, but then really started to flourish on the academic side in later in my college life and ultimately started working for Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Now, quite a few years ago, Marriott bought Starwood, but back in the day, Starwood was its own company, and it had some really incredible brands. One of those brands was W Hotels, and W Hotels was certainly tailored to my demographic, the young, the fun, beverage culture focus, travel, party, fashion, music, design. And for a young 20-something, you just fall in love with the industry even more. So I worked for W Hotels for about three and a half, four years, anywhere from Barcelona to New York City, and just continued to fall in love with the operation over and over again. Worked in housekeeping, worked in front desk, worked in food and beverage. And about five years after working for W Hotels, I started with independent hotels. So privately owned, not part of a larger brand. At the time, there was a really exciting hotel opening here in New York City called 11 Howard, and it had just opened. It was the hottest place to be in town. Everyone who was anyone and knew about it. And I had an opportunity to go join the team there. That was my first introduction to private management, private ownership, and really the world of truly independent properties. I worked at 11 Howard for many years through a variety of different functions, and really fell in love with the independent hotel space. Ultimately moved from 11 Howard to a company called Bridgeton, operating another hotel here in New York City, the Walker Hotel Tribeca, really involved in the independent space as well. Privately owned, privately operated company, and once again, just really loving that independent hotel space. After the pandemic, or I suppose after I reopened a hotel after the pandemic, I was honestly burnt out. I took some time off. I traveled for about six months by myself to visit some family and some friends, and kind of reset a little bit. Went back to the amazing team at Bridgeton and said, “I’m interested in continuing to work for the company. However, I don’t wanna work in a hotel. I think I wanna try something else.” And that was when I sort of stumbled into a role that focused on asset management and hotel development. And if I was working for a larger company, I don’t think I would’ve ever had had that opportunity because on paper I was not even close to being qualified. But given my relationship with that hotel company and the fact that I had already worked for them for several years, I appreciated their confidence in basically saying, “You’ll figure it out.” <laugh>. And so I did that for about three years, owning on the owner side, on the operator side, essentially being responsible for asset management for the company, as well as any portfolio-wide initiatives that we were working on. A lot of tech enhancements, a lot of brand standardizations, just kind of anything and everything that at these larger companies you may have individuals or entire departments dedicated to. And at a small company like Bridgeton, you didn’t. And so that kind of fell to myself and a very select group of others to roll these things out. And I loved it. I was very proud to work in the independent hotel space. There’s a reason I am on the advisory board for the independent hotel show, and I think there’s a lot of beauty in that world. About six months ago, I joined the team at the lifestyle group of Hyatt to focus on their pre-opening operations. And essentially what that means is having a GM-focused individual, a GM operational brain for every phase of the project from signing the deal until opening. Why I made the change, I was looking to grow my own professional network. I was also looking to grow professionally and work for a larger organization. And quite honestly, the opportunity felt like a dream job.
Cassady Quintana:
There’s nothing wrong with that. I love that. You’ve been in hospitality. It’s almost rare these days to meet someone that, like, chose that route, right? Like to go to college for hospitality and then stay in it their entire career. A lot of the people we talk to, it’s like, “Oh, I was working a side job in college,” and kinda just fell into it, and then they fall in love with it. But you kind of already knew from the jump when you went to college, like, “This seems interesting. It’s something I’m interested in.” You stayed in it. And I’m glad you brought up this new position because I saw when you got this new opportunity at Hyatt and it’s awesome. But for me, I was like, “So what exactly does this position. Like what does that day-to-day look like?” So kind of walk us through. I know you’re traveling all the time, but what does this role specifically look like on a day-to-day basis?
Kat Woods:
I’ll tell you a story because this is the reason that this job is a dream job. I’m not gonna mention which hotel I was working at, but there was a hotel that I had worked at when I was really young, and the back of house layout was very confusing and did not make much sense operationally. In addition, there were finishes and things about the guest rooms that did not age well. So as the product became two, three, four years old, it looked even older. And I remember specifically saying to somebody, “Who did this?” and how come we didn’t have someone who’s operated a hotel before look at these floor plans, look at these finishes, think about it how a guest is going to use it. Think about how all of the employees and colleagues need to walk through these spaces. Because at the time, being 20-something and having the confidence of anyone that young. I felt like I knew I though I could do it better. And this job is such a dream because I’ve always thought about how it would be great to be involved from the ground up to always keep in mind the, of course, the guest experience, but the employee experience and the way that the back of house spaces are evolve throughout the development process to make sure that they’re efficient, that people have the space and the resources and the tools to do what they need to do in order to ensure that obviously the guest has the best time, and to ensure that whatever these finishes are that we put in a room look messy or bad after a month or two, right? And so that’s a lot of what this is. This job, I have an incredible team that I work with and don’t have to worry about things as silly as, like, does this finish age well because they’re phenomenal. But talking about how backs of house flow, how employees need to move through space efficiently in the back of house in order to make the front of house experience feel to the level that we are certainly trying to deliver. And it’s great because I am pulling knowledge and resources and lessons learned from my days as a room inspector in housekeeping. Or a front desk agent or times when I had to cover the bellman, to most recently when I was a developer myself, or I was thinking about how does this hotel position in the community and how do we make sure that it’s a staple of the area surrounding it? So it’s kind of a dream because I’m using everything I’ve learned along the way.
Cassady Quintana:
I was gonna say, this is honestly perfect for you. Well, congrats on this new role and it’s awesome to kind of see what you’re doing there. And you brought up all this experience you have and your professional career shows for that, but I wanna get a little bit deeper onto that personal side because, you talked about maybe you weren’t qualified for a role at some point and, but you had the confidence to say that you could do it or you were gonna try and figure it out as you went along. So when you think about those roles and the experiences you’ve had in your career, what would you say you’ve, you’ve learned about yourself and what have you gotten really good at? Or maybe what was something that you realized, “Well, I’m not very good at that, but I want to be”?
Kat Woods:
That’s a great question, and hindsight is a beautiful thing because I’m confident that there were some lessons that I was learning that really didn’t feel all that good. At the time. So a great example, right, when I left the hotel property level and moved to corporate, I always had this shiny, beautiful image in my brain of what working for a corporate job would be, you know, coming to the office and seeing your office mates every day and going for an hour and a half for lunch and attending all that happy hours because nothing ran past five o’clock or whatever it may be. And there are certainly some really wonderful benefits, and everyone has to make the decision that’s best for them, about going to a corporate role. But I do not thrive sitting behind a screen. I need to be out with people. I need to be building relationships. I love to be connecting people. And so while I started to realize very quickly that sitting behind a screen wasn’t what made me the most fulfilled, I had to balance that with the fact that I took on that role at Bridgeton, which had a kind of a junk drawer of responsibilities because I needed to understand why we were making some of the decisions we were making at the property level. And when anyone is kind of looking at a job and maybe it’s not the best job for you or you’re not fulfill- fulfilled or you wanna travel more or whatever it is, right, whatever your situation is, I encourage you to keep just trying to focus on what you can get out of that role. And for me, it was learning a lot about asset management, learning how hotel development deals really get to the finish line, how to evaluate and underwrite all these different properties. And sitting behind a screen, again, wasn’t what I wanted to do. But when I shifted my brain to think, “Okay, I need to learn this. I need to understand this. I need to be good enough at this so that I can speak about it and, and bring it with me to wherever I go next,” it made it a little bit easier to go be in Excel all day.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. Well, I think there’s, you know, there are pros to having a job that you don’t love is, one, you learn what you don’t wanna do for the rest of your life, but also there are some things that you can take, okay, like you said, I need to learn this so that for when I get the job I really want, you’re already kind of there. So, you know, as you’re going through that job that you necessarily didn’t love and all these other experiences you’re having, was there ever a moment that you were like, “Okay, I’m meant for a larger leadership role or something greater than where I’m at right now?”
Kat Woods:
I think that’s true about anyone who’s driven or wants to continue to grow in their career. We should all be looking for our next step and how do we grow and how do we kind of expand our own professional path. And anyone who knows me is, knows that I’m pretty ambitious. I like to see progress. I like to try things. If they fail, we fail fast, we move on, we try something new. And so, I was always constantly looking out for what’s next and what’s exciting. When you get to a certain point in your career, and many women that you interview on this, I’m sure will say the same thing, you have the luxury of continuing to be more and more selective. And when I was in the operation, I always worked for brands that I wanted to be a part of and associated with. I always worked for people that I enjoyed spending 60 plus hours a week of my time with, right? And now I have the luxury of being able to do both of those things, as well as being associated with projects that I just kind of hardly can believe that I’m associated with. Like pinch me and these are so cool, so amazing. And that’s what I would kind of always say when you have the luxury of starting to be selective, think about what you want. Do you really wanna work for Maria? And if you do, take any job and get your foot in the door and then figure it out. Or do you really wanna work with X, Y, Z woman who’s been a great mentor to you? Maybe there’s a role within her organization that’s not a perfect fit for you, but you can at least start to be in her circle, right? And so just figure out what you want. For me, it was first important to be a part of a cool brand and then it was very interesting to be a part of independent hotels. And now Hyatt has some really phenomenal colleague benefits, and I’m lucky to be in this organization. And that was really important for me at the time of making this decision, not to mention this, like, really cool job and amazing team, so.
Cassady Quintana:
You kind of have the best of both worlds. It sounds like a great job that anybody would want. Well, yeah. And I love that because for me, I’m in my late 20s now, and I had a job before this, and realized really quickly that while I loved the people I worked with, the job wasn’t for me, but I’ve kind of found myself at Travel Media Group now and getting to meet people like you and hearing these conversations and hearing these stories, it kind of helps me think, like, okay, what’s next for me too? Obviously, within Travel Media Group, I started in one position and now I’m doing something else, and now I’m on this podcast. And for me, it’s staying at Travel Media Group because I love it here, but finding ways to move up where I’m at here. So when you think about that, because sometimes leadership isn’t for everybody, right? Some people know they don’t wanna manage people, they don’t wanna have a team, they just wanna go to work and do their own thing. But for me, and for you, we kind of have that drive and that passion to keep reaching another level. So when you kind of transitioned into a leadership position, how was that for you, and what did you learn, and how has your leadership style evolved going from kind of being in the weeds of everything to now, like, “Okay, I have a team that can handle this stuff, and I can kind of overview, supervise them?”
Kat Woods:
Great question. And having direct reports is, like, a very obvious way to learn how to manage, right? You have people that report to you, you need to keep them organized and make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction. So for people who are entering their first leadership role or one of their first leadership roles, my advice is always to be humble and, and honest, right? Even leaders make mistakes, and I think when you can recognize that as someone who reports to somebody else, you just naturally have grace for the fact that we’re all human here. But also, don’t be afraid to learn, like, alongside people. So earlier I said, if we’re gonna try it, let’s try it quickly. If we fail, we fail fast and we try something new. Ego is a huge, huge thing to overcome for some young leaders. Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you’re actually in charge. And so it’s okay to look to the people to the right and left of you and work together to accomplish whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. But for me, maybe it’s astrology or whatever the, whatever the stars had in line for me, I always was attracted towards leadership roles. And I found having a team that reported to me came very naturally. It was, it was natural for me to understand what we as a group needed to accomplish in the day, help my teams prioritize, give them honest and real-time feedback about things that could help them not only professionally, but in their interprofessional relationships with other colleagues. And it, I think it’s just in my nature. And I found my biggest challenge started to come when I moved to out of property roles. And leadership is something that you need to be able to have even if you don’t have direct reports. And so, I’ve been working a lot on learning how to influence without authority and the ways that real leaders drive teams that may not be people that just do what you say because you’re their boss. And that is a very interesting world in human behavior that I like to navigate. I’m learning. I wouldn’t say I’m the best at it just yet, but I think those that I have the privilege of working with know that I like to keep people organized. I like to make sure we’re all on the same page. And those things remain true whether or not people are directly reporting to you. So yeah, those are two different stages of leadership for those in the industry, right? How do you, how do you get your counterparts to work with you even though they’re not just gonna do what you say because, right, you’re in charge, right?
Cassady Quintana:
I love what you said about the influence without authority. I think that’s super important because people are more likely to. I say this all the time about when you’re working under someone that’s very passionate about what they do too, it makes you wanna be passionate too, right? Even if it’s not my favorite thing, if someone above me is super pumped and excited, like, I feel like I’m already pumped and excited too. And so being able to influence people and just having that. I mean, you have a natural knack for leadership, obviously, but because you’re so passionate about what you do and you’re so invested in it, I can already tell that your team is probably the same way because they don’t feel like you’re just bossing them around, but you’re in it with them too, and so they automatically wanna be in that with you. But I wanna talk a little bit about, obviously, this is the She Suite. We’re talking about women in hospitality, and you do a lot of work with the New York City Women of Hospitality Organization. So I wanna ask you about that and how you got involved there, and just tell us a bit, a little bit about the organization for those that don’t know what it is.
Kat Woods:
Absolutely. So the New York City Women of Hospitality is a non-for-profit organization based in New York City. However, we branch out to Jersey and some of the surrounding communities, of course. And it is intended as a platform for females to come in and network, educate themselves, meet someone of a little bit of a different industry, and continue their education on the hospitality space just to further their own professional careers. My colleague, Jolie, and our original co-founder, Tiffany Parra, founded the organization back in 2018. And I believe the last event before the pandemic had about a hundred, had about 100 attendees. So then in 2023, I reached out to Jolie and Tiffany just to kinda see what was going on, if this was going to be something that was revived. And I was at a position that I actually didn’t have any direct reports, and I was kind of craving that mentor role in a few people’s lives. And so we revitalized the New York City Women of Hospitality. In our first event, we had over 50 attendees, and I think we gave, like, two weeks notice. It was kind of crazy if you think about what was going on and how people were feeling about in-person meetings at that point in time. And it was very clear to myself and the board that there was an appetite for this type of network once again. So then in 2024, we rolled out a pretty significant event series. Looking back on it, we were really aggressive. We did six events in the calendar year. Anything from a breakfast and learn with, at the time, our law firm partner who was really teaching you your rights in the workplace when it comes to maternity leave, when it comes to interview processes, and continuing to provide resources for women in the workplace, but in a third space, because employers are obviously going to make sure that they’re doing right by the company, maybe some employees don’t know their rights. So it’s this really great opportunity to continue to teach women just everything. We even held a rye tasting course so that women can understand the difference between X, Y, and Z different types of liquors. And it was great. The organization is entirely self-funded. We have no membership fee to enter. We do not put any type of threshold on who can attend. We just want people to come and network and grow. We’ve seen job offers kind of eventually flourish from some of these meetings. We’ve had some really great partners that end up co-hosting events with us for amazing platforms for women to listen to other female professionals. And so it’s really an events-based women’s networking organization based here in the city.
Cassady Quintana:
I love that. I wish I could come join one of your sessions. Maybe I’ll have to come up to New York City for something.
Kat Woods:
Well, Tiffany Parra did launch the Orlando Women of Hospitality last year. And so we are happy to announce we have our second branch, and maybe that’s a great opportunity for your next interview.
Cassady Quintana:
No way, I didn’t know about this. I didn’t even know about this. I’m gonna have to check that out as soon as we get off this. That’s awesome. So I was. Th’s kind of leading into my next question. I was gonna ask for people that don’t live in New York City or can’t come to your events, what are some other either organizations or resources or maybe even people to follow that you would recommend to other women that want to be in that space but can’t get to your events?
Kat Woods:
Oh my gosh. There’s so many. And there’s some really phenomenal organizations. And I will preface it by saying, depending on where you are, the power of that organization may be more enhanced, maybe a smaller community, but a few that I would love to shout out right now are, Women in Travel Thrive. We’ve worked a lot with them, not only on events here in New York City, but we recently, in 2025, we partnered for an event at the Independent Hotel Show alongside Emily Goldfischer and Hertelier. Highly recommend everyone subscribe to the Hotelier weekly email. Emily is phenomenal what she’s created there and providing a space for female-focused hotel news is really, really wonderful.
Cassady Quintana:
Well, thank you for giving those recommendations. I advise everybody to go follow, subscribe to those things that Kat just told us. I kinda wanna segue because you talked about, when you got involved with the NYC Women of Hospitality, craving that mentorship, you wanted to mentor other people. And I know I have a lot of women that I looked, look up to and have gotten me to where I am today, whether that be college professors or people I knew in my personal life. So I think it’s really important, especially we know hospitality to be a much more male-dominated industry, right? You go to some of these industry events and you are excited when you see a panel full of women. I just was at Hotel Data Conference and they had an entire panel of women and they called ’em the Girl Power Panel. And I just though that was awesome because it’s something you don’t see as often, and I think it’s important to have those people. So, I mean, what’s something that you’ve learned from other women in hospitality that, you know, you carry with you and maybe you give that to people that are younger than you?
Kat Woods:
I struggle sometimes because I’ve never actually had a female direct boss, and it is crazy to me that is something that I have never sought out. And sometimes I’m like, “Ugh, that’s a bummer.” But I’ve also had incredible mentors and sponsors along the way that are men. And it is phenomenal when you have a leader that is a female that you can look up to, but I don’t wanna discount any of the male supporters in the room because I really wouldn’t be where I am without some really incredible leaders. However, that being said, with the focus of the conversation, I’d love to shout out a few. There’s a few women that I consider close friends and I call for their advice often. One of them is Tiffany Parra, who is, of course, the co-founder of the New York City Women of Hospitality. She’s also a phenomenal professional in her own right with what she’s accomplished with Marriott, and has started the chapter of the Orlando Women of Hospitality. She’s not only a good friend, and I’m very lucky to call her a friend, but she’s just gives really great, solid, honest advice, especially as I was searching through, you know, what I wanted to do next to my career. So Tiffany Perra is a phenomenal, amazing woman that I can’t speak highly enough about. And here in New York City, there’s another leader. Her name is Zoe Pepper. We’ve showcased her a few times at the New York City Women Hospitality level, and she is one of the most authentic and genuine leaders who’s incredibly successful. And if you ever have the opportunity to hear her tell her story, she makes you feel so proud to be exactly who you are.
Cassady Quintana:
Love that.
Kat Woods:
I always think about that in the way that I wanna lead and the way that I wanna be perceived because what works for somebody else may not be what works for you. And to see someone who is as successful as Zoe, who drives home the fact that I am who I am and this is how I’m going to lead, it really just gives you confidence that you can do it yourself. So those are two that I would highly recommend. If you’re looking. If anyone out there is looking for a mentor, and not to put them, add more work to their plate, but those are two that I look to on a regular basis.
Cassady Quintana:
I love that. And I love the mentality of just being who you are and leading how you should based on who you are, because I think sometimes, there’s a lot of leadership books out there, and there’s a lot of talk on how you should lead a team, but first, all your employees may be different. So even how you lead individual people might be different too, and how you communicate with them, and honestly, how you communicate with yourself about those people too. So understanding those relationships is important. And I think leadership is one of those things that you usually are either naturally good at it or you have that drive to want to be good at it, but it is a long. You never stop learning on how to be a good leader, right? Because you are always gonna have somebody new on your team that requires something different. So right now, you’re in a leadership position, you have a team. So what’s something within this role or yourself leadership-wise that you feel like you’re still figuring out?
Kat Woods:
That’s such a good question. And let’s bring up all of my professional insecurities right now. Thanks, Cassie. <laugh>.
Cassady Quintana:
Of course, anytime.
Kat Woods:
I always believe that there is a way that we can come to a conclusion together. And sometimes I don’t think we get there fast enough, and I’m trying to work on taking a step back and saying, “Is making a decision the most important thing that we do right now?” Because in some cases, it is. In some cases, inaction is the worst thing that you can do. But as I progress to more strategy-focused roles, sometimes making the decision is not what we need. Sometimes we need a collaboration about how the decision is made and how it affects 100 different areas, right? I will always be operations through and through. Anyone that has worked in an operation will tell you the same thing. You make a decision, you move on. You make a decision, you move on. And I maintain that not making a decision is, is actually a detractor from someone’s effectiveness naturally, right? If you can’t make a decision and you can’t progress any change, but maybe we don’t have to do it immediately. Maybe it doesn’t have to be right then and there. So one of the things that I’m still working on, especially as I navigate a larger organization, is making sure I have the correct people in the room to make an informed decision and then hopefully do so in a timely way. But yeah, GMs will tell you, “Let’s move. What’s next? Here we go.” And that’s, sort of what I bring to this corporate world.
Cassady Quintana:
That’s good though. You need that. And I think it’s important too to remember that you mentioned this earlier about having peers and people that work for you or work with you that you can trust too and hold accountable and they’re also gonna hold you accountable because it can be lonely when you feel like you have to make a decision on your own. So the more you can. And obviously, there are decisions out there a leader has to make that is their own sole decision, right? There is no room for collaboration or room for – Well, how can we do this differently? Yeah, but being able to have a team that you can trust to collaborate on those decisions definitely makes it easier. And that’s what every leader wants, is a team that they can trust to help them out with that. So we’re gonna get a little bit deeper too before we wrap up, but let’s imagine we’re going back to the beginning of your career. <laugh> If you could sit down with young Kat before she’s embarks on all of these different journeys, what’s some advice you would give her?
Kat Woods:
Oh, it’s such a good question because hindsight’s so good, isn’t it? I wish I never did X, Y, and Z. <laugh> I think one of the pieces of advice that I would give my younger self is to not be afraid to continue to widen your career path rather than just elevate your career path, right? In working for smaller companies, you haven’t. It, it’s not hard to widen your career path because you’re doing so many things, but when you work, work for a larger organization or you work within a hotel, maybe you’re on the F&B track. And if you continue on the F&B track, there’s a lot of success that you can have, and maybe you can actually progress quite quickly. But if you are an F&B manager and have the opportunity to become a housekeeping manager, and then maybe after that you have the opportunity to be the front office night auditor or night manager, there’s so much value to be gained in all of these positions that maybe, especially when I was younger, I perceived as not a promotion, right? And I think I missed out on learning a bit more in depth about certain functions of a hotel or functions of a restaurant because I opted to take the promotion versus look for something that was on the same level but was a different department. There are ways to make up for it, there are ways to learn, and you can always go get your hands dirty, but don’t be afraid, young Kat, or maybe any of the young listeners out there, to go wider with your experience rather than to just chase the next title and chase the next title and chase the next title. Because I assure you, if you go wider, once you get to one or two positions above, the accelerated route that you will then have because your experience is so much wider, it’s unmatched.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. I think that’s important to kind of dip your toe in all the ponds that you can, right? And get a little bit experience everywhere you can because later down the road you may, like you know earlier, you had that desk job that you didn’t really enjoy, but now looking back, you’re like, “Oh, I’m so glad I learned that stuff when I did because it served me in the future.” And I think that’s important, especially for young listeners because there is kind of that idea of staying really loyal and working your way up within that one route you’re in, but we’re seeing a lot more with Gen Z that they’re not doing that as much anymore, right? They do wanna have different experiences and if something isn’t fulfilling or they want something else, they are gonna move. So I think that’s really important to not be afraid of doing that, not being afraid to try different things and widen your experience. So I love that advice. I’m gonna take that advice for myself too. But Kat, you’re a busy woman. We know that you’re always traveling, opening up these new hotels. What’s next for you? Where can our listeners find you? What do you have going on over the next few months?
Kat Woods:
Great. Thank you for having me, first of all. Of course. It’s been a pleasure to get to know you and to obviously be a part of this. And I, anything I can do to continue to support you, I’m happy to. I will be at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami in September. I know that I came from the independent hotel world, but there’s so much value to be gained at that show. And I’m based here in New York, so I’m always happy to make connections. You can follow New York City Women of Hospitality on Instagram, on LinkedIn. We do have an ev – several events actually coming up over the course of the next few months. So we’d love to see some of your listeners join us.
Cassady Quintana:
Well, thank you, Kat, for joining us, taking time out of your day. We really appreciate it. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning into the first episode of this She Suite, a new Suite Spot series. We’re super excited. We’re gonna have a lot of fun stuff coming your way, so make sure you stay tuned, subscribe to our YouTube, and subscribe on all of your streaming platforms where you get your podcasts. Kat, thank you again, and we’ll see you in a few weeks in Miami.
Kat Woods:
Looking forward to it.
Cassady Quintana:
Alright. Thanks, everyone, and we’ll see you on the next episode of The Suite Spot.
To make sure you never miss a conversation, be sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Our editor is Brandon Bell, with cover art by Bary Gordon.
I’m your host, Cassady Quintana, and I hope this conversation inspires you to continue supporting, elevating, and celebrating the women shaping hospitality—today and for generations to come.
215 – TMG Hospitality Trailblazers: Charles Oswald
mercredi 2 septembre 2026 • Durée 37:27
Special guest and familiar face, Charles Oswald joins the Suite Spot in his return to the TMG Hospitality Trailblazers series. As CEO & President of Aperture Hotels, Charles shares his insights on AI & technology in hospitality, capital investment challenges, and his vision for the Aperture Hotels brand.
Tune in now to the full conversation.
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree, here for another edition of our TMG Hospitality Trailblazers. Technically, a look back on a few years back when we visited with this particular individual and company trailblazing and paving the way forward in hospitality. That is Charles Oswald, president and CEO of Aperture Hotels. Charles, thank you so much for being back here on The Suite Spot.
Charles Oswald:
Oh, it’s good to be back. Thank you.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. You’ve been busy. It’s been a long time. I had to look back and see the last time we visited here on The Suite Spot. We did our original hospitality trailblazers, really in the infancy of Aperture Hotels back in December 2023. A lot’s changed on that since then, right? So catch us up a little bit. What have you been working on? There’s been some incredible growth that we’ve seen with your company. Congratulations on that. But catch us up since we last visited.
Charles Oswald:
First off, so at that time when we had launched Aperture Hotels, we were coming out in the, in the wake of the pandemic. So if you kind of think back where we were three and four years ago versus today, there were a lot of properties that had gone through this economic shock, and there were owners who were reeling from that experience, especially those that had corporate business travel hotels as opposed to those leisure destinations that benefited from the pandemic. And so during that time, Aperture actually went on and took on almost 30 different properties that we added to the portfolio, that were, driven by those owners who needed a new management company to come and take a look at their, their with fresh eyes and take a look at their top line strategies, their expense controls. And so we had a lot of properties, and they were 100% of those properties were not through acquisitions, but were actually just performance turnaround assignments where they were switching management companies, to somebody to take a fresh look. So, with all that said, we found ourselves, walking into properties that were on, like, the sixth or seventh year of a five-year hold strategy for private equity firms or high net worth individuals and so on. And that quickly turned into turnarounds, which the story from us lately has actually been sales, a lot of sales, 20 plus sales over the course of this last year. And so today, as we stand here, I’m actually more rebuilding the pipeline with a mix of more management change assignments, plus a few pipeline of new developments. And those new developments are mostly, like, 100 or 300 room soft brand properties across the country. So yeah a lot’s changed for sure. Really rapid growth, really rapid sales, and now more sort of measured one at a time growth.
214 – Hotel Data Conference 2026: Key Takeaways
mercredi 26 août 2026 • Durée 45:11
The Suite Spot attended the 2026 Hotel Data Conference and had the opportunity to interview some of the best and brightest hospitality leaders in the industry to gain their insights and perspectives on prevailing data trends, AI & technology, how to optimize the guest experience and much more.
Be sure to watch the full episode if you missed any of the action from the 2026 Hotel Data Conference.
Special thanks to: Amanda Hite, Jan Freitag, Erica Lipscomb, Max Spangler, & Sam Trotter.
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with STR President Amanda Hite. Amanda, great to see you again. Congratulations here. This is our first time at the Hotel Data Conference.
Amanda Hite:
Oh, wonderful. Thank you.
Ryan Embree:
Record attendance was just announced. Welcome to The Suite Spot. We’re excited to be here. It was a ton of excitement that we just saw. Tell us a little bit about this event, and we were talking off camera about, do you ever expect it to be what it is right now?
Amanda Hite:
Yes, we started it 18 years ago with a couple hundred people, maybe. The very first year we’ve always had it in Nashville. This is our home base for the STR part of our business. Most of our employees are here that are in the US. So we started it with a way to connect with customers and more importantly, like, we all have this curiosity about the data. You know, we’re constantly in analyzing, looking at trends in the industry, and we wanted to get people together to hear what are you seeing and let’s talk about it. And that’s really how this started. So it’s, I think it’s for me, my most proud part of this conference is the feeling that everyone has when they come in of being really open and curious and wanting to learn from each other. So you get some really good dynamic conversations happening in the networking breaks and in the hallway.
Ryan Embree:
Well, it’s such an important time right now too, right? ‘Cause people are already starting, if you can believe it. Well, actually, probably you can look in 2027.
213 – TMG Hospitality Trailblazers: Emma Shaybani
mercredi 19 août 2026 • Durée 37:04
Vice President of Marketing at HEI Hotels & Resorts, Emma Shaybani, joins the Suite Spot to discuss the upcoming 2026 Digital Travel Summit taking place in Orlando, Florida on September 28-29 and how the HEI brand is leveraging social media, artificial intelligence, technology, and online guest feedback to better shape and optimize the traveler journey.
Tune in now and the Suite Spot looks forward to seeing you at the conference next month!
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree. Very excited for our next guest in an edition of our TMG Hospitality Trailbazer series to set the table. This is that series again with conversations with people, organizations, and companies within the hospitality industry that are paving a path forward. I’m so excited for our next guest. And it also really seconds as a preview for the Digital Travel Summit happening in Orlando in September. My guest, this will be the first of a few times that we’re gonna be together. Emma Shaybani, VP of Marketing at HEI Hotels and Resorts. Emma, thank you so much for joining me on The Suite Spot.
Emma Shaybani:
Thank you for having me.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, we’re excited. So we’re gonna talk about that Digital Travel Summit event. We were talking off camera. It’s a powerhouse event. Can’t wait. Some big players within the travel industry gonna be there. But before we do that, we’d love to introduce you to our Suite Spot audience. Maybe love learning about everybody’s kinda hospitality journey that led you to your role over there at HEI Hotel and Resorts.
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah, it’s a bit of an unconventional journey, I suppose. So, I moved from England, and I moved from England to Connecticut, and I was really looking for my next opportunity. I’d not worked in hospitality before. I’d worked actually for CBS back in London. I had a couple of my own businesses, so hotels weren’t necessarily part of my original plan. But I, I joined HEI actually in a reputation management role. And I think at the time, they just knew that they needed somebody to look after reputation management, but they weren’t exactly sure what I would be doing. So it started off really as me in a room responding to guest reviews. So it, it didn’t take too long for us to all realize that probably wasn’t the best use of my time. So I kinda went to my boss at the time, Brian, with a plan and I was like, “Hey, you know, it’s hard for me to, to respond to these reviews when I’m not at the property. I don’t know what’s happened. You know, really, we should empower the teams at the hotels to be responding to these reviews. And, you know, really, I can be there as kind of a, you know, backup support and making sure that we are responding.” Because, you know, the hotel teams know the guest experience the best. And I was really focusing then on monitoring the trends, opportunities, and that’s when I noticed that the same thing was kind of happening with social media. We had all these accounts. They weren’t necessarily active. So we took this kind of a similar approach with social media. And then from there, the role just kind of kept evolving. So every time we kind of solved one challenge, we’d notice something else that we could then tackle. Back then, we had 20-27 hotels, I think it was. And now today we’ve grown the team. There’s quite a few of us now, over 100 hotels, multiple brands. So it’s been pretty incredible, honestly, to, to grow alongside the company. And I remember back in the day, my biggest concern was trying to memorize these 27 hotels, and now somehow I seem to manage with a hundred and something.
212 – Independent Hotel Show Series: Staypineapple Hotels Inc.
mercredi 12 août 2026 • Durée 56:41
With just a little over a month away from the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami taking place, special guest and President of Staypineapple Hotels Inc., Dina Belon, joins the Suite Spot to discuss the Stayepineapple brand, the independent hotel industry, and what she is looking forward to from IHS Miami 2026!
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. Back for another edition of season two of our independent hotel show series, where we are getting geared up and ready for that annual tradition down in Miami Beach at the Independent Hotel Show. We cannot wait. We’re gonna talk a little bit about it with our guests. We actually met for the first time in person last year at this event. We’re able to spend some time with her. Dina Belon, president at Staypineapple Hotels. Dina, thank you so much for joining me back on The Suite Spot.
Dina Belon:
Oh, thank you so much for inviting me, Ryan. This is amazing. I’m so excited. We had such a good time in Miami last year, it was a blast and, uh, talking to you felt like I was talking to a friend.
Ryan Embree:
Well, I appreciate it. I feel the same. Just honored to be speaking with you here. And I can’t believe we’re here. It’s we’re just months away from the Independent Hotel Show. It’s gonna be bigger, better than ever. We’re excited about it. We’re gonna talk about it. But we did have you on for the first time, so we had the opportunity. Usually, I start these episodes by a little bit of a background and kind of an introduction, but I’m gonna start a little unorthodox today. There was a post that I saw on LinkedIn, which by the way, for our Suite Spot listeners, make sure you say, uh, you follow Staypineapple Hotels and Dina. Great follows on LinkedIn. But there’s an, an article called Everything Staypineapple Hotels Dina Belon Does in a Day. And I thought that was such a cool and creative idea and concept. Talk to us a little bit about how that idea originated and give us a day in life. What is it like to be Dina Belon?
Dina Belon:
Well, I tried to be very honest. Hopefully it was fun too. I, there’s a lot of humor in my day, and so hopefully that came across. Um, the magazine, uh, that’s a local magazine here in, uh, east, the east side of Seattle and Bellevue and Kirkland area of Washington does those highlights of leaders in the area, um, on a regular basis. So it was fun, uh, a little stressful because you had to, like, take photographs and, you know, kind of just walk through your day. Um, I loved, though, really integrating my pets, because they’re a big part of my life. And so it started off with Molly waking me up at 5:45, which is actually what she does every morning. About 15 minutes before my alarm goes off, my little kitty cat starts yelling at me about wanting water. Um, so yeah, all the way until, you know, 8:00 at night and a lovely glass of wine with my husband. And all the shenanigans in the middle.
211 – TMG Hospitality Trailblazers: Kim Wootteon
mercredi 5 août 2026 • Durée 40:14
The TMG Hospitality Trailblazers welcomes the latest addition to the series, Kim Wootteon, Sr. VP of Commercial Strategy at Kampgrounds of America, Inc. to discuss the outdoor hospitality landscape and how artificial intelligence and technology are playing a key role in connecting different generations of travelers to the KOA vast portfolio of properties.
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your co-host, Ryan Embry.
Cassady Quintana:
And I’m your co-host, Cassady Quintana.
Ryan Embree:
We’re excited to have you here with us for another edition of our TMG Hospitality Trailblazers series. We’ve been running this series for quite a while, paving those management companies, individuals that are paving a way into the future for hospitality, which feels like is changing on a weekly basis. I’ve been really looking forward to this episode. A familiar face and voice with us. It’s the first time you’re joining us virtually. Kim Wootteon, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategies at Kampgrounds of America. Kim, thank you so much for joining us back on The Suite Spot.
Kim Wootteon:
Yes, it’s great to see you both. Thanks for having me today.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, we’re gonna have a super fun conversation. You have an incredible brand. We can’t wait to jump in. But before we start talking about Kampgrounds of America and KOA, I wanna start because we missed it when we were in Arlington at the Digital Transformation Summit of getting a little bit about your hospitality background and journey that led you to such a cool position at KOA.
Kim Wootteon:
My kind of career path has been quite interesting. It’s really led to the role I have today. So the first 12 years of my career was spent in retail. And for all of you millennials, I started with PacSun. I was an OG, skate and surf lifestyle fanatic. And I worked in retail for 12 years and really learned operations, marketing, and quite frankly, leadership. PacSun was a really great people-centric company. And it’s really where I got my foundation for leadership and my drive for results. And then I transitioned for retail into the more traditional hospitality sector and worked for four years with Marshall Hotels and Resorts, leading sales, marketing, and diving into revenue management. And then was recruited by a company called Bluewater Development, who was really pioneers within the outdoor hospitality industry and very traditional owners in the indoor hospitality industry. So great experience. I was introduced to KOA with them and the entire glamping and camping sector of hospitality, which was super exciting. And then also got to work with some really great brands such as Marriott and Hilton and IHG and independent properties, independent campgrounds. It was quite an eclectic mix of properties, that I got to support in sales, marketing, and revenue. And I joined KOA about five years ago, leading marketing at the local level. And in 2022, we established the commercial strategy team at KOA, and, I now oversee revenue management, local marketing or field marketing, retail, distribution, and sales across the entire KOA portfolio, both our owned assets and our franchise locations, and support for KOA, Inc. as well.
210 – Social Success Series: Anneleise McEvoy
mercredi 22 juillet 2026 • Durée 32:41
Tune in to the latest Social Success Series Podcast episode featuring special guest and Social Media Manager at Remington Hospitality, Anneleise McEvoy!
Anneleise joins the podcast to talk all things social media for Remington Hospitality as well as hotels in general and how they can not only improve but maximize their social presence online to drive bookings to their properties.
Cassady Quintana:
Welcome to the Social Success Podcast, where we have conversations with top hospitality professionals about successful digital marketing strategies, emerging trends, and how to connect with today’s travelers. I’m your host, Cassady Quintana. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Social Success Podcast. I am your host, Cassady Quintana. Super excited for today’s episode today. I have Anneleise McEvoy, social media manager at Remington Hospitality. Anneleise, thank you so much for joining me.
Anneleise McEvoy:
Absolutely. So first of all, thank you so much for having me.
Cassady Quintana:
Absolutely. I’m super excited you’re here. Obviously, we’ve talked a little bit before this episode, so I’ve gotten to know you some and especially from your LinkedIn presence, but for our listeners who may not be familiar with you or Remington Hospitality, could you give us a little bit of background about how you got to where you are today?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Absolutely. So I’ve always loved social media marketing. I’ve been passionate about it ever since college, and it was a career path that I always wanted. I started out in college being super involved with clubs and internships where I did social media. So in 2020 when I graduated, I moved to Dallas to pursue, pursue a career in social media marketing at a food and beverage, a food and beverage marketing agency that’s top year in Dallas. I started out as a social media specialist, went all the way up to a senior account executive. So I worked there for three years, and then at my three-point mark, I was like, “How can I mix one of my hobbies, which is traveling, into my career?” And so I was scrolling through LinkedIn, one day and came across a job posting at Remington Hospitality, reached out to my now boss, Alexis, and she told me about this aw- awesome opportunity that she was building a in – house social media agency for their portfolio of hotels. And so the rest is history. I am a social media manager at Remington, like you said. And one week is different than every… Every day is different, is what I’m trying to say. I might be in Key West learning about a hundred-year hotel or making content on a private beach, or I might be closer to Dallas where I’m based now in Fort Worth, marketing a trendy girl dinner experience on their rooftop. So that’s what I love about social media. Every property has its story and I get to help tell that story through social media.
209 – Independent Hotel Show Series: Dave Jacoby & Kaleigh Wiese
mercredi 15 juillet 2026 • Durée 35:56
Tune in the latest Suite Spot episode as special guests, Dave Jacoby, Founder/Owner of Hotel Lucine and Kaleigh Wiese, Founder and CEO of Ode Places, take a moment to discuss the independent and boutique hotel landscape and the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami in this episode for the Suite Spot Independent Hotel Show Series.
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot podcast. This is your host, Ryan Embree, here with another episode of our Independent Hotel Show series. This is season two. We’ve done quite a number of these independent hotel show series episodes, but this is the first one where we’ve got multiple guests. So I’m excited to bring them both in today. First with me, Dave Jacoby, founder and owner of Hotel Lucine, and Kaleigh Weise, founder and CEO of Ode Places. Dave, Kaleigh, thank you so much for being with me today.
Dave Jacoby:
So excited. Thanks for having us.
Kaleigh Weise:
What a way to kick off the independent hotel show. Dave and I got to share the stage last year.
Dave Jacoby:
We did.
Kaleigh Weise:
And I feel like we could have talked for a million more hours. And we’re friends, but also we’ve worked together, so I feel like I’m excited to be on together.
Ryan Embree:
Alright, well this is awesome. I’m excited. We’ll, we won’t be able to speak for a million hours, but we’ll definitely have some time today. And I’m excited, but as tradition here in the Suite Spot, one of the wonderful things about our industry and hospitality is people come from all different walks of life to get into our industry. Sometimes you fall into it with a summer job, sometimes you start as a bellman. Like myself, we love to hear these stories. We live and breathe these stories in hospitality and share them with others. So let’s start by just a proper introduction and maybe your hospitality journeys that led you to your respective positions. Kaleigh, let’s start with you.
Kaleigh Weise:
Yeah. Well, there’s a lot to unpack here. So if you see me at the show, come find me. I have been self-employed by whole entire career, and I have always been obsessed with the form and function of business. Like, how do you have a brand that really resonates despite, you know, I see your brand is like a lighthouse, right? Like, how are you attracting the right people? But also at the end of the day, like that business has to be incredibly healthy. And then you layer on a hotel, which is a 24/7 breathing company. And so how do you make sure that you have the longevity with systems and processes and you have a brand that continues to resonate as the years develop. And so I got my start serving in essentially helping brand and position and help with coaching for hospitality and service-based businesses. And then that naturally led into places where people slept, right? So I actually was working with event venues for a long time and when we got into the lodging conversation, I was like, now this is fascinating, a one time event versus like, keeping this up 24/7, what does that look like? And so we, I started out places essentially in 2018 after being in Northern California in the Santa Cruz Redwoods, we got to support a property out there. And I was like, the resonance that I got to feel to plant seeds of purpose into the land there of those 80 acres and understanding the choices we made would affect short-term and long-term generations really put me on a trajectory where that’s where I’ve committed my work so far.
208 – Independent Hotel Show Series: Minor Hotels
mercredi 8 juillet 2026 • Durée 35:17
Being that the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami is only a couple of months away, this special IHS Series episode features the VP of Development, U.S. & Canada at Minor Hotels, Genna Panagopoulos!
Genna joins the Suite Spot podcast to discuss:
The Minor Hotels Brand & Special Announcements
The Independent & Lifestyle Hotel Landscape
The 2026 Independent Hotel Show
Creating Unique Experiences for Travelers
And much more.
Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. We are here for the second season of our Independent Hotel Show series. That means we are gearing up, if you can believe it, for the Independent Hotel Show here in September and Miami Beach. I am so excited and equally excited to bring in a familiar voice. We had her on the podcast just a couple months ago in New York City, Genna Panagopoulos, VP of Development North America at Minor Hotels. Genna, welcome back to the Suite Spot.
Genna Panagopoulos:
Hey, thanks for having me again.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, excited to have you. We were talking off camera. Typically, I usually do the virtual interview before meeting you in person, so this is a little bit more comfortable here, virtually back in, in, I think you’re in Atlanta. I’m here in our TMG headquarters in Orlando, but second time on the Suite Spot. We really didn’t get to get into your hospitality background, kind of a tradition here. Wanna introduce you to our audience a little bit more, intimately and in depth. Talk to us a little bit about your background in hospitality and the journey that led you to Minor Hotels.
Genna Panagopoulos:
Well, it starts a long time ago because I grew up in the hospitality industry. Typical greek immigrant story. My father came here with just a few dollars in his pocket and ended up building a pretty successful restaurant business in Detroit. So if you ever are in Detroit, if you say Jimmy, the Greek people will know him. But I went to, I obviously grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State, really, and started studying hospitality with the intent of taking over the restaurant business. And then I did an internship for my father and realized I did not love it as much as he did. And so I ended up falling into the hotel space and specifically hotel investment, real estate development, and have just fallen in love ever since I started my career at Davidson Hotels and Resorts back when they were in Memphis, actually on their business development team. And then they moved to Atlanta, ironically, next to IHGs headquarters. So I was with Davidson for a few years, hopped in over to IHG, where I was for 10 years, did everything from feasibility to business development to even brand, which is a little bit unique. And I don’t wanna undermine that because I had a lot of people say at the time, why would a developer ever go to brand? Like, that’s, you’re where you wanna be. But for me, it was so critical to kind of unlocking new opportunities in the future because the skills I gained in a year and a half on the team work just the role that I’m in now is super helpful because it’s, it’s kind of like wearing two different hats, right? A creative versus a mathematician. So anyways, I was there at IHD for 10 years, and then this opportunity at Minor came up last summer. I was so ready and excited to take on like a new challenge and I thought that it’d be a really fun and exciting new endeavor for me with this combination of my background. So, it’s exciting. Minor’s been super supportive and it’s a little weird to go from working in an office with thousands of colleagues to being the one of one in an entire continent, but it’s been great so far.
207 – Social Success Series: Scott Eddy
mercredi 17 juin 2026 • Durée 26:56
The Social Success Series is back with a brand new episode featuring a very special guest and hospitality’s no-nonsense voice, Mr. Scott Eddy!
Scott Eddy joins the podcast to give audiences his perspective and insights on where the future of hospitality is headed, social media growth in hospitality, and how AI technology is the biggest innovation that the industry has ever seen.
If you are looking to stay ahead of the hospitality technology curve by getting the latest hospitality information, tune in to the episode.
Cassady Quintana:
Welcome to the Social Success Podcast, where we have conversations with top hospitality professionals about successful digital marketing strategies, emerging trends, and how to connect with today’s travelers. I’m your host, Cassady Quintana. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Social Success series. My name is Cassady Quintana and I am the brand ambassador here at Travel Media Group. And today we have an awesome guest. I am super excited, a hospitality influencer, celebrity to me. Super excited to have the no nonsense voice of hospitality. Mr. Scott Eddy, thank you so much for joining me.
Scott Eddy:
Thanks so much for having me, man.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah, super excited. So, right now you’re in Spain. We talked a little bit about that, but for people that may be a little bit unfamiliar with you and your history, talk us through how you got involved in hospitality and how you got to where you are today.
Scott Eddy:
Yeah, so I actually didn’t come from a hospitality at all. I came from investment banking, which I think gives me a very different lens of the world. So I look at hospitality through psychology, positioning, ROI, branding human behavior before I even look at aesthetics, which actually means nothing. after my banking career ended, I went to Thailand on a two week trip, and after four days I called my mom. I was like, I’m never coming home. I love this place. And I ended up living in Bangkok for 11 years. So I went over there in 99, several years before social media came out. So for the next four or five years, I basically just partied my butt off all over Asia, made a lot of friends and just getting acclimated with the region. ’cause it was just, it’s like a different world over there. So then social media came out and I started the first digital agency in Asia, and we were the biggest for five years. And all my clients were hotels. So my very first client in this industry was the first Aman property on earth. Aman…, which was in Phuket. And that really taught me the whole quiet, luxury, luxury persona. Like that whole thing. It really like it was like a, like a, like a weight in my brain that is still there today. It’s really, really stuck with me and a lot of things that I learned from that project. Really, I use it every day.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, and I wanna talk about that, because I’ve had the privilege to talk to some management company owners and leaders, and they’ve kind of echoed that same sentiment of not just growth, but strategic growth. And that seems to be where you are right now, too. So when you kind of take a look at. I know you mentioned that particular segment, but when you take a look at the hospitality landscape right now, what makes the right strategic partner for Aperture Hotels right now as you kind of enter this cycle where you’re trying to build back up a little bit?
Charles Oswald:
You’re right. The right partner, it’s about fit. And when you look at the experience of our leadership team, we’re really engineered towards compact, full service hotels, lifestyle, premium select service brands. They can be brand or independent. We’d like to partner with owners that have some portfolio stable scalability. Preferably they own by that, I mean, they own more than one hotel, and there might be more than one opportunity there. You know, we wanna work with those owners that know what they’re doing, right? They’ve got some, some governance, sophistication, some decision speed. Hopefully, they’ve not just made bad investments when they’re turning over these properties, but really, they’re looking for some performance turnaround in a good investment. And preferably those are longer term holds. As you can tell, we did a lot of hard work for some turnarounds and watched them sell. And they sold largely to owners who had their own management. So that’s tricky for us, right? That leads us looking for more opportunities. So in terms of us in aperture and how we see ourselves in competitive points of difference is we’ve got a group that has hundreds of hotels of experiments. Myself, I’ve managed about 300 hotels now over the years, and they’ve ranged from little 60-room properties up to a thousand plus room convention hotels and resorts. And so what we bring is, we’ve got big experience in our leadership team, but we’re in a small package, right? A boutique-sized company that can give more corporate support to property ratio. And we’re very data-driven in how we use our decision-making tools to uncover those hidden business opportunities and the potential to drive market share and outperform GOP. Big experience, I’d say that corporate support, the data-driven decision-making process and tools, I think is really what sets us aside. And by the way, I’ll just mention that our average RGI that we’ve achieved in the first 18 months when you put us in place after another management company, the average RGI growth or repar index gains is actually just over 10%. So we’ve had, like, incredible turnarounds at the top line, which leads them to great bottom line improvements as well.
Ryan Embree:
Which makes it so much more impressive, too, with the climate right now. And these events that we go to would talk about operating and margins right now, and trying to be just efficient as possible, because costs are, are rising right now. It is certainly difficult to navigate, and I’m sure that experience that you’ve had has certainly lended itself to some great stories that you can then share to help grow that portfolio. And the other part of the experience that you were talking about is you have the data and the insights. And one of the places you find that data and insights is obviously hospitality events that are going on. I’ve had the pleasure of running into you at quite a number of these. If I’m not running into you, Charles, I’m seeing you up on stage conducting interviews or, or sharing some of your takeaways on LinkedIn after the event. You got a busy second half of the year. I wanna talk about these events, though, and how you kind of leverage them, right? So, why do you think these events, especially now, are so important? And then, how do you measure success of an event once it’s completed, whether that be a lodging conference, an investment conference, or whether it be, just an educational data event?
Charles Oswald:
Look, that’s a really good question. When you consider the time, travel budget, and the opportunity costs on an executive’s busy calendar to get out to these conferences and spend three, four days between the travel and the time out there, we’ve gotta be, we’ve gotta be very intentional, right, about how we approach it. So, I see value in going to these conferences because of deal sourcing and the relationship capital that we pick up. Also, I think there’s that market intelligence and the pricing signals that we get from those from this conference. There’s the access to capital markets. That was particularly important for me here recently as I was looking to as I’m in the process of acquiring a property right now in Phoenix, and when we needed to raise LP capital and we had those relationships these are people, again, we met at conferences. I think talent reputation, right, it’s important to get out there and continue to manage that. So those, those are a number of the reasons why we wanna get out to these conferences and why we think they’re important. But the measure of success, you’re right, for a data-driven guy, I wish I could put a specific number to it. Like, here’s the ROI from each of these conferences. It’s really difficult to. It’s really difficult to do, but I can tell you that, I do look back and, and aggregate those. I look at the management contracts we picked up, and I think of, “Okay, well, where did I meet these folks? And so what’s the average return?” And I can put a number to that. And I would tell you that in terms of the immediate return, what I’m looking for is if I can have three to five specific follow-up conversations, a result of that conference, then the trip was worth the cost.
Ryan Embree:
That’s great advice for young hospitality professionals out there. I mean, we have a great industry, and one of the coolest parts of it is you get to rub shoulders sometimes with those executives. So even those younger hospitality professionals that might be tuning in here, it’s a great piece of advice to when you can, obviously, try to get that exposure of networking and get out there because hospitality is certainly a big world, but it’s also a very small world, and you run into a lot of the same people. And again, this, just like you said, Charles, a lot of the stories, success stories, whether it be business relationships, some of those transactions could stem from sitting next to somebody at breakfast – Absolutely. On day two of a conference. Love to hear that advice, love to hear that those stay beneficial, because we love those. We’re hospitality people, right? We’re in that industry. Now, another thing you become kinda famous for your takeaways articles on LinkedIn. My advice would be to encourage anyone, definitely give Charles if you’re not already a follow, because you have some great insights and takeaways from some of the events that he goes to. So I’m gonna kind of put you on the spot here. If you had to do a takeaways article for the first half of 2026, maybe give us a couple points, and then if you could, maybe share some predictions. We’re hospitality people. We love to kind of predict, try to predict the future a little bit, so.
Charles Oswald:
Yeah. Well, maybe, maybe the biggest takeaway from the first half is that we’re not great in hospitality about predicting future.
Ryan Embree:
That’s a good one.
Charles Oswald:
So, as we rolled into 2026, there were a lot of folks that were saying it was gonna be, like, Groundhog Day, that we’re looking at flat, very modest, RevPar growth and expenses that, outpace, the top line. And I think what nobody saw coming was US demand growth in the first half of the year. Now part of this, I will tell you, if we look back in some panels, a year ago, I called part of this, which is I asked why is no one talking about the impact of the $30 billion increase in tax refunds that we’ll see, plus the real wage growth that’s happening, and what impact that could have on our industry? And, and a lot of people kind of poo-pooed and they said, “Well, you know, we don’t really know that the tax refunds are gonna be there. We don’t really know how those are gonna hit.” Okay. But we do. There was some, some mirroring it kinda like during the pandemic when you put money in people’s pockets, there were a lot of people that just went out and spent it. And so I did, I think that had a real impact on the, on the first half of the year. And then the other part that none of us saw coming, and I didn’t, was certainly there’d be a war in Iran and how the general global conflict can would affect the outbound travel case for the American traveler. So, that outbound travel, international outbound decelerated, right, while domestic leisure demand, stayed strong. So, that helped prop up the first half of the year. So there are some trends from the first half that I think will carry out to the second half. So for not getting in looking forward, I’d say that second half of the year, there’ll be more bifurcation. You know, we’re gonna see a continuing challenge to new supply growth, and we’re gonna continue to see labor costs rising, but at a bit of a decelerating rate. So if I were to expand a little bit on that, on the bifurcation, we’ve heard a lot of talk about the K-shaped economy. And really in that bifurcation, there’s some people talking about this hollowing in the middle class, and, and, and I think that’s actually very, very misrepresented. What’s actually happened is we’ve seen a growth generational wealth, over the course of the last 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. And this is a long-term macro trend, okay? The fact is that there are fewer poor today, about a third less than there were, you know, 40, 50 years ago. There are few, fewer lower middle class, and no longer is the core middle class the largest classification of income in America. But according to the BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is actually now the upper middle class is the largest class, right? So people are moving up on this continuum, and they’re more wealthy. So when you start thinking about that, what does that affect on our industry? That’s why we’re seeing this interest in, towards experiential travel, towards the soft brands, towards luxury, and why upper upscale and luxury tiers have been outperforming. So I think we’ll continue to see that as we go through the end of the year. And the other story I think we’ll continue to see is that new supply, right? Man, the plan, I mean, there’s, like, you know, 10% supply growth planned. But what actually happens, is just a, you know, a fraction of a percent. And so, in there, the challenge, you know, debt isn’t the problem anymore. It’s more about equity and construction cost relative to the commercial real estate valuations,in interest rate market environment that we’re in today.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, so you have a little bit tampered demand, or tampered, building construction because of those construction costs. And do not underestimate, again, the willingness and ability for people and wanting to travel and have experiences. I still think they even the younger generation, they’re getting some more money in their pockets, and the first thing that they’re wanting to do is plan a nice trip, right, before they go out and, and buy those expensive things that, which was, was typically would happen.
Charles Oswald:
Yeah, and I wanna just comment one thing though is we’ve talked a lot about economic resilience, and that resiliency definitely exists in the US, and it’s more resilient than a lot of folks probably though it was when you look back in time. However, some of that does seem to be breaking here, right? You know, you are seeing rise of credit card debt. You are seeing some increases in folks, particularly at the mid-scale and, and, and lower income classes defaulting on car payments and things like that. And so if you start to make a decision about, you know, do I travel or do I pay my, my car, that is going to affect the industry, you know, as we go forward. And, and that’s gonna play a little bit in that bifurcation that we were talking about. Those who are on the upper end have watched unreal growth for the last few years in their stock market portfolios. You know, they, they feel a little bit more free and, and open travel.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, it’s interesting. You’re right. You know, we always talk about still prioritizing travel, but travel over things. But when tho- those things become, like you said, payments or car payments, then all of a sudden the priorities start to shift a little bit. So it’d be interesting to see how that continues in the second half of this year. Now, another topic we that you’re gonna hear at every single hospitality show, it’s a bingo card, is AI and technology. And you, and you actually speak a lot. I’ve seen you on panels speak a lot to it in, in your interviews. Where do you think the hospitality industry, which we’ve said typically is one to slowly adopt technology? Where do you think we are in this cycle of AI adoption? And then maybe you could zoom in a little bit into your organization and, and where you’ve prioritized that, or maybe stayed away from it.
Charles Oswald:
Maybe we kind of break that down into sounds like three or four areas, right? I think, yeah, it’s what’s the biggest impact today? What’s kinda happening now? And maybe where’s it going? Sure. And, uh, and how do we play into that as a management company, right? Yeah. So I guess there’s four ways. In terms of the biggest impact today, it’s for sure it’s been, it, it, it’s been in distribution, right? Uh, GEO and AEO are the new SEO. And so, um, uh, maybe what’s accelerated hospitality is entrance into AI because the customer was using it to search for hospitality, and then all of a sudden we woke up and said what –
Ryan Embree:
Great point.
Charles Oswald:
It’s not just about keywords, but how, how do we become the answer to the question they’re asking? And so that’s, uh, that’s certainly the biggest impact today is on the distribution side. I think what’s happening in progress, we’re starting to see more in the areas of revenue optimization and design, right? Like on, you know, when it comes to new hotel renovations and they and developments. And then the future, where’s it going? I think we’re gonna see AI more in our, more closely integrated into our business analytics, like and that’s gonna extend into labor scheduling and productivity. I think we’ll see it help us in energy management and procurement. Things like F&B menu engineering both from the creative standpoint and kinda marrying that with the math, right? Like, what the cost of plate is and what the customer’s actually buying. And and that’s really important. IAnd by the way, that’s a weak spot, I think in the industry. There are an awful lot of management companies that are not very good on food and beverage side. So at Aperture, what are we doing? First off, I would say we lean really heavily on our tech partners to adapt, adopt AI for their analytics or reporting insights. And today insights has become the real opportunity, right? I mean, if you ask your BI system, you know, it’s one thing for them to be able to pull a report or show you some side-by-side comparisons, but the insights, like, why is this happening? You know, you can tell me, me what my flow-through is, it’s great, but, like, what should it be if we had run according to all the budget metrics that, like, that we put out there? They’re, they’re weak on that side, at least to date. So I think that’s gonna be the next step is that is conveying those analytics and reports to insights. And so, we’re keenly working with technology solutions that they can implement in those ways, and digital marketing efforts that help us improve the distribution that we were talking about earlier, GEO and AEO. And from a practical day-to-day standpoint, you know, we’ve incorporated, cloud enterprise solutions in our daily work and our applications, like, you know, Excel and SharePoint, et cetera, like a lot of other companies have. But we got plenty of room, plenty of runway there when it comes to AI.
Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. So, uh, every day, yeah. every hour, it feels like sometimes with these announcements. Um, but yeah, you, you mentioned something really, really fascinating at the top of that, the answer of, you know, I think the adoption cycle sometimes with technology and hospitality has been slow because we’ve tried to, sometime, “Hey, download our app,” right? We’re, we’re trying to get the customer to move with the technology that we want them to move into, and the ecosystem that, that, “Hey, you know, do this.” And now, what’s happening is we’re seeing the consumer move into these LLMs and, and AI search, and now hospitality’s kind of been like, “We have to catch up because this is where our customer is,” right? So maybe that does cause a little bit of, uh, acceleration. So, because that is the biggest thing that we’ve been hearing as well, is just AI visibility. There is just this, this fear of a couple years ago, it was the fear of doing anything and being like, “I’m not doing anything with AI and technology. Now it’s like, now I have. My biggest fear is keeping me up, is I’m not being found on AI, uh, search engines and LLMs.”
Charles Oswald:
Yeah, let me tell you, like, just a great example, I was traveling not long ago, to Chicago, and I had a trip to Nashville, and I was just curious. I just, I went to Google – Yeah. And said, “Hey, what are the, what’s the best hotel in Chicago?” And it gave me a list of sponsored results. So it was like, I don’t know, half a dozen or so hotels there. And it gave me a list of, like, you know, here’s what says, and there’s like 20 properties there, and there is, AAA and Forbes, and there was the map and so all this stuff, and I’m like, “Wow, there, there’s, like, you know, 60 best hotels in Chicago.” And so then I moved over, just out of curiosity, I asked, uh, Claude, “What’s the best hotel in Chicago?” Gave me one answer, named one hotel, this is the best. And it gave me a little honorable mention list of three properties underneath it. I thought, oh, my gosh. And then I did the same thing with Nashville. I get one answer – Yeah. And it’s honorable mentions. And it really started making me think, oh my gosh, like, like, if, if only one hotel is gonna come up with that, how do I make that money? And, uh, and who is this, who is this, um, generative AI trusting? And so, so, so we began to dive really deeply in that conversation about, like, when, where are these trusted resort returns coming from, and how do we influence that, right? How do we make sure we appear there?
Ryan Embree:
100%. Yeah, that’s the, the next race right now is to try to figure that out. And that’s difficult.
Charles Oswald:
Kind of back up and just elaborate, just one more comment – Yeah. Is just that, that, like, in Google, I mean, it’s, sure, it’s trusted. I don’t think anybody says that you don’t, you don’t trust Google on those returns and the 60 properties that it’s sent, but – Right. It’s returning the results that it wants you to see, the search engine. Whereas Claude, ChatGPT, Grock, others, they’re returning the results that, as the consumer, I wanted to see.
Ryan Embree:
And that’s, and that’s the, I think that’s the difficult because it almost changes into a little bit 40 chess, because I might ask the same question, and based on my search experience, it could look at a different best hotel in Chicago than could be your best hotel in Chicago. Once you go down that. Yeah.
Charles Oswald:
Are you Going there for business, or is it a wedding, or is the soccer team? Yeah, right. And it, it might know the purpose. It might know lis – a little something about you. You’re exactly right.
Ryan Embree:
Well, uh, uh, listen, I’m gonna take us back before we get to, into that to rabbit hole and, and lose everybody there, because one of my, uh, one of the favorite parts of the conversation, and we’ve done, you know, now this, I think we’re, we’re over 200 episodes here, but one of the, one of my favorite parts, uh, places of our conversation, Charles, back when we first spoke, was hearing the origin story of aperture hotels and, and the name for it. And so, uh, I wanted just to revisit that for those who may have missed that episode. Can you share that story again and why this whole shift your perspective, which you can find on your LinkedIn, your website, everywhere, that mindset has really resonated, uh, with, so well with, um, hotel owners, investors, and has, has been an important part of your s – your company’s success.
Charles Oswald:
Oh, wow. Um, you know, thank you for, uh, for asking that question, uh, and, uh, and it’s a reminder and the flashback. You know, so, uh, so what is an aperture, first off, right? It’s, it, it’s, it’s in that, you know, that, that, that camera lens that allows light, right, to, to, to pass through, right? So, so it creates a clear, well-composed image. And so I think from a hospitality brand, um, that maps into some of our values. Um, you know, we talk about transparency and accountability. We talk about clarity and vision, right? Like, an owner sees a, a hotel’s position, um, uh, potential, and we can help capture it, right? We help focus, bring focus. Precision and control, you know, I, I think that helps, uh, convey into our views on process orientation across the enterprise and, you know, and consistent execution. One of our core values is about being actively curious, right? Like, how do you scratch beneath the, the surface and shine a light on, on what that is, right? And, you know, what can we do to, to make, you know, to reveal those, those, the, the hidden business potential? We think about, you know, when we’re walking into the hotel and, and, and we’re touring our, our properties and, and, and looking for those, um, those guest experience improvements, it’s like, how do we make this, uh, picture perfect for the customer who arrives, right? What that arrival experience, what are the first moments of truth? And so I think all of those things, that, that transparency of clarity, vision, precision control, uh, you know, picture perfect, uh, all these things, um, sort of play into that aperture name. But I’ll be honest, there was another part of this, uh, which is that, you know, there’s, like, 400 hotel management companies out there, uh, and there’s hundreds more that used to be. Finding an original name is admittedly difficult. <laugh> <laugh> Every name you can think of has been, uh, used. <laugh> Sure. Uh, we, we were fortunate, uh, to be able to find something that was original that didn’t, you know, pigeonhole us into something like, you know, calling ourselves, uh, Sunbelt Management or something like that. So, so, so that did work out well for us.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Well, I love it because, you know, you, you mentioned at the top that this was, you know, Aperture Hotels was really their origin story started during and during that COVID time, right? During and after that COVID time. And I think it was in those conversations, the companies and organizations that I spoke to that had a very clear North Star, a very clear direction of who they are and their culture during that time, because it was such a difficult time. So to have such a strong kind of name and you have all of those things, I’m sure that is, has been so beneficial for you as you continue to grow and scale, because you need that, right? You need something to kind of lean back onto and be kind of your Compass North, your North Star, however you wanna to phrase it. But I love to hear that. And like I said, it, it stuck with me all these years afterwards, so I wanted to touch on it again. And, um, I saw recently on LinkedIn that, uh, you and your team wrapped up a leadership conference in, uh, New Orleans. Tell us a little bit about that event and how, how instrumental the team has been, and also your, your success over at Aperture Hotels.
Charles Oswald:
Oh, that is. Well, yeah, that, that, that was a fun time. Uh, first off, getting together, getting our team together – Yeah. For that annual conference is my favorite part of the year really energizes me. Um, you know, I’m so grateful for, for, for, for the team that’s doing this work on the ground and, and the leadersh – uh, we have out there in the field. You know, I think often we talk about performance. We send around our balanced scorecard. We measure and we rank people and, and, uh, you know, we talk about process and so on. And that, and that’s, that’s an important part of the, uh, uh, of what we cover in the, uh, in, in our annual leadership co – uh, conference as well. But, um, but I think when you’re rubbing elbows, uh, you know, you’re in the same room with everybody. Uh, there’s, there’s a different level of, you know, preparation, focus, and curiosity, you know, team member bonding and relationship that happens. And, you know, and I love how in the aftermath of these conferences, we, you know, we hear about how, you know, the general manager, you know, in, you know, in the US West, it’s called the general manager in the US East, and they’re – Sure. They’re getting together and collaborating now on, on, on best practices and, and how they dealt with certain challenges maybe that are shared experiences that they’re having. So that’s where it happens, right? I mean, you get out there in a conference together like this where I think i- ideas get sharpened, uh, perspectives broadened. People learn, you know, here’s some insights, and they, uh, you know, share in their experiences. They challenge each other. And, uh, we, and, and we come out of it just, uh, winning together. And by the way, I should mention also, there’s some really great food, uh, so – Oh, I know. Yeah, yeah. <laugh> Sorry. New Orleans. Uh, I’m a big eater. <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, that, that helps too. Uh,
Charles Oswald:
A few extra, but I’ve never missed one. <laugh> And, uh, New Orleans is a great place for someone to like me, that’s for sure. <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. We, well, we talked about how quickly things are moving right now in hospitality, and it’s so important to kinda get everybody together in one place. And we’ve seen how you prioritize, obviously, the, the bigger hospitality events across hospitality. So sometimes to get that dialed in with your team, just so important. And great to hear that that continues to be. ‘Cause if you remember back in the day, we were hearing that that was gonna be the end of this, by the way. Everybody was gonna have these leadership conferences on Zoom, and everyone was gonna love it, and nobody was going anywhere. So, uh, love to see that that, that prediction didn’t come to pass. Now, you’re –
Charles Oswald:
Yeah, you know, the funny thing about that, Ryan, is – Sure. Is that we’re out there in hospitality on the sales front. We were telling our companies, our clients, why they all need to get together. And hospitality companies are like, “Well, but, but we’re gonna do it on Zoom.” <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Right. Right, exactly. Right? We gotta practice what we preach a little bit
Charles Oswald:
Both Sides of our mouth, right? Yeah. Yeah. And, and enjoying some of the hospitality, uh, that we provide every single day, right? So, so you’re headquartered in Atlanta, Charles, you’ve got. But the portfolio spans across the country, you mentioned it. Are there any particular markets that you’re seeing strong opportunities and maybe some that you’re cautiously maybe staying away from for a bit right now?
Charles Oswald:
Well, uh, first off, the Atlanta part. Um, right? I mean, we’re, we’re the transportation hub of the Southeast, but, uh, arguably the country and the world with the world’s biggest and busiest airport. So when we talk about, like, w- where we’re willing to go, we’ve got a competitive advantage from here in the, uh, in that we have more direct flights to more cities across the country and the globe than any other, an- anybody. Else, right? Uh, coming out of, uh, the world’s biggest and busiest airport. So, so that’s, uh, that’s, that’s really nice and not to mention there’s a, there’s certainly a lot of drive markets, uh, that are within four, four hours of, uh, of Atlanta. So, um, so yeah, that makes us pretty opportunistic when it comes to, uh, uh, hotel management assignments. You know, ideally, uh, you know, we’re looking, ideally we’re, we’re looking at, you know, those top 100 or so cities. Ideally, you know, we, we, we certainly have better presence in the eastern half of the US, but we do span from Florida beaches to coastal California. In terms of the type of markets that are, that are more ideal and better fit for us, you know, generally speaking, they’re, you know, a lot of the, the southern markets are, uh, you know, certainly performing well. They’re business friendly. We avoid union hostility, uh, where, whenever possible, right? Sure. And, um, you know, th- those are the type of markets where we’d wanna go. And in terms of, of the type of hotels, you know, again, I think leaning towards the bifurcation that we know exists in, uh, in the industry that kinda says, you know, you gotta be great at, uh, soft branding experiential properties, right? And some lifestyle assets. And, and so that we’re, we’re, we’re leaning that direction. And you see it in our pipeline. You know, so, so our pipeline includes, you know, includes today, uh, multiple Marriott, Hilton, soft branded assets, like, like Tribute and, you know, and Tapestry Autographs. We also have, uh, some brands like Compass by Margaritaville sitting in the pipeline, right? And, and independent. Um, so, so really cool, exciting places where we get to create our own brand, really, our own store – Yeah. Based off of the building that’s there. And all of those new development projects that we’re talking about have, um, they have a lot of credit. I mean, that’s the only way you can pull these off today is if you’re, if you’ve got historic tax credits, you know, so we’ve got that in multiple places and hundred plus year old buildings. It’s, you know, great stories to tell. Uh, we’ve got, uh, you know, tax increment financing, PIDs, we’ve got enterprise zone, we got the CIPLA, you know, many other different factors that have played into making a capital stat that actually works. Uh, and that’s the way to, you know, that’s, that’s the way we’re getting it done and, uh, on the new development side.
Ryan Embree:
Well, those are fun projects, let me tell you. Um, I, I, I’m sure to work on, because it’s like you said, I mean, you get to tell a story there. Um, sometimes there’s a story already ingrained with these historic buildings that then become a, a key foundational component of, uh, you know, what you’re building on, um, so to speak, and, you know, uh, literally and figuratively when, when it comes to your maybe digital story. So, yeah, very, very cool to see. We’ll, we’ll, we’ll be excited to watch, watch those come to, to life. I want to. We’re, we’re wrapping up here, Charles, but I always feel like it’s always my duty, you know, having the privilege to talk to leaders like you, try to just get as much inside advice as I can out of you during this time. Obviously, as a business owner, you know, starting a business never easy, so much vision, resilience, incredible amount of commitment, especially doing one where you started it during a historic time and around COVID, right? But looking back on your journey building Aperture, you know, what advice would you give maybe to the next generation of hospitality leaders? It doesn’t necessarily have to be about if someone’s wanting to build their own, uh, management company, but e- even just a hospitality professional just now today in 2026?
Charles Oswald:
That’s a good question. You know, some things that come to mind is, uh, it’s a one in whatever business you’re, you’re doing, if, if you’re trying to be entrepreneurial and you wanna be an owner, I’d say, you know, choose your partners carefully, right? If you’re coming up in the business, I’d say, um, master the numbers, you know, not just your gut. If you’re, you know, you’re, you’re, you’re in the hiring seat, uh, uh, as a, as a team leader, I would tell them to, um, make sure they treat people decisions as serious as the capital decisions, right? Very, very important. I think from a business development standpoint, uh, I say those guys that are trying to, you know, build a, a portfolio need to y – learn to, to read the deal and not just as an operation. I think young or old, we should embrace the tech shift. I couldn’t believe I, I have some college professor friends, I do some advisory work at several universities, and I listen to, uh, college professors and some students out there, uh, who are very, being very resilient, r- resistant to AI, talking bad about it, they view it as a threat. And, uh, I’m like, “Hey, guys, y’all need to know that we do employ people, employers are looking for those young folks to come out with some experience and exposure and learning, uh, you know, and, and, and to have some insights in how to, how, you know, we cannot adopt AI at our companies.” And, and, uh, you know, you’re doing an injustice if, uh, if you’re resisting tech shift. Uh, so, and lastly, I would say think about your reputation management, right? Like, like, protect your credibility with your owners, with your franchisors, like it’s capital, because it is.
Ryan Embree:
Great advice. Sound, sound about. We got. That was comprehensive. Thank you for, <laugh> thank you for sharing that. No, really appreciate it. Like I said, you know, uh, try to glean as much as I can out of these conversations and share it. Um, all great advice. Um, you know, hopefully we don’t have to wait three years next time to have you back on the podcast. Would, would love to catch up with you then, but who knows where, where you’ll be and, and the growth, uh, of Aperture Hotels. But what’s next? Like, as we wrap up today’s final question, kinda what’s your vision for the future as you look into the, this latter part of the half of the 2020s, right, for Aperture Hotels?
Charles Oswald:
Yeah, I think, um, being involved in a few developments is, is, you know, the one side. I’d say there’s just ongoing organic growth of, uh, taking on, on, uh, new management contracts, and they’ll probably mostly still be through, management company transitions as opposed to actual ownership transitions. And then, look, M&A is on the table, right? We, we’ve studied, uh, a few other small management companies that we can maybe, uh, acquire or merge in with. And I think that’s, yeah, I, I’m continuing to be open to that, uh, that conversation and, and, uh, uh, I hope to probably do just one. Uh, I don’t think multiple, but, but, but probably just one that’s really the right fit and the right strategic play.
Ryan Embree:
Awesome. Well, we’re excited. It’s been cool to watch your journey and aperture hotels from when we first spoke with you to here we are now and wish you nothing but success. So thank you so much, um, for taking the time to, to spend some time with my, myself as well as our sweet spot listeners, Charles.
Charles Oswald:
Yeah. Thank you. It’s great chatting. I appreciate it, Ryan.
Ryan Embree:
alright. Thanks, everyone. We’ll talk to you next time on The SuiteSpot. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Amanda Hite:
That’s why we do hotel data conference when we do it. Exactly. It’s budget season.
Ryan Embree:
Brilliant. Brilliant. Right? And, you know, you just got off stage, like I said. One of the fascinating pieces, like I said, we weren’t here last year, but this is our first time. You said when you first stepped on stage, there were, and you showed some of those original numbers. There was a little bit of a gap in the audience last year.
Amanda Hite:
Yes.
Ryan Embree:
But this year, a little bit different story.
Amanda Hite:
Yes. We had a much better forecast to reveal this year. Last year at this time was when we took the forecast down to reflect what was happening in the industry. And this year, we raised the forecast, not just for the rest of this year, but also for 2027.
Ryan Embree:
So great to see. And a really cool inflection point, I made a note here, revenue for the first time outpacing expenses, right? What does that mean for hoteliers?
Amanda Hite:
Yeah. So we finally see the pace of growth on the revenue side outpacing the expense growth. I mean, we’re in a high inflationary environment. Expense growth is something that will continue and hoteliers are having to deal with. But to see that we’re actually going to get some GOP gains, it’s, it’s super helpful. I mean, the point I made this morning though is our margins are not growing. Yeah. So we’ve got some room to grow efficiencies and productivity within the hotels to try to get margins to grow at the same rate of GOP growth.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, yeah. It’s challenging right now. And one of the things we’re doing to combat, or CoStar’s doing combat that, bottom line data being added to the product. What’s that mean for the hotel industry?
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, so within STR Benchmark and the CoStar platform, we introduced at the end of the first quarter our profitability benchmarking. P&L is something that STR has done for 30 years. We did it on an annual basis. And we introduced our monthly benchmarking back in 2020, literally as the world shut down. So maybe not the best timing. But of course, now we’re prepared in an environment like we are today, a very complex operating environment for our hoteliers. It’s, yes, we need to grow revenues, but we must make sure that that is flowing through to the bottom line and that our operators and owners are actually making money. And that’s not been the case in many types of hotels and many markets around the country. So we’re trying to make sure that we bring that visibility of not just the top line growth that we want to see for the industry, but the flow through all the way to the bottom line.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I’d love to see that. And, you know, another thing that we’re gonna hear constantly about at, and at this conference is AI, right? So I guess the overarching question would be more of like, how are you incorporating AI into your products right now?
Amanda Hite:
This is when I’m so thankful that we are a part of the CoStar Group entity. If you follow our other brands, homes and apartments launched AI in their products earlier this year. So we’re continuing to build off of that. We will have AI search in the CoStar product in the same way that you see in apartments and homes. But for STR benchmarks specifically, what we’re thinking about is making sure that we’re integrating AI into the product, not just sitting on top of the product, but like we interact with the clients all the time on the analysis in the industry. So we want to bring that through AI into the product for our customers to use. So we love when they pick up the phone and call us and wanna talk about data. Right. But we also wanna make it easier for them to surface it within their portfolios in product. And so that’s the path that we’re going down to bring that intelligence in the product and analyzing and spotting the trends, knowing what to look at or sometimes not look at, right? Sometimes it’s a great point. It’s just as important to say like, “Hey, I only have a limited amount of time. Where do I not need to spend time right now?” And that can be tricky, especially when you’re looking at a larger portfolio of trying to discern where, what makes the most sense to drive profitability for my business, for me to spend time on right now.
Ryan Embree:
100%. Those complexities and driving efficiency so important right now. And turning those data, that data into actual insights. That what one of the promises of AI. So reason we’re here at the Hotel Data Conference, thank you for taking the time. We’ll, we’ll let you get back. I know you’re hosting almost 900 hoteliers here. So we’ll let, let you get back to Amanda. Thanks for stopping by.
Amanda Hite:
Thank you, Ryan. Appreciate it.
Ryan Embree:
Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot live on location Nashville at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with Jan Freitag, National Director at CoStar. Jan, thank you so much for taking some time and very busy. You’re hosting almost a thousand hoteliers here.
Jan Freitag:
Yes, 18th year. Sold out again. So heads up, next year we’ll sell out again. But thanks for being here and sort of taking the pulse on the industry. We appreciate it.
Ryan Embree:
100%. Congratulations. Amanda Hite opened us this morning saying last year when she unveiled the forecast, there were audible gaps in the crowd. I feel like behind us, people have been skipping, jumping down, up and down this escalators. Share with us, we got a revised forecast.
Jan Freitag:
So we’re proposing that RevPar this year is up 4.4%. So that is the second upward revision we had to make, quote unquote. And the data’s just so strong. But then that means that next year, we’re gonna see growth, but it’s much slower global. So next year we’re thinking that RevPargrowth is gonna be like, you know, 2-2.1% or so. So the negative way to say this is, “Oh, our growth rate is cut in half.” The positive way to say this is like, “Oh, we have growth on growth, right? 4% this year, ne – 2% next year.”
Ryan Embree:
100%. I mean, a lot of people are going into, you know, we’ve talked to hoteliers here on the Suite Spot, going into their budgets. These are very, very important numbers for them as they go into their budgets because they wanna forecast. When we met last, we were at NYU. There had been zero soccer games played in the US. Now, 104 games later, we got a crown champion. Obviously had a big impact. We’re gonna talk about that in a minute. But that strong performance, one of your big takeaways from this morning was strong performance is gonna equal some tougher comps in 2027, right?
Jan Freitag:
Yeah, absolutely. So we had arguably easy comps this year, right? The Q2, three, and four RevPAR performance last year was negative. So yeah, we would outperform it this year. That was not a question. But because, RevPAR in the second quarter was up 5.7%, that is a, a very stout result, obviously driven in June, partially by the World Cup remember we’re gonna talk about. You know what that means for next year is, oh wow, we’re not gonna see that performance again. And so my conversation this morning with hoteliers is all about, okay, so how do you massage your owner? How do you have this conversation with your owner, with your team to say, look, there’s still gonna be growth, but we really have to think about this. And I heard this this morning from an asset manager at next year as a year of 10 months and two months, you know? So really take June and July out of your annual number and say, okay, so what’s the growth for that? And then, yeah, June, July is just gonna be tough cost.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Probably something that a lot of markets who hosted Taylor Swift a couple years ago had to deal with. And then maybe what LA’s gonna have to deal with in 2029 after the Olympics in 28.
Jan Freitag:
Yeah, exactly. So we’re already talking now about the Olympics. We’re gonna talk about, obviously the World Cup in four years over in Europe and what is the performance there. So these sporting events are just the gifts that keep on giving.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Yeah. And, and travelers continue what we heard this morning. Consumers continue to prioritize travel, which is really, really great for obviously our industry. But not without its cautionary tales, you also had a watch your margins kind of take away from that. Maybe expand on that a little bit.
Jan Freitag:
Yeah. So we’ve had for the last year and for the last couple of years, really this interplay between room rate growth and the rate of inflation being higher than room rate growth. And we’re taking the rate of inflation sort of as a proxy for how much more things are expensive. And the costs for hotels are obviously going up. Higher labor costs, higher insurance costs, higher food costs, higher costs, inner energy, everything. So if your costs are going up in order for your margins to expand, you need to drive room rate or revenue faster than the cost increase. And that just is not happening. So my colleague Isaac Collazo spent 55 slides and an hour explaining how margins are decelerating, unfortunately. Now, the total dollar amount, we’re everything gets more expensive, but it also means we’re having more money available as profit. But the margins are coming down. And that’s really the, maybe to me, the main takeaway from HCC this year for the budget conversation for 2027 is watch your margin.
Ryan Embree:
Efficiency is always looking for that, especially in these tight margin areas. And then lastly, you know, your whole presentation this morning was themed around the World Cup. And, and I do wanna bring it up because, obviously there was the quote was 104 Super Bowls. Yeah. Right? And you kind of explored that case a little bit. Found out maybe that might not be the case.
Jan Freitag:
Yeah, exactly. So the FIFA president had said at the time, just to explain to American audiences, “Hey, we have 104 soccer games and they look like 104 Super Bowls.” That is of course not the case. And that was never meant to be the case. Super Bowl is the largest cultural sport event in America. It happens once a year, right? And to sort of translate that was, I thought always a little silly. So it turns out that the 104 Super Bowls did not come to pass, and it was more like 30 Super Bowls, maybe if that. So yeah, it was still a very healthy impact. If you look at the markets that Hosta gave Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, very, very strong room rate growth. Interestingly, in some markets, actually, occupancy declines. We saw that specifically in Vancouver, but we saw it in Atlanta, we saw it in Boston. Why is that? Well, because corporate America, meeting travelers, meeting planners said, “You know what? I don’t need to compete with the Tartan Army in Boston for our meeting. You know, let me just stay away. Let me have that meeting in August, or let me move that meeting to Chicago,” for example. Sure. Chicago had a very, very strong June, July meeting calendar. So it’s, um, the, the room rate increase was absolutely expected and is exactly what came to pass. It just wasn’t Autumn for a Super Bowl.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I mean, that just proves we are, uh, a collective of markets. Things are gonna be obviously different in each one. Yeah. Uh, with different factors there. You know, a- and there’s also an interesting stat, fascinating stat, I wanna bring it up, about booking windows, um, that, that you brought up there. Yeah. If you wanna expand on that.
Jan Freitag:
So I got this totally wrong in the run up to the World Cup because I thought, look, if somebody books that FIFA ticket a year out, and the airplane ticket’s six months out, surely they would book their hotel three months out. Yeah. That did not happen. Right. And so we saw specifically the chart that I had this morning for, uh, arrival dates, June 11, 12, 13, 20 basis points of, uh, 20 points of occupancy was booked after June 8th. Wow. So that’s a booking windows of, like, three or four days. Wow. For an event that you knew what happened, I mean, six years ago. <laugh> Yeah. You know? And you had a ticket from one year ago. So I just completely though that the, uh, the, the leisure traveler, the, the soccer traveler would also book their room way ahead. That did not come with us.
Ryan Embree:
Very interesting. I wonder if that’s a macro trend happening right now, those booking windows starting to shorten a little bit.
Jan Freitag:
Yeah, and maybe that’s a takeaway for our friends, you know, in LA who are hosting the Olympics. Hey, you know, be very mindful how you match that booking window.
Ryan Embree:
Lessons from history learned there. Yes. Um, final as we wrap up, I always li- like, like to get any, you know, you look at a lot of data. So any interesting, uh, like, data points that really stood out or surprising?
Jan Freitag:
I mean, the July data came out yesterday and the luxury class RevPar growth was 16%.
Ryan Embree:
Wow.
Jan Freitag:
Talk about A, amazing, but B, A, tough comps. Yeah. In July of next year. But it was an amazing, amazing performance. July was very, very strong. Um, and June as well. So we clearly saw, you know, July was helped a little bit by 4th of July, World Cup, uh, 4th of July calendar year, but also the World Cup, obviously the final and the bronze medal games. They all, they all helped. So July was strong, June was strong. So now I think things are getting a little bit more normal – Yeah. Early on end.
Ryan Embree:
Awesome. Well, we’ll continue to look ahead as you will, but thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule, Jan.
Jan Freitag:
Thanks for being here. Thank you.
Ryan Embree:
Hello everyone, Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location of the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Erica Lipscomb, EVP of Commercial Strategy at PM Hotel Group. Erica, thank you so much for joining me on The Suite Spot.
Erica Lipscomb:
Well, thank you for having me. Very excited to be here.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, first time here on the Suite Spot. Yes. But not your first time here at Hotel Data Conference.
Erica Lipscomb:
Not my first time at Hotel Data Conference. This is conference number eight.
Ryan Embree:
Okay. Yes. All right. Hotel data conference. You obviously are no stranger, you’re a pro. What do you call a hotel data conference a success kind of reflecting back? What do you come here to accomplish and to learn?
Erica Lipscomb:
You know, I, again, this is our start of budget season. Sure. Right? Yeah. So I actually, uh, had dinner with Amanda last night and said, “You do realize what you’ve done here, right? We cannot even start our budget calendars until there’s an HTC.” Yeah. So really what I look forward to is not coming here just to hear that the amazing news of an increase year over year, or that we’re gonna increase in the year for the year. Sure. But what are those things that I can take away that can make it tactical for our teams? Mm-hmm. So learning from industry leaders that are here. We have amazingly smart people that are here at this conference. And we’re really drafting and shaping what the industry will look like. So what are those learnings? And then how do I make sure that we trickle that down within the organization and get them to our teams?
Ryan Embree:
Which can change so rapidly, right? As we know – Absolutely. It’s gone from, uh, a yearly change to almost, it feels like a weekly, especially with the AI and technology conversation. Yes. You were on a panel last year here at this same conference. I’m curious, what were some of the conversations then versus now?
Erica Lipscomb:
Yeah. And very different. I think it’s been extreme polar opposites. Okay. I feel like last year, there was a lot of conversation about AI. Mm-hmm. But more on the what is AI. Mm. And how are we gonna use AI? Yep. And it’s already started in conversations this morning. You know, we started networking last night, and most people are now really talking about what is AI doing for us to make sure that we’re efficient, making sure that our teams are effective, um, ensuring there’s profitability back to our owners. So it’s gone from a concept – Yeah. To now actually, how are we utilizing AI to be better in the industry, but keeping the forefront our customers?
Ryan Embree:
It feels like we’re in the sandbox now, right? And there’s a lot of companies out there trying different things. It’s the exploration process and, you know, maybe some success, but even, uh, lessons in the failure. Uh, I, I’ve been hearing a lot about that as well. So hotel data, obviously data is the name of the game. Yes. Still one of the most important tools I feel like right now on our quest of guest personalization. And so much it can do to kind of like what you said, prepare us for the rest of 2026 and even into 2027. Right. How is PM Hotel Group kind of leveraging data for growth and, uh, experiences?
Erica Lipscomb:
So actually you started with, with growth and experiences. Yeah. So really starting with growth. Yeah. We really are starting with AI in our business development side of our, our, of our home. Sure. And really how are we looking for the right clients that fit PM? Yeah. How, again, when you look at, uh, BD, it’s a relationship. Mm. So who are those owners? Who are the asset managers? What do their teams look like? Is that a right fit? And how can we help them grow? So that’s really the act – acquisition of the client and the customer. And then when we get to the property level – Right. Then as an enterprise, as a support center, what we’re looking to do is how do we use data, which is the, the heart – Yeah. Of revenue optimization. Sure. How are you using that data to make sure that we’re pulling through every step of the guest journey? So from the time again, acquisition of a customer. Right. So now not an owner, but that actual guest that’s gonna be staying at our properties, what does that customer journey look like? How do we find the right customer? We have a very diversified portfolio – Oh, yeah. For each one of our assets in the portfolio, ensuring that they convert. And then once they’re there in their stay, are we pulling through on all the experiences they expect? Whether it’s an independent hotel and the experiences that come along or for the brands and the brand standards. And then once our guests leave, how do we make sure that we are still speaking to them – uh-huh. And making sure that they return?
Ryan Embree:
I love how you walk through the entire guest experience. I think sometimes we get caught up just thinking about one or two elements of it. Right. But it really does start. I mean, the hot topic right now is that AI visibility, right? Absolutely. And being bound, uh, because our travelers are changing the way that they’re searching for hotels and doing their research. So, uh, it’s super, super important there. We’re in Nashville, Erica, uh, no stranger for PM Hotel Group. Yes. Uh, you guys just, uh – Very excited. Assumed management, 12 properties. Yes. Uh, what do you lo – like, um, from a Nashville market standpoint? I mean, this has just been such a hot market right now in hospitality. Uh, but also, you know, a big threshold of, uh, exciting 80 plus hotels for PM Hotel Group?
Erica Lipscomb:
Yes. We’re very excited to have the 12 hotels that, from Pinnacle that joined our portfolio. And that’s really our sweet spot, right? Finding those type of assets that fit our growth in our platform, and that we can make sure that we’re optimizing on their revenue, as well as excellent customer experience and guest operations experience. So what I really like about Nashville, and it’s not a new growth. Right. You know, Nashville never stopped growing, right? Where the, where the rest of the world really has struggled even, you know, six years ago. Through COVID. Nashville didn’t, right?
Ryan Embree:
It was red hot.
Erica Lipscomb:
But what most people think about when you hear Nashville, they’re really just thinking it’s an entertainment city. That’s not just all Nashville is. So when we peel it back and take a look at the segmentation and what’s driving Nashville, you do still have that customer that is true corporate business. And you still have conventions and groups. I was just in a group maximization winning group seminar just not too long ago. And in that breakout session, we really talk about group continues to still grow. Oh, yeah. And when you take a look at the first half of this year, that growth is really happening not only just in convention centers, but those hotels that have group meetings. Even when you take a look at those assets, what’s interesting is the growth is not just in the hotel that has most of the group, but if you are affiliated. You’re feeling that demand. Leveraging the demand and continuing to drive occupancy and ADR. Yeah, absolutely. So that’s why we’re still excited about Nashville. It’s one of those markets that continues to do well, not just in entertainment, but on the corporate business transient side, as well as group side.
Ryan Embree:
It’s a perfect destination. That’s why we got almost a thousand hoteliers here at the hotel data conference.
Erica Lipscomb:
That’s sold out again this year.
Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. Well, any. I mean, I can tell just by the conversation we’re having, very passionate about your work. Any projects you’re particularly fired up about right now?
Erica Lipscomb:
The project I’m probably most interested in is what I was hired for is to really continue to evolve commercial strategy. So commercial strategy is not just looking at every discipline in a silo. They’re all very important to revenue optimization. But how do we now continue to go from just having the commercial conversations, but also leverage the experience in each discipline? So our customers, when they look at our hotels, And they look at that curse customer journey that we just walked through – Right. They’re not looking at sales, revenue, marketing, distribution, operations. They’re looking at their holistic experience. Yeah. And so why not make sure that we internally stop looking at how well each d- division does and, and, and our, each siloed discipline, but let’s look through the lens of a gu – of a customer. Yeah. What’s that experience look like? And then how do we all play a part of it? Yeah. Exactly. So that’s what I’m excited about. And using, continuing to use AI. Yeah. How do we make sure that we’re leveraging commercial? Yeah. And then making sure that our use of AI is making our teams much more efficient – Mm. And effective in h – in how we run our businesses.
Ryan Embree:
That’s what I was gonna say. It’s, it’s such an inflection point, and I’m sure very exciting for, for your job with the technology in hand. Now you’ve got the power to, uh, break down those silos, right? Absolutely. Create efficiencies there. Yes. Uh, well, as we wrap up, you know, we always. One of the things here that we love to do at the Hotel Data Conference is try to predict the future, right? Forecasting, everybody. <laugh> It’s a, it’s an impossible job, but we do it every single year. Right. Uh, you know, so from a commercial strategy standpoint, I know you, you, you just mentioned the projects you’re working on, but what’s your vision for PM Hotel Group as we kind of go into the latter part of the 2020s?
Erica Lipscomb:
So latter part of the 2020s, I think that the company’s vision is to really leverage the portfolio and the diversity of the portfolio. We saw that growth that we had just here in Nashville. I’m sure you saw the news that Reset our first brand to enter Marriott’s or outdoor collection. Yeah. We’ve noticed that when you continue to diversify and not really just say, okay, we are just this type of company, making sure that we’re leveraging the expertise of our team. Mm-hmm. We can be many things – Yeah. To many customers. Yeah. And so lev – continue that leverage, that growth, but we do see that growth continue to be in experiences. Yeah. Right? So every brand is rolling out how they’re working with experiences. But what we do see, that lifestyle, outdoor – Oh, yeah. Experiences. We’ve had our first entree into it, and we’re gonna continue to grow.
Ryan Embree:
Awesome. We’re excited to watch that growth, and yeah, that experiential travel continues to be something, conversations we’re having here, prioritizing, that’s what the guests are prioritizing travelers are. Congratulations on all this. We continue to watch it with PM Hotel Group. Thanks, Erica.
Erica Lipscomb:
Thank you.
Ryan Embree:
Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Max Spangler, VP of Technology at Charlestown Hotel. Max, we know you’re on a panel tomorrow. We’ll talk about that in a second, but thanks for taking the time to join us.
Max Spangler:
Absolutely. thanks for hosting me, Ryan.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, Gotel Data Conference. Name of the game, data. We’re gonna talk about, obviously, your role and, and where data plays into that. But first, you come to a conference like this, what’s the expectation? What do you hope to get out of it? And maybe when you’re a couple weeks down the line, looking back on the conference, that was a success.
Max Spangler:
Yeah, you know, for me, I spend a lot of time at conferences that are very narrow in scope, right? Sure. Whether it’s high tech or the hospitality show, or even technology conferences that are outside of hospitality. Sure. So coming to HDC is always great. It’s always refreshing. The keynote panel in the beginning always gives me, hopefully, optimism. And this morning, it was very optimistic – Yes. About the way things are going. So I’m thankful for that. But it’s great to hear from commercial peers how they’re using data, how they’re surfacing insights, what tools they’re using, and how they’re turning it actionable. I mean, I think for me, as someone who spends a lot of time staring at screens, developing tools, looking at dashboards, hearing from people that actually depend on this information – Yeah. So crucially is really refreshing. So I get to, like, cut through the noise a little bit and hear what’s working, and hopefully hear what’s not.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, and that’s what leads to your panel tomorrow, connecting AI to commercial strategy. Yeah. Uh, maybe give our sweet spot listeners a little bit of sneak peek and maybe your thoughts on the subject.
Max Spangler:
We’ve got a great panel tomorrow. Super stoked for it. You know, so we, we had a pre-cause you tend to do with those panels. Right. And as a result of that, we decided to zoom out a little bit, which I though was important. So commercial still is the through line, as you would expect at HTC, but given the man – the, the members that are on the panel, we’ve got some people that, you know, are on the, the, the revenue management side. We’ve got some people from HFTP. Um, you’ve got me as an independent operator. It w- we felt, we felt it really important to say, “Let’s, let’s zoom out. Let’s take a pause and, like, let’s look at where the industry is holistically.” Sure. And so the questions are really driving off that. So you’ll find that, um, there’s insights about a year from now, what would we like to be doing differently, right? How are we driving ac- actionable insights? What KPIs are important? What KPIs are important? Yeah. Things like what’s the difference between automation versus th- this new agentic era? Mm. So I think it, um, I’m actually really excited for it. The panel’s great, and I think you’re gonna get some, some really interesting insights from a variety of different opinions.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And what we talked about is so much can change. Yeah. And you could talk about what could happen in a year. I mean, that could be a couple cycles with technology right now. And that’s why I, I was really looking forward this conversation, Max. Yeah. Because, you know, I get industry leaders, sometimes brand leaders, but you’re, you’re in it every single day, right? Yeah. Uh, VP of technology. Yep. Where do you think we are in the AI adoption – Yeah. Uh, uh, cycle? And then maybe zoom in a little bit on Charlestown Hotels.
Max Spangler:
Yeah. So if we, if we look at sort of where things are globally for the state of AI, I think obviously in the technology space, it’s an existential crisis, right? Right. I mean, I think you see that in, in jobs reports. I think you obviously see it in the way that they’re measuring AI as an accelerant. Yeah. You know, so, uh, friends of mine that work for tech companies, they’re seeing their time to release production code going from five weeks, four weeks down to one week. Wow. It’s easy for them to measure. It’s easy for them to see the outcomes for us. Yeah. I think it, it is ultimately a little bit more difficult. For Charlestown, you know, we think it’s really important to keep hospitality at the center of what we’re doing, right? And so we’re not parading around trying to be an AI company or a SaaS company. We firmly believe people and hospitality at the center of, is gonna be at the center of what we do.m. How do we use AI to power that? Whether it’s through efficiencies, you know, through maybe more sophisticated RMS, through, you know, generative guest insights. How do we make sure that we’re being discovered when people are asking what’s the best hotel in downtown Charleston, South Carolina? Those are really hard questions to answer. No one’s got it figured out. But the conversations that are happening here are super encouraging because I think there is a lot of people admitting that and coming together to try to find, um, the best path forward.
Ryan Embree:
And you were, this is not your first per – podcast that you’ve been on recently. I saw you, uh, on CoStar News Hotel podcast where you talked about escaping hospitality’s AI hype echo chamber. Yeah, yeah. What’s your thoughts on that? And maybe how do we avoid doing that here in, in spaces like this?
Max Spangler:
I mean, it’s, if you go on LinkedIn, you can feel like, you know, FOMO is like a- absolutely crushing you, right? Right. Everyone is, like, piloting something new. Right. Everyone is, is advancing seemingly at the speed of light. It’s really important to come to a conference like HTC, uh, to get a real life temperature check with what people are doing and how they’re doing it. There is a tremendous amount of hype. There’s a tremendous amount of potential, but I think for a lot of us, and especially from someone sitting in the seat of an operator, you have to be very disciplined. Yes. You know, you have to have a step-by-step sequence of how you’re actually gonna accomplish this. It’s okay to introduce a little bit of chaos. We’ve done that in the early days. I mean, if you go back, you know, to 2023, 2024, we’re experimenting with all the frontier models. But eventually, we wanted to collapse that into a unified choice, pick one model so that we can move forward and start measuring, you know, are our team members crawling? Who’s walking? Who’s running? How do we devise resources to help kind of get everyone on the same page, march in the same direction, and get better at this? Yeah. And so that, that’s, that’s been our strategy. And fortunately, like, that’s what I’m hearing here at the conference.
Ryan Embree:
And the motivation for implementing AI can’t come out of fear of we’re not doing enough. Yeah. Or, you know, we’re just, that FOMO feeling that you’re talking about, it has to have, what you said, discipline and direction. Yeah. And
Max Spangler:
Ryan, like, fear is a huge part. I mean, that’s one of the things that we’re constantly up against. There’s. I, I think the, the negative attitude and apprehension towards AI is only gonna continue to grow over time, right? Just like the excitement over it is gonna continue to grow. Yeah. Same thing’s true for the negative. I mean, you have people that absolutely have their head in the sand, which is okay. Right. Um, for, for certain reasons, you have people that obviously have negative feelings about it because of the socio – uh, economic impact. Sure. Companies potentially might be laying off job just Placement or replacement as a result of LLMs and the technologies that they introduce. There’s the environmental factors. So, like, all those things are absolutely true. We don’t think it’s, as Charlestown, our responsibility to sort of correct that. Right. But we do wanna make sure our associates, team members, and corporate, and corporate leadership team know this isn’t going anywhere. Yeah. It’s fundamental core to the business, and we’re gonna make an investment into our teams to make sure that they’re prepared for this new wave, whatever it looks like.
Ryan Embree:
It’s exciting times. And it’s okay to experiment fail sometimes, because that, that’ll show you some lessons too. Sure.
Max Spangler:
Yeah, we. Yeah, we’ve run so many pilots. We’ve had so many things fail. We’ve incinerated millions of tokens and subsequently thousands of dollars as a result of – Yeah. Um, so many pilots, but we’ve learned a lot. Yeah. Uh, and we’re in a much better spot as a result of it. You have to be willing to take risks, especially now. I do believe, like, no one’s gonna be left behind yet, but there is absolutely an advantage to being a first mover. And I think the companies that are at least experimenting and building AI fluency for their teams are gonna be much better, uh, much farther along than everybody else.
Ryan Embree:
100%. And, you know, one of those spaces is, is the data, right? That’s, I mean, that’s the name of the game of this conference here. Yeah. How are some ways are you leveraging data to kind of – Yeah. Grow Charlestown hotels or even just create efficiencies?
Max Spangler:
Yeah. So for us, it, it, it is a challenge to think about the kind of company that we are. We focus mostly on the independent space. Mm-hmm. So we don’t have sort of the technology through line like the brands have where – Sure. You know, they can force a certain PMS, POS, CRS, like, it’s very clean and organized and scalable that way. Yeah. For us, you know, when we come into a new hotel operating environment, in most cases, technology hasn’t been a major form of investment, right? I mean, most people don’t come to Charlestown hotels with a great performing asset. They’re like, “We’re in trouble. We need your help.” Right. So then I come in, you know, from the technology perspective and it’s like, okay, this is difficult. How are we gonna extract information, put it into a centralized place, be able to sort of layer a, a, a, a BI tool or reporting package on top of it to actually surface the insights so these one-off owner operators can get the insights that, like, a company like Charlestown Hotels can deliver at scale with all the independent properties and things we’ve learned across the secondary and tertiary markets that we work in.
Max Spangler:
So, I mean, to put it simply for us, it is about having, like, a central data repository or warehouse. Sure. I mean, there’s plenty out there. Databricks, Snowflake. We’re a BigQuery customer. We do a lot with Google. Um, but it is, you know, if, if you think about where things are going to bring it back to AI, so much of the conversation surrounds having a good data foundation, because AI is an accelerant. If you have bad data, it’s gonna accelerate you to bad outcomes more quickly. Yeah, that’s a great point. If you have a bad business strategy, it’s gonna optimize for the wrong KPIs. So for us, it is very much about having solid fundamentals. Yeah. That’s not a reason for you to stop, right? It’s just more a reason for you to proceed cautiously.
Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. And, you know, you do it right. All of a sudden, you get that personalization, which, you know, hospitality’s been really the last decade – Yeah. Has been striving so much for to get that personalization within the guest experience. So as we wrap up, you know, we always like to. I know this is gonna be difficult because, like we said, things change so quickly in the tech space. Yeah. But what’s your vision for Charleston Hotels from a technology perspective?
Max Spangler:
Yeah, great question. I thought you were gonna ask me a hard one, like, what’s my favorite color? <laugh> But, uh, no, for, for. Vision for technology, you know, for us, as long as we keep, like, hospitality at the center – Yeah. As our north star, that really does simplify things for us. It is gonna be difficult. There’s, you know, obviously a whole host of different frontier models you have to choose from. Tokenomics is gonna continue to be a big part. People talk about ROI with LLMs, but no one’s really talking about the expense – Yeah. And expenses continue to grow. Great point. Right? So we’re, we’re focused really on, you know, not only the, the ROI from some of the LLM tools, but, but obviously the tremendous cost that’s associated with running them at scale. But as long as we keep people and human beings at the center, reducing mundane work, admin tasks, friction so that our people can spend less time in front of screens and just be more hospitable, I think that really is the vision. Technology’s gonna support that. It’s gonna hopefully be more invisible to the people that come to hospitality. They didn’t come to, like, move information around – Right. Push paper or spend time in front of a computer. They spent it to, like, be empathetic, to be excited – Yeah. To surprise and delight. And so our goal, that’s our north star, and technology’s gonna be there to support it.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I mean, some industries, you’re, you’re right, are gonna be completely flipped upside down – Yeah. With this technology. But hospitality, we have that advantage of being a people first industry, so.
Max Spangler:
I, I think it’s, like, the, the key differentiator, and it honestly, it’s like, hospitality has an opportunity to have a really strong opinion. As so many industries are completely rolled over by this AI wave – Yeah. Hospitality can actually say, “No, you know what? People are…” And people in hospitality are at the center, and so as there is potentially more AI backlash and people are seeking more authentic experiences – Right. With people and connections – Yeah. I think it’s, it’s gonna be a great benefit to our industry.
Max Spangler:
Yeah, and we’ve seen from the data, experiences still seem t be – Yeah. I think that’s gonna grow. Yeah.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Agreed. Uh, Max, appreciate the time. Thank you. Uh, we’ll keep an eye on Charleston Hotels and everything you’re doing over there. Great. Congratulations.
Max Spangler:
Thank you.
Ryan Embree:
Hello, Everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We’re live on location at the Hotel Data Conference 2026 here with Sam Trotter, Head of Digital Marketing for Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Sam, thanks for taking some time.
Sam Trotter:
Thanks for having me here. Yeah. I’m excited to be here at the Hotel Data Conference.
Ryan Embree:
It’s our first time here, but you said you’re, you’re a pro. You’ve been here for many years. Yeah. What does a successful hotel data conference look like for you and some of the takeaways that you look for?
Sam Trotter:
I really love having a good sense of what’s gonna happen next year. So you get some really great data here where you actually can take to your business planning sessions and use and say, “Hey, you know, I have this from the data conference, and they’re forecasting this growth in this market.” And you have something tangible. Yeah. So you’re about to head into budget season. Yeah. So having that in hand is really, really nice.
Ryan Embree:
That’s a big part of it. I mean, budget season, you gotta make those operation efficiency. We talked about the margins, how tight those are right now, especially in hospitality. One of the ways that hospitality’s changing right now is through AI search. You were on a panel here. For those that weren’t able to join us here in Nashville, maybe unpack that topic a little bit, because it’d certainly be top of mind for a lot of hoteliers right now.
Sam Trotter:
Well, it was really fun. It was a packed house, so a lot of interest in it. There’s a lot to talk about. I think we did a little bit of an intro to the topic, just so that everybody was sort of on the same page. But this is a new thing that we’re all having to adapt to. And we’re gonna have to focus on this. And in the panel, I said, “This feels a lot like 2006 when SEO was becoming a big thing.” And I remember I hired this French couple to do our SEO for this hotel that we were opening. It was like $10,000. In 2006. And it felt kinda like magic. Yeah. You know, like, what are they, what are they actually gonna do, right? And so it’s really tough. Who do you listen to? What actually works? And it was a great panel. And there’s no main takeaway other than we’re doing a lot of AB tests. We’re trying to figure out what works. I’m looking at the dashboards from our different properties. Who’s doing well? Who’s not? Yeah. And trying to pivot. And so we’re at this really interesting phase where it’s not really clear, right? Everybody’s telling us different things. Who do you listen to? So I honestly think it’s really exciting.
Ryan Embree:
The good news is it’s a challenge that a lot of people are attacking at once, right? And that’s where you’re gonna kind of find maybe lessons learned, even in those failures. So I think it is interesting because ultimately what happened with SEO is, like, there became a little bit of of a game plan that you could attack it with, right? That people are still trying to kind of balance. And then there were switches, right? That’s the other thing, is you could attack it one way and then all of a sudden, next week, algorithms change and it’s back to square one. So it was very, very interesting. But I think it’s events like this and panels that you’re on, Sam, that help kind of. Where everyone’s going through this right now. And to try to get through the weeds on it and try to figure out what is a good course of action here. And it changes so quickly. I think AI gets a spotlight, obviously, for good reason because it’s just this up and coming technology. But digital marketing also feels like it’s fast changing and evolving. And it’s been doing that for the past decade. You think about social media updates and everything like that. Yeah. I guess, how do you view digital marketing right now from a strategic standpoint and, and how hoteliers should be embracing and, you know, maybe investing in It?
Sam Trotter:
So that was a big question, right?
Ryan Embree:
Yes, sorry.
Sam Trotter:
When I have new marketers join, junior marketers, I always tell them there’s really no such thing as an expert anymore. Because it’s gonna change next year. Right?
Ryan Embree:
Great point.
Sam Trotter:
There are certain fundamentals that will help you no matter what, from 10 years from now, they’ll always be in play. I think what’s really interesting now with AI is I feel like there’s more emphasis on brand and category ownership. So if the AI is the most educated person in the entire world about hotels in Nashville. I mean, that’s what it is. Sure. It’s the most educated person in Nashville. What do you wanna teach it? And so if you’re teaching it, I have a pool and a fitness center, that doesn’t really help, right? ‘Cause now you’re just the same. And so what category can you own? Can you be the wellness hotel of Nashville? And if you’re the wellness hotel of Nashville, what that looks like is everything we say and we do reflects that. So I have spa packages, we have spa activations, we have a spa month. We have an amazing spa. We have spa content. We have spa creators that come in. And so when you’re doing that, all of a sudden the AI’s like, “Okay, no, this is the spa hotel of Nashville.” Because it’s, there’s evidence. Yeah. Right? And so I think there’s gonna be more emphasis on this category ownership, right? More than ever. And that boils back down to your brand.
Ryan Embree:
No, I love that. I think that’s a great explanation to someone who might feel overwhelmed in this right now. But those searches also could get very specific, right? I’m looking for a place that’s pet friendly, that is dedicated to wellness, where I’ve got my family coming to. So that’s where it gets a little bit tricky of the categories could turn into subcategories and then very, very niche. But it’s also the beauty of it, I think on the other side, is that your travelers are gonna be able to hopefully find the right hotel for them and what they’re looking for.
Sam Trotter:
So going back to your question, you asked me about social media. Because things are changing so fast, the, what we don’t really realize, and we don’t talk about, is the number one AI that we talk to is Google’s AI overview. That’s the one that when you have a long search, it defaults to, right? And it is weighing YouTube more than any other social platform – Great point. Because they’re not giving access. Right? So TikTok’s not giving them access. So now all of a sudden, YouTube is like this big player. And so we’ve got 76 locations. How do you scale YouTube? Yeah. And so, you know, we’re trying to figure this out in real time, and it’s a lot. There’s a lot of change happening.
Ryan Embree:
No, that’s a great point, what you said about Google, because a lot of people might be listening to this being like, “Well, I’m not, I’m not really looking, or I’m not using AI in my everyday life.” Well, Google’s really, you know, that AI overview, you are using, right? And it’s just, it’s gonna become more and more, whether we know it or not, a part of our life, you know? So that’s a different conversation. You know, Sam, Indigo Road Hospitality Group, you just mentioned tons of locations. What are some of the projects you’re most excited about that you’re working on right now?
Sam Trotter:
So, we have amazing locations, and there’s so many that are really interesting that we have coming up. We’re dabbling in more and more to membership clubs. Which is something that, we have one right now in Bentonville, and then by the end of the year, we’ll have two more. So we’re going from zero to three in a pretty short amount of time. It’ll be like a year and two months, we’ll go from zero to three. So it’s something that has been really fun to learn about, and there’s new platforms to learn about. So that’s really exciting. And then, I’m working on some fun data projects too, fun to me. I’m trying to set us up to have our own loyalty program. And so I’ve got some cool things in the works. So I’m really excited about that because we have a diverse portfolio. We have coffee shops and restaurants and hotels. And venues and how do you get them all to talk? Right? How do we put them all in one place, but have them separate? How can we share notes? How can we improve the guest experience? So there’s a lot of really cool things that are happening now. And one of the benefits of AI is partners are, are improving their platforms faster than ever. Oh, yeah. Which is fun if you have the right partners. And they are doing it.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I mean, and loyalty programs, you also learn more about your guests and hopefully create personalization, which is, you know, a topic that has been in hospitality. But we’re getting closer and closer, I feel like, to what we may have talked about five years ago at a conference like this. Be like, “There might be a time where we could do this, and now with the power of AI, it, it’s possible.” Yeah. Well, as we wrap up, kind of what’s your. I know we just talked about the future, but, and it’s hard to predict, but what would be kind of your vision for the future, in your role at Indigo Hospitality Group?
Sam Trotter:
I would say that, I guess thinking more optimistically, ultimately, it’s gonna be about the guest experience. It’s gonna be about the surprise and delight. It’s gonna be about having great employees who are happy to be where they’re at and that wanna be there. And the best marketing is a great experience, right? So what’s my role in that? You know, how can I help operations do their thing? And that’s the foundation of everything. At the end of the day, I think that’s it.
Ryan Embree:
There is a, there is a comfort, Sam, to being in an industry that we knew can only be disrupted so much by AI, but at the end of the day, it is gonna still come down to people serving people and creating those memorable experiences, and hopefully AI gives the opportunity to do.
Sam Trotter:
I have a anti-trend for you, right? Okay. So we’re here at, at the Grand Hyatt. There’s no kiosks, right? Check in. There’s still front desk people. 10 years ago at the hotel data conference, I think we would’ve though it was all kiosks. So hospitality has reigned supreme, and I think that’s the future.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah for, they say hospitality is the first ever industry and it’ll be here for a long time. So Sam, we appreciate it. We’re gonna watch you and, and everything you’re doing over there. We appreciate you taking some time with us.
Sam Trotter:
Thank you you so much. This was a lot of fun. All right.
Ryan Embree:
To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Ryan Embree:
We love the unconventional journey in hospitality and kinda falling into it. But also, a lot of people we find fall in love with hospitality. And that’s why you hear about people maybe starting kind of in, you know, I was a bellman when I first started at a hotel and front desk agents, F&B, and then all of a sudden, here they are 30 years later into a career that they absolutely love. And your foundation actually mirrors a lot of what the Suite Spot is. We started as a digital marketing podcast preaching to hoteliers about the importance of things like managing your reputation, social media strategy, which we’re gonna get into in this conversation a little bit, because it is a constantly evolving and so ever important because those are places that can be touched prior to a guest arrival and have a real impact on bookings and the guest experience. But before we get into that, I want, I do wanna start about talking about that event, the Digital Travel Summit that both of you will have the pleasure of attending down there in Orlando at September 28th and 29th. Personally, could not be more excited for this event, bringing some of the travel industry’s biggest and brightest together in a very intimate setting, very excited about it. What are you most looking forward to about this event? And maybe what caught your eye and it drew you initially to this Digital travel Summit?
Emma Shaybani:
I think what immediately caught my attention was that it was an event that was dedicated solely to digital marketing as a whole. I think, while, while AI is, is transforming things pretty rapidly, and I think this was nice because it was a conference that recognizes digital marketing is so much broader than just AI. And we still have to think about search, paid media, websites, all of these things and how those pieces work together to essentially drive demand. So I saw that and then also I’m looking forward to seeing some of our friends that are there, some of the industry leaders that are talking. I think there was one of the sessions, a keynote that’s on event-driven travel, which is something that we’re investing heavily in at HEI, you know, things like concerts, festivals, major conventions. A lot of my team’s focus at the moment is setting up things like landing pages, targeted offers to really kind of take advantage of those experiences. ‘Cause we all saw what happened, with the Taylor Swift effect a few months ago.
Ryan Embree:
100%.
Emma Shaybani:
Exactly. So I think that’s a really, a lot of the topics throughout the event are really on trend and really useful. So I think it’s, it’ll be good to bring everybody together. We’re all solving similar challenges, so that hopefully, you know, we can come away with some practical ideas that myself and the team can implement when we’re back in the office.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, 100%. And to piggyback on that Taylor Swift effect, you got the World Cup that just happened this summer. You got the Olympics in LA in a couple more years. So no shortage of events coming to domestic US. Concerts are gonna continue to pop up. Sporting events across generations, younger travelers, but across generations still prioritizing those experiences at the forefront. And I think you’re absolutely right, Emma. It’s a very comprehensive event. It’s funny, back in the day when we started first talking about, you know, this to hoteliers with, with digital marketing, sometimes social media review responses, you, like you talked about in your story, it fell on the youngest person at the hotel, right? So who’s the youngest, uh, front desk agent? They probably know the best about social media. Now as digital marketers, we kinda cringe thinking about that. We put our whole stake of reputation on someone that we really didn’t train a hotel’s voice or anything like that. So it really has evolved. And I love your perspective on where we are with AI because you think about this emerging technology. Well, social media a couple decades ago was right there in that spot, and now it’s created roles within social media. So it’ll be interesting to get everybody in like you said, that room to, with the same challenges, trends, what are you seeing? And speaking of panels, I’ll have the privilege and pleasure of moderating a powerhouse keynote panel with you involved, Emma, called Building AI-Ready Marketing Teams: Knowing When to Automate and When to Go Human. For our Suite Spot audience, give us maybe a little bit of sneak peek of a preview on your thoughts on that topic.
Emma Shaybani:
I think, you know, I always encourage the team to really ask themselves kind of simple questions, right, when it comes to our use of AI, is if, like, if this task disappeared tomorrow, would anyone notice, right? And if the answer is no, then we can probably find a way to automate that, you know? And I also think there’s a question of, is there value in the thinking or is there value in the typing? Because we do spend a lot of our time producing reports, producing presentations. And really, the value of having humans is the strategy, the judgment, the relationship building, and also the creativity. So we wanna make sure that, you know, humans are also, we’re remaining in charge of the decisions, but can we become more efficient by our use of AI? And we kind of split. We do something called the rule of 80/20, which is AI can get us about 80% of the way there to the finish line, right? It can gather data. It can generate drafts, mock-ups, website copy, summarize reports, but then it’s really like that final 20%, which is gonna create the real value. Human judgment, as I said, creativity, empathy. That’s where we need the human, human touch. And I think that’s really important when it comes to just overall guest experience as well, because while we’re using AI to get in front of guests, we’re trying to be the most visible or the top on Google or, you know, any of, any of. We really want maximum visibility, right, across all these channels. But when we get, when people get to the property, they want a human experience. I think people still very much want a human experience. So we have to make sure that what we’re portraying online is an extension of this experience that happens on property. So I think it’s a mix. I really do.
Ryan Embree:
It gets a little bit more complicated within hospitality. Other industries, it might be easier to automate all the way through, where in hospitality, there does need to be that human touch because of what, exactly what you just said, Emma, right? Like, people want that connection. They want that exper – That’s why we travel, right? It’s not that there might, might be some places where you can completely disconnect from people, but most of the time, they wanna experience. That’s why they’re getting out. That’s why they’re going to new places and having new opportunities to explore cities and locations that they haven’t before, and they wanna, they wanna feel that. So it is interesting to see that. You know, I’ve, I’ve said it on this podcast and we’ll probably say it again. The GM of the next few years might look a lot closer to what it did 20 or 30 years ago before all of those tasks were put on their plate and all of a sudden they had to sit behind a computer for 80% of their time and do spreadsheets and other things that required our time. Now they can maybe get back to the heart, which will be very interesting to see that shift in hospitality. Excited to explore it in that keynote panel that, again, is gonna feature some major brands alongside, travel industry brands alongside Emma here. So hope our Suite Spot listeners will look into that event, the Digital Travel Summit, and join us. I wanna shift back to, well, actually, I wanna talk about AI and, and the guest experience a little bit more. A few years back, you were a featured columnist in Hotel News Now, where you wrote that managing the guest experience in hotels begins earlier than ever. Now, this was a couple years ago. We’re getting news almost on a weekly basis with, with the cadence of AI and technology. Talk to us a little bit about your thoughts on how, if at all, that’s changed with the emergence of AI traveler search.
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah, I actually think the, the idea is probably more relevant today than it was when I wrote that article a couple years ago. I think the guest experience no longer begins when someone walks through the hotel doors, right? It starts the moment they have that idea and start dreaming of a trip or a destination. I think today, obviously, a lot of travelers are using AI and Googles to really help them to decide where to stay, where to go, what to do. It’s great. I use it myself, right? You can go through so much more data, so many more options, and it just kind of speeds up the entire trip planning process. But what it means is that our digital presence really is, more importantly than ever, an extension of the actual guest experience itself when they get to the property. You know, AI kind of just, just changed how guests discover us, but what really isn’t changing, as I kind of said before, is, is what they expect when they arrive. I think it’s actually raising the bar in many instances, because we’re getting the information to the traveler through AI or through Google, and we’re actually, we’re creating more personalized recommendations. We’re getting them more information than ever, and we’re setting these kind of real clear expectations of this is what you can expect when you arrive. So we have to make sure that the in-guest experience really, like, delivers on that promise when, when they get there. But for me, I think that’s where hospitality really still wins, because technology can, we can inspire people to travel, to book a stay, but people create memories, they wanna create memories on property that they’ll take home. And if we’ve promised a really great experience online, you know, the front desk, the food and beverage, housekeeping, every interaction throughout that stay is really gonna, like, enforce that expectation that we’ve set. So I think it, you know, AI is a tool to enhance hospitality. I think it replaces it. And I think it’s just kind of, trying to really seamlessly marry those two things together, so that we’re setting expectations correctly, but then we’re also delivering on real, incredible real life experiences.
Ryan Embree:
100%. Yeah, personalization, a goal and objective that hospitality has been in after, I mean, for a decade now. We are closer than ever with as much data as we have right now, and that’s why I think a lot of hoteliers, brands, management companies are really going after that data and really trying to figure out a way, how can AI help me? All this data that I’m collecting from this guest make a more personalized experience and enhance, like you said, Emma, the guest experience. But at the core of it, I remember. I mean, I remember when you go to a TripAdvisor for a hotel and you keep, you scroll through the reviews and you see someone’s name mentioned at the front desk over and over again, “Emma at the front desk was amazing. Emma did this. Emma did that.” And then you come in and you’re greeted by Emma and you’re like, “I, it’s like I know you already, right? Like, it, that is such a cool experience and it elevates that. And I think that is in practice what I think these LLMs hopefully will have for a guest on the horizon. I think it does raise the bar, what you’re saying, Emma, because we want our guests to walk through those doors and know us as intimately as the front desk agent that they’ve maybe read three or four reviews about. So really exciting to kind of see and have certainly seen it implemented that elevation of guest service through HEI and resorts. It’s award season and obviously the accolades keep rolling in for your portfolio. Recognition from Conde Nast, Cvent, Travel and Leisure. Congratulations first off to you and your team. But from a reputation management, I mean, that’s your origin story, right, with HEI and Hotel and Resorts. How do you leverage these to kind of win more business? And how critical is it in today’s landscape to have a defined reputation management strategy more than kind of where you started maybe just responding to the reviews?
Emma Shaybani:
Thank you. Yeah, the awards like this are really meaningful, I think, to everybody because they’re really a reflection of the teams that are delivering those exceptional guest experiences every single day. I think behind these recognitions is the front desk associates, the housekeepers, engineers, servers, people who are creating these memories and these memorable stays. So I think it’s really important to celebrate that, which is why we really put an emphasis on promoting when we do win these awards. I think from a marketing perspective, these awards really serve as kind of a very powerful third-party validation. We spend a lot of time, telling guests what they can expect from our hotels, through our websites, our social media, photography. But these awards from Conde Nast or Travel and Leisure really, like, reinforce essentially that that promise that we’re making is real and help really allow us to build trust with a guest before they’ve not before they’ve even booked. And I definitely think it can be the deciding factor, right? If someone’s, you know, looking in the several hotels in the same market that they’re considering, it does help kind of validate that our hotels are a top choice in the market. I think on the reputation management side, it’s funny because back then it really was a case of, okay, we’ve just got to respond to these reviews. The brands are telling us, we’ve got to respond to anything under a three-star, and we have to do it within 48 hours. And I think it’s become so much more than that, and it’s, it’s so much more critical now because it’s no longer just about having a high rating on the different review sites. Guest reviews, I think, are really influencing how AI-powered search tools and large language models understand and recommend hotels. There’s been studies on it, we’re seeing it ourselves. Every review essentially creates this kind of digital story of the property, and then that story gets shared, right, from whether it’s on ChatGPT, whether it’s on Google, iit’s obviously very visible. I also think reviews are really, like, one of the few opportunities that we have to publicly demonstrate how we respond to feedback. You know, whether it’s thanking someone that they’ve had, you know, for a great stay or we’re addressing concerns. These responses, I think, allow us to show that we’re, you know, we’re open to feedback. We care and that we’re committed to kind of continuously improving, um, the guest experience. But I think all these things, ultimately, awards, reputation management, they’re all working hand in hand at the moment to ensure, again, we’re, people are getting credible information, and then also that they’re making informed decisions when they book.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, what an opportunity to showcase the level of service that you’re gonna experience at a hotel than to publicly kinda display that through reviews and review response, right? You know, as it’s really human nature sometimes, I think unfortunately, that will go. Travel is stressful, right? Things happen in travel. We talked that there were a couple missed flights when we were trying to plan this out, right? How stressful is that? Like, so if you see that, sometimes a guest is a traveler, you sometimes have to put yourself in that, “Well, what is the worst case scenario?” So you try to look maybe for that one-star review. And if you see that empathetic voice on the other side of someone that genuinely has an authentic feeling of service-oriented response, man, the impact on that can really, really make the difference, and be maybe that final little push that has that comfort level, that trust that you talked about. I think that’s a great word right now, is we’re just looking that I trust that this hotel’s gonna take care of me, my family, if I’m traveling, my family, to make this experience the best it can. So 100% agree with you. That is something we preach all the time on this podcast. Social media, on the other end, plays a huge role in reputation management, and very comprehensive. What are your thoughts on what hoteliers should be prioritizing in the social media space right now, which is ever-evolving?
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah. I think the biggest thing is the shift we’ve seen, especially with platforms like Instagram and TikTok, is the priority is now content, and kind of not over-complicating social media as a whole. I think we talk a lot of time, talking about algorithms and platforms, but at the end of the day, if we don’t have compelling content, our strategy isn’t gonna get us very far. I think what I’ve seen a lot is that hotels will invest heavily in the social media management, but they’re not investing as heavily into the content itself. And we’ve spoken to a number of agencies and worked with different ones over the years, and a lot of them have fairly significant price tags to manage social media accounts, which I understand, right? Platforms like TikTok take a ton of time to create and produce. But these agencies, they’re, you know, they’re typically posting content, they’re doing community management, but they’re not necessarily creating the photography, the video, the reels, and influencer partnerships that are really the things that are gonna fuel engagement. So I think what we’ve seen is that without a strong pipeline of content, we’re just repurposing the same assets over and over again. So we’ve shifted a lot and it’s really about finding the right balance. So having a reliable content partner that can help create some consistency, and then filling in the gaps with influencers and creators, that can help, capture authentic moments and, and produce those reels. Doing those two things together work really well, but I really do think it’s now it’s time to start and really investing into content. Just be – everyone gets so fatigued, right? You just scrolling all the time. And then when people have seen that picture, they’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna scroll to, scroll to the next one.” And a lot of the time, we’re not just producing. I think everybody really used to think of it as, like, okay, we produce content for the website and the brand websites, and then we have content for social media, which is different. And it doesn’t actually have to be different anymore. You know, great content really powers everything. We can use that same photography or same social content to really strengthen our website. It really helps improve paid advertising performance. So, we can use it in our email campaigns, even on our OTA listings as well. So it’s kind of trying to get everyone to understand that that one investment can really help us deliver value across our entire marketing ecosystem. And it’s funny because it’s always the thing that everyone tries to cut from the budget is the photography aspect. We haven’t been renovated. We don’t need a photo shoot. There’s still things we can do, right? There’s still, there’s still new content to be, to be taken. So I think that’s where we’re focusing a lot of our time is content over the management piece.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, quality of content, I mean, the landscape has changed as far as the competitive forces, right? Now, back in the day when, when social media first, it was only anyone that you followed, right? You were only competing against those pages that that particular user was following. Now, a majority of time spent for a social media user is in explore pages, and a lot of accounts that they’re in. It’s more interest-based than follow base. You rarely see the things that you follow unless you’re engaging with it frequently. So the competitive nature of that, and you think how quickly. I mean, next time you’re in front of your phone, any of our listeners, how quickly your thumb is swiping, it’s a lot quicker than it was a decade ago, and how much your brain is actually giving that attention, that attention span has been shrinking. So quality of content, it has to be at a high level. And, and you’re absolutely right, Emma. We’ve seen a lot of hoteliers maybe not give the necessary time attention, whether it be time investment or capital investment into that. And it’s not enough just to be there anymore. I think that’s where we were maybe a decade ago. If you’re in the arena, you’ve got a shot. Now the bar is being raised, in that regard. So marketing, what a fun position. Always something going on, right? Something to celebrate. You got projects that you’re working on, announcements, try to make as much noise as possible. Any particular projects right now, Emma, that you’re particularly fired up about that you’re working, you and your team are working on?
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah. I think there’s a few things, because everything’s just changing so rapidly at the moment. So it’s actually like a fun, I think it’s a fun time. It’s stressful, but it’s a fun time to be a marketer. But I think the first thing is websites, because I think things have, like, especially where we’re able, we have obviously independent hotels, and we also have some branded assets that have vanity websites. And I think how that trend is also shifting, because for years, the trend was to have, like, these minimal content websites. You didn’t have a lot of copy, massive imagery. But now, obviously, with the shift in AI search, the websites have to be kind of richer, more informative, and actually have some genuinely helpful content. Things like destination guides, and FAQs, and all these different things, which is now kind of shaping a lot of our future designs on what these websites look like. So it’s kind of like we’ve kind of gone back a little bit. And so I think that’s kind of, it’s exciting to test a lot of that and really start to kind of just a lot of it’s testing, just really kind of getting in the weeds and just trying different things. I think another thing that we’re excited about, and we’ve got a lot of projects on the go is video. Again, I think video always used to be one of these nice-to-have pieces, but now it’s becoming a must-have because people want, you know, again, people are used to video content, short-form video content. So we’re implementing that on websites and in emails. But we’re also starting to have a lot more fun with our creative. I think a great example is we have an asset in Nashville called Waymore’s, and it’s a fun hotel. It’s in East Nashville, and we just produced this video that really is probably a little bit out of the box, but it really leans into the personality of the hotel and kind of the spirit of Nashville. And it’s definitely catches people’s eyes. We’re, we’re running it on social, we’re running it on emails, and we’ve seen a real uptick in people engaging with it. So I think it’s fun to kind of work on these more exciting videos, exciting content. And then my other big project right now is building what we’ve launched earlier this year called LoyalKey, which is our independent loyalty program for our HEI independent hotels. We haven’t done that before. It was something new that we wanted to try. And it’s an opportunity that really allows us to kind of bring together our. We have some really one of a kind independent assets. And we wanted to create kind of like a shared loyalty experience while still, like, maintaining what kind of keeps each hotel special. And it really gives us the ability to leverage the guests at each of those hotels and connect them to, if you’re interested in one independent asset, you might be interested in another one. So it’s giving these hotels real opportunity to kind of co-market, and at the same time, build this loyalty brand. So it’s been, it’s been a learning experience, to kind of build that from the ground up. But it’s fun.
Ryan Embree:
What a project. An opportunity, again, for personalization. You get some more of that guest data within loyalty programs, and all of a sudden, personalization starts to really blossom there, especially in the independent hotel space where you can do some really, really cool things. So, and just to piggyback on your video comment, if you don’t believe, Emma, as far as how important video is, go through, again, your social media feed. See how long you’re scrolling on each one, but also see how many times you’re seeing a still image now. I mean, it is surprising now when I go through my feed that I rarely come across just a still image. Most of them are going to be, whether it’s a GIF or some sort of, uh, short form video, most of the content that we are consuming now is not going to be a still image. So just going where the trends are, and yeah, it’s funny you mentioned that about that East Nashville property. You know, we work with hotels in their social media. And one of the videos that went viral on this particular hotel partner’s account was that they filmed High School Musical Two at the property, right? And it was kind of like this produced Zac Efron in there, and it exploded. And it was, like, probably something that we didn’t think was gonna get that much traction, but it was fun. People engaged with it. People loved it, especially those, millennials that grew up with that. And it became kind of a staple of that property and just a way to share the story of that property. So really cool examples there. And that creative side that’s the fun part of social media. So you mentioned 100 plus properties, so this might be a little bit tough for you, but I’m gonna put you on the spot here, Emma. I’m gonna do some rapid fire questions to get to know you and the HEI Hotel and Resorts portfolio a little better. So what is one of your favorite views at a property, HEI Hotel and Resort property?
Emma Shaybani:
I would say probably Hyatt Regency, Jersey City. So I had actually never been to Jersey City, but I was astounded by the, when I went, the views of Manhattan. ‘Cause it’s great, you know, when you’re in Manhattan, you’re like, “Oh, this is amazing.” Like – Yeah. But when you’re actually looking at it from across the water, it’s incredible. So probably that one. And we also have another, actually, another Times Square view. We have Renaissance Times Square that has this really cool bar that overlooks, like, the whole of Times Square. And it’s just like, incredible. I could sit there and watch that for hours. So it’s, it’s probably the New York views for me.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And those are hard to beat. Being in New York a couple months, same place up on a rooftop. I mean there’s not a lot that beats that. So what about a favorite fun fact about one of your properties?
Emma Shaybani:
Oh, I really like, it’s my favorite thing to do is always research or ask the team, like, what’s the craziest story about this hotel when I go? I love all, like, the historical facts, like, the ghost stories. So probably the Liberty in Boston, it used to be the Charles Street Jail. And today, I just love that, like, you’re sitting in there having a cocktail and there’s still, like, the, the doors and the window bars. And it just, that’s really fun. We also have The Cavalier, which has hosted, like, 10 presidents, Frank Sinatra. There’s definitely some secrets in that hotel. And I love that they play into it. They have a lot of, like, historical facts on the wall. So it kind of becomes, like, I don’t know, it’s like a fact-finding mission when you’re there.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I love that. It’s funny. You think about in maybe 100 or 200 years, which of those structures might be hotels in the future, right? Think that there’s a jail there. I’ve heard stories about, yeah, this used to be a bank and everything. Thing and now it’s a hotel. Like that’s the best part about hospitality, right? We can turn almost anything into a hotel. So, what about favorite signature dish at one of your properties, Emma?
Emma Shaybani:
I really like the steak tartar at the J in San Francisco. Served at the third floor and it’s just one of those, it’s just one of those dishes that I have to have, like I can not be hungry and I’ll still order it because I need to have it. Cause I don’t know when the next time I’m going back, but no, it’s kind of got like, it’s got like a Japanese twist on steak tartar, which is, it’s delicious.
Ryan Embree:
Very nice. Coast to coast, Emma, I like it. This really shows the breadth of the portfolio you’re working with over there. Last ones, either favorite piece of art at one of your properties or a favorite amenity at one of your properties? We can do both.
Emma Shaybani:
Well, we have a very, I think a pretty unique portfolio with every hotel kind of has a unique amenity. But I think the Live at the Sunrose, which is at our Sunrose property in West Hollywood, has this really cool intimate live music venue inside the hotel. And like you, just because it’s in West Hollywood, you just don’t know who’s gonna turn up, start singing. I think, like, J-Lo was there. It’s just, like – Oh, wow. It’s just fun. Like she’ll just get up and start singing. So I feel like that’s like a really cool little just addition, right? Like if a guest is staying and that’s all happening, it just really brings a lot of, a lot of energy to the, to the hotel.
Ryan Embree:
Well, and some great opportunity for content. You wanna talk about the perfect social media video?
Emma Shaybani:
I have no problems.
Ryan Embree:
Jennifer Lopez, right, singing at one of your hotels. Awesome. Well, you know, it’s always. I’ve done almost, well, over 200 episodes. I always feel like it’s my duty to my Suite Spot listeners when we have incredible industry influencers and leaders. And Emma, you were just recently named a top 100 marketer as part of the 2026 On Conferences Icon Awards. I always feel like I try to just get as much knowledge and tips and best practices from my guests as I can in the time that I have you here. So, what would be one piece of advice that you might share with hospitality marketers in our Suite Spot audience right now?
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, and I tell my team this a lot, is don’t be afraid to test. I think one of the realities is that there’s a lot of pressure to kind of always deliver positive results to owners, asset managers, and leadership teams really naturally want kind of every campaign to be successful. But the reality is, if every campaign that we do succeeds, we’re probably not pushing the boundaries or trying enough things. You know, I think with any of, with any of the, the campaigns that we run, I think the best marketers aren’t really the ones that never fail. It’s the ones that learn the fastest. So I think it’s completely okay that every campaign or every test that we do isn’t always going to work. And that’s totally fine. I think it’s important to then explain, why we’re making a recommendation, why it worked, and the adjustments that we made when it didn’t work or if it did work. So I think it’s really just owning the, not being afraid to really own the outcome, good or bad, but really just, just test as many things as you can. I think it’s funny. One of the things I always think about is, it was like with email marketing, everyone said you had to send it at, like, 11:00 AM on a Tuesday or a Thursday. And everyone’s just taken that as gospel for so many years. And the other week, I think one of my team was like, “Oh, I made a mistake and sent it on a Sunday.” And I was like, “What, like, what happened?” And he’s like, “Well, I got the highest open rates that we’ve ever had.” And I was like, “Well, there you go. You’ve got to try these things. Don’t just keep doing the same thing. It’s not a big deal. If we send an email campaign on a Sunday, okay, we get a lower click rate. Oh, you know, it doesn’t matter. We can go back. The next one, we do something different.” But it worked. So you never really know what’s gonna work until you try.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, bit of an unintentional test there, but turned out the right way. And as you mentioned, Emma, some of the biggest learning lessons can come out of those failures. And we’ve certainly heard some examples and stories on this podcast of industry leaders and professionals that some of their greatest success kind of started at maybe a moment of failure for them personally. So I think awesome advice. I appreciate that. Again, congratulations, on that recognition there. As we wrap up, Emma, we always like to end our episodes kinda looking ahead, right? We’re looking forward to the Digital Travel Summit, like I said, in September. But from a marketing perspective, Emma, what’s your vision for the future of HEI Hotel and Resorts?
Emma Shaybani:
Yeah, I’m really excited where we’re heading. I think over the last few years, we’ve seen some incredible growth, especially to kind of our lifestyle and independent hotel portfolio. And I think that is rewarding for the team because there’s so much freedom on the marketing side that comes with that. I think I’m just overall excited to, with the continued evolution of marketing within hospitality. As I said, it’s a stressful time, but it’s kind of a fun time. Because there’s a lot of things to try and work with. When I started my career, marketing was really viewed as a support function and today it feels a lot more integrated. And it is a driver of revenue and business performance, whether it’s AI, digital distribution, loyalty, reputation management. Marketing’s kind of influencing now every stage of the guest journey. And it’s nice to have a seat at the table, kind of alongside sales and revenue management and really be part of the bigger conversations that I think historically marketing was kind of seen as secondary to. So I think for us, looking ahead, we’re just gonna keep pushing, pushing, trying to push boundaries, try a lot of new technology, especially where it’s gonna add value. And as I mentioned, continue investing in things like creativity and content. And at the same time, try and not lose sight of what makes hospitality special, which is the people.
Ryan Embree:
Certainly a great opportunity to practice your advice, Emma. Use the testing waters and sandbox as much as you can. Exciting to see, because again, it’s evolving so quickly. It feels like almost every single day we’re getting some news out there. So we will continue to look to you and other industry leaders for what’s next in hospitality marketing. Emma, thank you so much. It was a super comprehensive episode. Any final thoughts today?
Emma Shaybani:
No, thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Orlando at the conference.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, excited as well. Thank you so much, Emma, for your time. We will let you get back to it, all the exciting things you have over there at HEI Hotels and Resorts. And thank you, the Suite Spot listener for joining us today. We will talk to you next time on The Suite Spot. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And I think it’s so cool because I think it, you know, we obviously work in the people business, right? In hospitality. Uh, we host people from all over the world, all different walks of life. Um, but to see, you know, sometimes, uh, I think right now, especially right now, right, when there’s all this talk of AI and technology and stuff like that, it’s really refreshing to see our industry leaders. And I get that. I have the, the privilege of getting that, interviewing some of the industry leaders when they talk to me about their, you know, beginnings and, and how maybe they started as a bellman or a front desk agent or fell into the industry. And I think the more that we can kind of humanize and show that these are people that really have a true passion for serving other people. Um, and then on the other side of the front desk, the guests that come into our lobbies, they are people too, whether they’re on a work trip, where they’re trying to escape. You know, sometimes it, it’s refreshing to take, take a beat and think about that. And that’s exactly what this article did for me because it is, you know, even though we’re hospitality, we’re in it, the hustle bustle, 365, twenty four seven. We’re still people, right? Yeah. We’re still people with our pets and, and, and our, uh, you know, what we like to do. Um, so it was a really cool, I think, uh, refreshing look. I wa – I definitely wanted to bring that in. Br – um, and, and your love of pets, it goes right along with your brand, uh, Staypineapples Hotel. And, you know, I’ve come to know and love through your content, your keynotes at the Independent Hotel Show, uh, following you on LinkedIn. For those audience members that might not be as familiar, uh, share with us, uh, a little bit about what makes Staypineapple Hotels so unique and one of a kind.
Dina Belon:
Yeah. So we are the opposite of corporate uniformity, uniformity. Uh, we’re really about, you know, a boutique sp – hotel experience with a lot of personality. Um, so one of the things that we’re well known for is the naked experience, um, which is, uh, a little eye-opening to a lot of people, but all it really is, is a fun, cheeky, which we like to do, uh, marketing way to talk about our bed and our bedding and our linen and our terry is so comfy, cozy and amazing, you’ll wanna sleep naked. Um, so it, and we give you an, a big cuddly robe so that you don’t come to the door naked.
Ryan Embree:
There you go.
Dina Belon:
Um, so that, that’s, that’s very indicative of the Staypineapple personality. Um, we’re also, um, not just pet friendly, we’re dog obsessed. Um, so we, uh, really go over the top with our pet program. We have a partnership with Soundz, S-O-U-N-D-Z, uh, that is, um, uh, sounds, uh, in music – Sure. That, um, pets like and that calm them when they feel nervous, um, that is available for guests, uh, at no cost, a 14-day, uh, free trial. And then, um, we have a partnership with, uh, an emergency veterinary, uh, service called Veg. Um, of course, you get beds and bowls and treats and, um, water bottles and poop bags and all kinds of stuff when you bring, uh, your furry friend. Although we’re dog obsessed, we also love kitty cats too. I have two kitty cats and two dogs. So, um, we, yeah, we’re, we’re pretty over the top with the pet thing. And then we have a, we have a number of the properties that have, uh, hotel dogs as well. Um, so one of the management staff ha – brings their dog to work every day and has really become a, a core team member. Um, you wouldn’t believe how many reviews we get, uh, with our, our furry, uh, friends being, uh, listed as their favorite part of the hotel. <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I’ve seen them at trade show nows at industry trade shows. Yeah. You’ll have, like, a puppy break. Uh, brilliant. Brilliant.
Dina Belon:
It’s my favorite thing.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. It just gets people in, in, in a happy mood. People love it. So, uh, and, and the focus of, of the dog obs – dog obsessed, um, i- i- is, is so smart. I mean, p – you know, people. We always think about how stressful travel is, obviously, from a logistics and s – and people standpoint, but obviously on our pets too. They’re in a place that they’ve never been before. Um, they don’t know that they’re heading across the country or even down the road. They’re in somewhere unnatural. So that’s really, really cool that you can kind of make them feel at ease there. And, and I’m sure the guest feedback, uh, from that has been really, really great to see. Um, now, you talked about, um, Staypineapple being a, a very unique boutique brand. Um, I noticed one word you didn’t mention in there, which is, uh, independent or non-branded. Uh, you prefer the term unchained. And I wanna explore that a little bit. I don’t wanna give you too much, uh, of a question. I, I’d like, like you to kinda run with that. Why do you prefer unchained to maybe independent segment or non-branded?
Dina Belon:
So to me, independent, non-branded, um, you know, indicates that we’re small or we’re isolated or, um. And, and I think it’s, um, diminishing to 30% of the hotel sector, which is truly unchained in both term, both ways that that term can be used. One, we are not attached to a chain in literal terms, but we’re also unchained from a limitation perspective. I think what is so amazing about the independent or the in – the unchained sector of the market to the guest is the founders, the visionaries, the leadership teams, the hotel teams at these hotels put their lifeblood and their passion and their vision and their belief in hospitality into these properties and into the experiences guests are gonna get. It is not a corporate ownership that is managed by a brand that has 5,000 other w – hotels just like it. And, you know, the onsite hotel team has reams of binders to tell them how to do their job. Um, we believe very much in no SOPs. Um, we have, uh, ultimate SOP. It’s do the next right thing. That’s the SOP for Staypineapple. It’s that simple. Just do the next right thing. We help the team understand that a little bit with kind of some guidelines, which is what is the best thing for you and your colleagues? What is the best thing for the guests? And what is the best thing for the business? And if you frame that question, those questions under do the next right thing, anybody can make the right decision at any moment, at every level of the organization. When we talk about empowerment, it isn’t, you know, we’ve given you a toolkit. I always loved this, because I worked in, in the brands. Um, and we always had a toolkit. You had a toolbox full of things that you could use to solve a problem. Well, I don’t need to give you a toolbox. You are a grown person that is a professional in the hospitality industry and you’ve entered this industry with a passion for people. Why would I tell you how to do your job, um, in every aspect with books of SOPs? Instead, I should get out of your way and let you be who you are in an authentic way. Because that connects with people. If, uh, you know, we put, we put people in our industry in a blazer, a Navy blazer, and a name tag, and tell them, “This is how you answer the phone. This is how you greet somebody. This is how you do this.” Basically, you’re a representation of the brand, so you need to fit in this box. Well, I believe in a different hospitality, in a hospitality that is, um, grounded in, um, real people and real human beings and, and mistakes even, and quirkiness, and stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily, uh, engage in or experience in your normal life. That’s why you’re traveling. You wanna experience different things and new things. You’re going to a new place. And so we don’t have, um, dress. We don’t have uniforms for our front of house team members. We do for back of house simply because we don’t want the back of house team to have to ruin their own clothes because the engineers get their clothes snagged and the housekeepers get their clothes dirty and, you know, so it’s more just to take care of our team. But, um, the front of house team doesn’t have uniforms. They get to wear their own clothes to work. That’s another idea. It’s like, I want you to be you, but wear this black polo shirt that makes you look like everybody else. Or Navy Blazer that makes you look everybody, right? Like the entire concept of what we think is normal and standard in our industry is the antithesis of what we’re trying to create as an experience for a guest. Um, so it’s really important to us, you know, you can have colored hair and ear piercings and tattoos. And I remember early in my career, it was always, um, I love to tell this story. Um, the, the dress code, because I was a manager, so I was allowed to wear my own clothes, but the dress code was, had to have, um, pants or a skirt, uh, a, a jacket, had to have a blazer, and it had to be of solid color. So what I’ve got on today would not have applied. Um, my shoes could not have open toes and an open heel, one or the other. And I had to have pantyhose on. So I lived in Florida. <laugh> I remember I stopped wearing pantyhose at some point because they were hot. And so I, I actually had an HR person, uh, come up to me and say, “By the way, um, we’ve, we’ve noticed that you’re not meeting the dress code.” And I just turned around and looked at her and I was like, “Those things make me sweat. I have to be out by the pool sometimes. I have to be outside. It’s too hot. I’m not wearing them. Fire me.” <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Yeah.
Dina Belon:
That was the end of pantyhose in our dress code. <laugh> I was like, “Good luck with that.” <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Right. And I’m sure the person on the other side, you know, it, it, they were just obviously following the guidelines – Right. And the standards of what was put before them. And you’re absolutely right, Dina. You know, the, the one thing that we talk about all the time, and you talk to. Uh, I’ve talked to industry leaders about is, you know, what makes your management company brand property so great? Usually the first thing they say is they’re people. Yet, when you’re putting those people in a box, how great can they actually be, right? Every property is so different because of the individuals that make up that property. Um, so, you know, that thought process is, is so brilliant to, to think of the individualism and the passion can kind of shine through because it’s those stories that you talked about in the unchained or the independent sector that, that reason why I, this is one of my favorite series, because I get to sit and talk to independent hoteliers and, and hear their stories, their struggles, their challenges, but also their successes, their passions, where they built this, this property that has been, you know, where they’ve had these struggles, but they’ve gotten over the hump and they just love it so much and you can just see it come out in that, that, uh, conversation. It’s, and sometimes very different. Nothing to knock the brands, but sometimes very different when you’re talking to a GM of a branded hotel. Um, and it’s m- maybe just a stop on, on their way to the career. So it is one piece of advice I hear all the time is if you’re a hospitality professional out there, you know, maybe explore the independent hotel down the road. You know, get some good experience there. It’ll, you’re definitely gonna learn a lot, that’s for sure. Yeah. Um, you’re gonna get a lot of – Well, it depends on – Yeah.
Dina Belon:
Yeah, what you like, right? And I agree with you. One isn’t right or wrong. I spent the vast majority of my career in the, in the branded hotel space. Um, and I just found my happy place in – Sure. In the independent space, right? I, because I was always bucking the rules when I worked in the brands. And I didn’t, I didn’t even know what boutique and. I, I though boutique hotels were just little. Like, I literally, when I started at Staypineapple, I love the story too. ‘Cause when I started, I was like, “I’m gonna come in and show them how to write SOPs and, and brand standards, and we’re gonna standardize this, and we’re gonna scale it, and it’s gonna be, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” I had, I told, because I had spent my whole career in that space. Um, I believed passionately in brand standards when I started at Staypineapple. And I remember, um, our CFO telling me, “Do not say the word brand standard. You will send Michelle off the deep end.” Michelle is our founder. Yeah. And I was like, “What? I don’t understand.” Yeah. “How could you not have brand standards? How do you even operate this place without brand standards?” <laugh> Right? Right. Um, and, and it took me a couple of years to really internalize what the difference in the business model is. Again, one is not right or wrong. They both have their strengths. But if you’re, uh, a free spirit, if you’re somebody. Like we hire for three things. Authenticity. Like your. First of all, people underestimate the willingness to be authentic. If you have been trained to put on a mask when you go to work and, and almost be an actor and play a part at the hotel, it’s very difficult to take that mask off and, and allow the vulnerability of being yourself. ‘Cause if somebody rejects you when you’re being yourself, it hurts a lot more than if a guest rejects you and yells at you when you have a mask on. That’s a
Ryan Embree:
Great point.
Dina Belon:
You’re being somebody else, right? Yeah. So it’s a harder position for our team members, I think, to be their authentic selves. Um, the next is really critical thinking. The ability to problem solve and, and, and be creative and figure out ways to, um. We know to say yes. That’s one of our sayings. We notice. We know how to say yes. Yes is not always a direct yes. Sometimes you have to go around to get to yes, but we know how to do that. And that’s all about creativity and critical thinking. And then really, the last one, um, I think is underserved in our industry, which is emotional intelligence. Um, that ability to read people. And, and it connects to that critical thinking, right? If I can, if I can, uh, connect with you on an emotional level and understand you better, understand your psychographics as a person, which is much deeper than that you like Diet Coke, right? I want to know things deeper than that about you. Then I can use that emotional intelligence to be creative and create, create hyper-personalized experiences for you. That is something that I think isn’t. It. The industry in general, particularly on the branded side, does not foster in our industry. If those things are interesting to you, then go check out the independent or unchained space, because I think you’ll be a lot happier coming from a recovering brand employee.
Ryan Embree:
<laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I, I love that. I love everything about that. I mean, those skills are. I mean, it’s, it’s at the core of hospitality, um, especially the emotional intelligence. And I think y- you’re absolutely right. It’s a skill needed now more than ever, by the way. Um, and it’s gonna get trickier to navigate. So we’ll be those, those younger, um, hospitality professionals and, you know, at, at, at any age, really, that invest that time and effort into honing in that skill that are gonna, that are gonna see successes there. Um, I wanna, I wanna take, uh, a step back, Dina, and kinda look at the hospitality landscape right now for independent and, or unchained, uh, uh, hotels. Where do you see opportunity in today’s landscape? And then maybe where are some of the bigger challenges that, that they’re coming up against?
Dina Belon:
Sure. So I think one of our biggest opportunities I just mentioned, which is hyper-personalization, um, we really look at this, i- if you kinda start at the beginning of the process of how you do hyperpersonalization. Um, it really starts with zero-party data for us. Uh, every brand or every group or every, you know, independent hotel is different, um, in their philosophy on this. I’ve certainly, um, experienced and, um, met with people that do research on their guests online. They look up your Facebook page. They check you out and see what you might be talking about. Um, we have decided to take the approach that we only wanna use data that you have freely and willingly given us. Um, so we communicate with our guests a lot, um, when we can. So there’s a little bit of a differentiator here when we talk about this. Um, if you’re coming in as an Expedia or a Booking.com guest, probably not getting this experience because we don’t have, we don’t have much information about you, and those OTAs don’t like to share. So, but if, uh, you’ve stayed with us before or it’s a direct booking, then we have communicated with you, um, in a way that is fun and cheeky and kinda starts to get you. Um, w- we like to, we like to encourage kind of a pre-arrival experience that is, um, engaging and, and, and gets you kind of primed for what Staypineapple is gonna be like. So you’re not, like, smacked in the fa – you know, you’re expecting a Marriott courtyard and you’re smacked in the face with Staypineapple.
Ryan Embree:
Right. You got a dog running up to you and yeah. <laugh> Um,
Dina Belon:
So one of the things we do is ask a very open-ended question, um, in a pre-arrival email to all of our, uh, direct booking guests. And it says, um, basically in a cheeky way, I don’t remember exactly how it’s phrased, but it’s why you come in to stay with us. And you would be shocked at the amount of information that people share with us and, like, get into deep personal things and tell us all kinds of stuff. That is a trevor – treasure trove of information. Again, that’s stuff that matters. Not whether Jack Daniels is your favorite, you know, liquor. Uh, like, I wanna know that you’re. What, what do you volunteer for? What, what are you passionate about? What do you care about? Are you married? Do you have kids? You know, like, the things that, that you really, really make you who you are, right? That’s, that’s what we really look at for hyper-personalization and allows our team to use their creativity. So that’s just step one, right? Gotta have the information. And then two, you have to have a culture of people that are encouraged and inspired to be creative, to do fun, interesting things, not just deliver a bottle of wine to your room. What? <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. <laugh>
Dina Belon:
Right? Um, like, do something that’s about me, not about you. It, like, that’s what I always say. To me, the bottle of wine in the room is about you buying my loyalty. It’s about you as a hotel. It’s not about me as an individual. So everything should be about the individual and about what makes them excited or happy or feel welcome or feel like they belong, um, there. How many times have you walked into a hotel and you felt like there was a cool club and you didn’t belong?
Ryan Embree:
Mm. Yeah.
Dina Belon:
So awful. It is the worst thing about hotels, I think. One of the other things that I just find, um, disheartening about our, our industry is that many people that are not related to the hotel business think you can’t go in a hotel if you’re not a guest. That’s so sad to me, right? Like, there’s, there’s this perception of a barrier, and it’s the opposite of what we should be. Like, we believe our hotels are very much a community hub. And so we encourage the community to come into the hotel. And we don’t even, we don’t have a lot of food and beverage. And some of our properties don’t have any. Some have just limited. We have a few full-service restaurants, but it’s not about us wanting to make money in our restaurants. It’s about us wanting to create an atmosphere in the hotel that is engaging and activating for the guests that are coming. ‘Cause the guests wanna interact with locals. They don’t want to interact with somebody from New York – Right. When they’re in Seattle. They wanna hang out with Seattle people, right? Yeah. So it’s, it’s a real win-win model, but you have to turn, you have to turn that barrier so many people think exists.
Ryan Embree:
Well, you touched on two things there, Dina, that at the core of this independent hotel show series, it really comes back to, which is loyalty, you know, just fierce, fierce loyalty for inde – I mean, the type of loyalty that I hear from guests talking about independent hotels is very different from the other points or nights that I’m, that I’m hearing in, on the other side of it. And, and it’s a depth that will be word of mouth. I mean, when you talk about word of mouth, like, that is the ultimate s – what marketing can’t buy, right? That storytelling that they’re going to be able to provide you champions of your brand and advocates for your hotel. Uh, the second thing is local community engagement and getting the community on board with what you do. I see it no greater place than Miami when we’re at, at the independent hotel show. And they talk about trying to just infuse that Miami culture into their own properties. And it does attracts a lot of locals. And, and you’re absolutely right. It’s, there’s a parallel where probably somewhere where you, where we talk a lot about reputation and people being scared of those one-star, two-star, or even negative feedback in any sense of it, embracing that and saying, “I don’t want one-star reviews, but I wanna see the negative feedback so that I can fix it, right? I want those, I want those locals to come into my hotel. Um, I don’t wanna put that barrier up because I wanna be that community hub. I love that. So what about any challenges you think right now?
Dina Belon:
Yeah, I think, um, the, there’s, there’s a number of challenges. I mean, I can, I can talk about the obvious, the headwinds on inflation, the cost of human and financial capital, maintaining service quality while we’re trying to maximize profit. <laugh> Yeah. I like all of the blah, blah, blah. All of the,
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. All those talking points.
Dina Belon:
Yeah. They’re not very fun topics though. Um, <laugh> honestly, I think the most interesting topic right now is really AI. And I do think it’s our biggest risk, particularly in our, our world of this unchained or independent hotel space. It’s the biggest risk we have, and it’s also the biggest opportunity. And it could go either way. And I think it will probably go hard one way or the other. It won’t be somewhere in the middle. And the reality is, is AI, AI search, which is kind of where we’re at right now, not, we’re not really to the point of bookings starting a little tiny bit. But, um, AI search is focused on very deep, complex, broad data about a hotel. So a, a person, and it really starts with the search parameters. You’re going from keyword search, like, I’m going to Seattle and I wanna be near Pioneer Square, to, I’m interested in a boutique hotel with a cool vibe that has a restaurant and provides a great sleep experience. Those two searches are completely different and is where the threat and the opportunity comes from. The opportunity is, as the hotel owner, operator, you have the best opportunity to create very deep content that is searchable by an AI. Compared to Booking.com and Expedia and all the others, their scale just does not allow them to create that kind of deep content for every hotel on their site, right? So you can create a higher value for the AI search to go to your website over somewhere else that it can go find your hotel. You might still find your hotel, but you’d rather get the booking. Um, direct and get the AI sending the guests to your website to check out the hotel than to booking.com ‘s website to check out. So that’s where the opportunity is. Threat is very real that the big brands and the OTAs have the pocketbooks, bandwidth, the resources to win at this fight and come in and put themselves between us and our guests. And so I think both at a legislative level, all the way down to individual property advocacy and elevating your voice online and everything in between, every hoteler, hotelier needs to be paying attention to. Because in the next five years, you could lose, you could lose the connection to your guests prior to arriving. And that, for us, that would ruin a huge part of our experience. Like we have pre-arrival concierge that helps you curate and plan your experience for your whole trip, not just your hotel stay. All of that would be for naught if I can’t communicate with my guests.
Ryan Embree:
100%. Yeah. Uh, seismic shift happening, technologics pl – like shifting beneath us. Uh, I think you’re absolutely where it’s gonna impact everyone from the big brands all the way down to the small independent hotel who, who thinks, “Oh, this is, this isn’t coming for me. It’s gonna have wide ranging effects. It’ll be very, very interesting to see.” But share your concern, but also hopefully that little bit of hope there too, that it, it does go that right way and hospitality stays in, in somewhere where we come to know and, and love our industry. I wanna shift gears. Another thing I’ve, uh, learned about you over the years following your content and your career is your work, uh, inspiring, empowering the next generation of female hospitality professionals. Dina, I’ve seen you on stage at, at multiple panels, uh, a- a- around this subject. Tell us a little bit about the work you do behind the scenes and any tips you would share for up and coming Suite Spot female listeners or just the listeners in general here.
Dina Belon:
Yeah, I do. I love this topic. I, I love to empower women. Um, I think, uh, uh, we’re, we’re a force in this industry, um, and our voice should be heard. Um, so I, I like to support other women by a couple of things. Um, you’ll, you’ll, you’ll start to notice, I like to simplify things down to like one, two, three points at most. Yeah, I like it. <laugh> Um, because I think it’s the way the human brain works. Sure. And the best way we can kind of, uh, create change – Yeah. Is by having a very focused, uh, approach to it. I really like self-advocacy, um, and encouraging women to self-advocate, because I think in general, this is a generalization because it’s not all women, but in general, we’re not great at it. Um, men are much better at self-advocacy than women. There’s been all kinds of study and research done on that. Um, and it’s a huge part of why women are paid less, why women are promoted less, because they just don’t ask. They don’t raise their hand. Um, and so I. And then the, the second point kind of ties in, which is leading by example. And so I think I love to tell stories about my career when self-advocacy was a benefit to me and how I got to where I am. And I’m afraid of it too. Let me tell all the female listeners I am not great at self-advocacy. Um, I’ve learned to do it over the years while I’m kind of gritting my teeth in the back of my mouth. Um, but I, there’s been a number of times when, you know, the really, the places where my career really took off, um, I stood up for myself and I raised my hand and I said, “I can do that.” Or, “I can even do more than what you asked me for.” So I’ll give you an example. Um, when I was at Wyndham, um, we, we acquired another company that did the same thing as we did. Um, and we were looking at how to create efficiency and blah, blah, blah. One was in Seattle and one was in Florida. And I was in the Florida office and I was asked, and we were the acquirer, so we acquired the company in Seattle. And so I was asked to fly out to Seattle and check out how my division, which we did all the renovation work and capital improvements and stuff like that, how my division would work with the group in Seattle. And so off I went on a plane and met with them and talked to them and figured out how they did things and figured out how we did things. Um, and so the ask was like, how do we merge the two and how do we create some efficiency? And I came back with a combined team that had me at the top of it with a promotion to vice president. <laugh> It was really hard for me to do. It was a little bit easier because I gotta do it in writing and send it in and I didn’t have to say it out loud. Um, but it worked. And it was the first VP role I ever had. I was one of the youngest vice presidents at Wyndham. I remember the first time I went to the all leadership meeting, which was, happened once a year at Wyndham. There was 500 people there. This is vice presidents and above. Um, that’s how large the organization is. Um, that’s less than 5% of the employment base of the company. Um, and I was one of the youngest and I was one of the few women that were in the room. And I was blown away by that factor. And I went, “I, I need to work at do- doing something about this. I need to help other women.” ‘Cause particularly 20 years ago probably, um, there was a little bit more sharp elbows among women. There were so few seats in leadership that we were competing for them. And I think women weren’t as good as we are today at lifting everybody up instead of competing with each other. Adding more chairs at the table instead of competing for the one that a woman is gonna fail, fill. Um, so those, I think, are really my biggest things that I recommend younger women focus on is be an example to other women around you, above you, below you, beside you, I don’t care. Advocate for yourself. Advocate for other women and support each other. Um, don’t compete with each other.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, I love that. I love that story. And I think we, you know, it’s inspiring to hear those, right? Because it, it can be scary sometimes. Um, but to hear those, those stories, those real life, um, you know, personal, uh, examples in front of you, those are the things that maybe get you that extra bit of confidence there. And it’s, it’s very, very cool to see. So, uh, appreciate your work there. And, um, you know, ex- excited to, to share that with those tips for the audience. Definitely wanted to, to, um, go into that topic a little bit. Um, but this is the Independent Hotel Show series. We might change your episode to say Unchained Hotel Series. But, uh, we’ll, we’re gonna. This is. We’re talking today about the Independent Hotel Show happening this year, September 16th and 17th. Uh, Miami Beach. Remember, listeners, uh, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26. That’s for a complimentary, uh, registration. Dina, you’re on the advisory board. You’ve been a long time supporter of this show. What inspired you? Take me back to when you were first kind of asked to get involved with the show. Uh, what inspired you to get in, like, first involved with it? And how do you see it supporting independent hoteliers?
Dina Belon:
Yeah. I was, uh, introduced to it before the very first one and asked to be on the advisory board. And it was an immediate yes, and yes, what can I, what can I do to help? Because I knew that there was a gap in our industry in the independent space for a place for independents to get together and have real conversations and real opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other. We’re so isolated, um, in, in many ways. Like, we don’t have a mothership to create all of the stuff, the, you know, programs or education or philosophy or how do you do this? Or what do you do with that? Or, you know, how do you get mustard stains out of the towels? You know, like, anything. Like, we don’t have a mothership that helps us, that hands us a bunch of stuff and tells us how to do it. Each of us are creating all of this on our own. And that’s part of what makes our sector of the industry so unique and great, is that you get a different experience at every property because they’re all created through a visionary process. But there’s also a lot that we could share best practices and adapt what somebody else is doing to what we’re doing. I, like, I love to talk to, um, suppliers and vendors and tech companies, um, that reach out to me all the time because I learn from them. I learn what they’re doing, um, how one of their customers is doing something. You know, like, we constantly have a need for new knowledge and collaboration in our space that didn’t exist. And so this show is one of the only things that are really in our space focused on us and give us the opportunity to do that. It is an incredibly good show. It’s so well curated from, uh, an educational perspective, from the sessions. There’s multiple stages. Um, everything is in one room, which I love. Um, you can, you know, you can be listening to a panel discussion that’s really energizing, and then you’ve got a 10-minute break and you can run over and see a vendor that you wanted to talk to because you’ve only got 10 minutes. And then you get, you know, it’s not spread out. It’s not like the big shows where, you know, you’re gonna have to walk 10 miles to get to something. And the people that are there care and are focused on the independent space. So you’re also not gonna get the eye rolls and the you’re too small and we don’t care about you, and oh, you’re not part of Marriott, uh, you know, conversation, whether with vendors or with anybody, right? The, the people that are here are passionate about this part of the industry and are ready and willing to help anybody that comes to the show improve what they’re doing. Uh, like, I love helping other independent hoteliers, uh, in any way I can. In any context, talking about distribution, talking about guest service, talking about, you know, any, any part, because there are enough customers out there for all of us. I know we’re competitors, but, um, helping, helping everybody lift is a much better strategy than trying to elbow somebody out.
Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. We’re all in it together. 100% agree. And it’s funny, you know, you were mentioning at the, at the top of the answer about, you know, how independent hotels don’t have some of these resources that the big brands do. Uh, you know, one of the, one of the common things that big brands do is have an annual conference, right? And they get everybody together and, and share ideas and challenges. This is like the annual conference for independent hotel shows. So it’s a sense of belonging. Um, it’s a different energy. It’s a different. It’s, it’s a different type of, uh, uh, of event. Um, it. So real quick, first, uh, tip for any first time attendees that, uh, might be going.
Dina Belon:
Yeah. Um, I think two. Again, I love my, my two or three points. Um, be curious. So show up curious, um, and, and open and willing to share. Um, because that’s what your, your analogy to a brand conference is perfect because, um, that’s what we’re there to do is help each other. Um, and being curious will help you just be a sponge and take things in. Um, use, use AI in this scenario, um, and help <laugh> have an AI assistant help you, an electronic one in your pocket, help you remember all the stuff that is gonna come at you because it’s gonna come like a fire hose and it’s gonna be really hard to remember it all when you get home. Um, I use Pocket for anybody who cares. It’s a little tiny device that I literally keep in my pocket. And I push it anytime I have an idea, I can just talk into it. Or I can push it if I’m having an interesting conversation with somebody and it’ll record that conversation. Of course, I ask the person before I do it. Um, but right? So that it, so that you’re, you’re capturing all of that interesting, cool ideas and, um, vendors and sup – you know, people that can support you. Um, it, walk away from an interaction with somebody and they’ve handed you their business card. Take your little device. It can be your phone too, but however you wanna do it and say, “I just met Ryan with Suite Spot and I really wanna be on his podcast. I need to reach out to him after when I get back.” And then your little AI will give you a to-do when you get back, uh, home. So that’s, that’s my number one tech tip. Um, and then I think the other, the opposite of that, which is a little challenging sometimes, is set the technology down and be present and be aware and pay attention. And don’t be on your phone answering emails from your staff back at your hotel. Like, I know it’s super hard to disconnect and, and be present while you’re at the conference, but you’ll gain a lot more if you’re there and you’re listening and you’re talking. Like, if you go to some of the educational sessions, raise your hand, ask questions. Make a point. Don’t even ask a question. If you’ve got an idea that the panel needs to hear, raise your hand and say it. Um, because it’s a, it’s a dialogue. This isn’t a. There’s, you know, we don’t have the president of Marriott and the president of Wyndham sitting on a panel telling us all how to do things. We’re all collaborators that are telling how we’re doing things and wanting to hear how you’re doing it and figuring out how we can share, share those ideas. So be present.
Ryan Embree:
That, that’s a great. Yeah, that’s a great mindset to, to enter this show into. My tip is gonna be make sure you see Dina Bellin on stage, uh, because she’s gonna be there once again. You’re gonna be moderating a powerhouse panel. Hospitality is not a department. Um, give us a sneak preview, if you can, of what that discussion might unpack and maybe your thoughts on the topic.
Dina Belon:
Yeah. It’s really gonna be, you know, about how hospitality is a culture. It’s not a silo. It’s, um, it’s really formed over time through behavior and modeling. Um, it’s not training manuals. It’s not a poster on the wall. It’s values. Um, it’s about, um, really taking everybody in your organization, whether it’s ops, which always seems obvious, but the finance departments, you know, HR, uh, the marketing team. Like, is everybody aligned to your mission and values as an organization? And you as a leader, are you practicing, as a lifestyle, the culture of your organization? So hospitality is not about the ops department. It is about the entire organization following a. Identifying first, have you identified? <laugh> Right? So, like, our mission at Staypineapple is where stays become stories. Um, it’s a cute, cute way to say it, but it is in very real terms. We want your stay to be so impactful and so memorable that it becomes a lifetime story for you and your family. That kind of connection, that kind of sense of belonging, that kind of emotional feeling, um, is what we’re after, and that’s our mission. And so, if I’m not living that lifestyle every day as the leader of the organization, and our CFO, and our accountant, and our HR, uh, manager aren’t living that lifestyle, how can we ask the hotel teams to live it?
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. Great point. Yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s hospitality, right? And what we’re always trying to, to try to accomplish, uh, at the end of a guest day is to really, uh, not just, not just feel, feel the, the hospitality, feel the s – the, uh, uh, the, the service that we were providing them. Uh, not just feeling like they, they stayed in, you know, four rooms in a, four rooms in a box, right? That’s, that’s what – Yeah. The old saying.
Dina Belon:
How many hotels have you forgotten –
Ryan Embree:
Right. That’s a wonderful point. Wonderful point. And a great segue into our next, because I think you’ve got an unforgettable, um, uh, portfolio over there. So we’re gonna do some rapid fire here, Dina, to get to know you and your, uh, portfolio a little better at Staypineapple Hotel. So, uh, we always like to start with our favorite view from one of your hotels.
Dina Belon:
Definitely Chicago. So we’re in the loop and we look right at the Chicago Theater sign. And then three blocks down the other way, you can see the edge of the bean. And then there’s this amazing jazz mural, uh, from the corner rooms of the building. The, the incredible view. And we’re an urban city center, so views are not generally our vibe. Um, right? It’s usually another building next door. Um, but that one, that is really incredible.
Ryan Embree:
That makes for a good one. Uh, favorite fun fact about one of your properties?
Dina Belon:
Oh, uh, this is personal. Uh, uh, Fetch, which is our recycling program, is, um, all built around our dog obsessed culture. Uh, again, we like to be, you know, funny and cheeky. Um, so Dash, who’s our, um, our mascot, um, the pineapple pup. Um, he helps with waste reduction education, the Fetch program. Get it? Fetch, dog.
Ryan Embree:
Oh, I love it. Yeah. There you go. Uh, favorite signature dish, um, or amenity?
Dina Belon:
Hmm. Um, there’s a couple. Oh, goodness. These, this is hard. This is really hard. I, I mentioned the naked experience already, so I’ll let that one go, though that is one of my favorites. Again, personal. So you might start to see, I have a little bit of slant towards sustainability. Um, I am. It’s a, it’s a personal topic that I’m very passionate about. Um, our water bottles. Um, it was a huge lift for us to figure out. So, uh, what, I don’t know, five years ago, we used to have, um, unlimited water bottles available to our guests. Um, it’s part of our health and wellness program. We believe that, you know, hydration is a big part of health and wellness, particularly in en – urban environments when you’re walking a lot, you need to stay hydrated. It gave me a lot of heartburn. <laugh> We were, we were, we were selling, or not selling, giving away a half a million water bottles, plastic water bottles a year. And it just, it hurt my heart. Um, so we were able to partner, um, with Path Water to do a custom 20-ounce aluminum water bottle pre-filled. Um, and we leave that in the guest room complimentary for every guest. And we put a water bar in our lobbies, um, for, to refill those bottles. Um, and that replaced all the plastic water bottles. And so, so now you see really fun, cute, steak pineapple aluminum water bottles all over the airport all the time in our city.
Ryan Embree:
Hey, there you go. Great marketing goes along with it. Uh, favorite guest experience?
Dina Belon:
Um, definitely Surprise and Delight, which is our, uh, strategy around that creative, uh, you know, hyper-personalization for guests. Uh, really creating those moments that create memories and stories.
Ryan Embree:
And then last favorite piece of art.
Ryan Embree:
<laugh> That’s funny. Um, we, we happen to have our owner, our founder, Michelle, is a huge art collector. So that is really hard. We have a lot of original art in our hotels that’s from her personal collection. She regularly emails me and says, “Hey, I just bought a new piece, and can you find a place to put it in one of the hotels?” <laugh> And I’m always like, “Oh my God, I’m running out of walls, Michelle.” But I think my favorite that she has, um, bought for every single hotel is, um, a Martin Goldstein original dog sculpture. Um, he is famous for creating these whimsical, limited edition bronze dogs that are known as Harvey Dogs. Um, and they’re just super cute. Um, and you can find one at every hotel. It’s, it’s one of those, like, Disney where you have to find the Mickey Mouse and Everything.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, like a little Easter egg, yeah.
Dina Belon:
Exactly. An Easter egg hunt at any Staypineapple is go find the Marty Goldstein, uh, Harvey dog.
Ryan Embree:
All right. Well, there it, there it is. Challenge, um, put out there for our Suite Spot listeners, uh, visiting Staypineapple Hotels. Well, Dina, thank you. You’ve spent, um, quite, uh, some time with us. Um, thank you so much for sitting down. As we wrap up today, we do like to look into kind of our hospitality crystal ball. Uh, try to predict the future, which is becoming more difficult to do every single day, uh, now with every, the technology and AI. But, you know, as president of Staypineapple Hotels, what’s your vision for the future of, uh, the brand?
Dina Belon:
Yeah. You know, I think we’re gonna continue to expand on our ability to connect with guests and make them feel like they belong when they’re at Staypineapple, that they’re part of the family. And I know that sounds kitschy, but it’s, it’s a very real emotional, uh, mission for us. And, and in the broader context, what we believe the hospitality’s, hospitality industry’s role and responsibility in society is, and will become even more important as robots take over the world. <laugh> That human connection that a hospitality industry can create, um, becomes an imperative for us to stay connected as a society.
Ryan Embree:
I agree. Yeah, that was just gonna echo that same sentiment. I think it’s gonna become more and more im- important. So we need, uh, brands like Staypineapple Hotels to, to keep true to that hospitality mission statement. So Dina, thank you again, uh, for taking the time to join us here on The Suite Spot. Any final thoughts before we wrap up?
Dina Belon:
Just go out there and be you, you know? Uh, don’t be afraid to, uh, come play in the independent space and definitely come to the Independent Hotel Show in Miami and, uh, let’s have a cocktail.
Ryan Embree:
Let’s do it. Uh, both Dina and I will have the privilege of being down there in Miami. We hope to see you in person. Dina, thank you so much for joining us here on The Suite Spot, and we hope to see you at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami. Thank you. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next time here on The Suite Spot. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Ryan Embree:
So this is why I love this question so much, because we get such an eclectic melting pot of backgrounds of hospitality professionals, maybe starting in retail. I hear F&B a lot recently. And then you go from the brands, you go, outdoor hospitality, and you get this big melting pot, and it kinda defines who you are as an industry professional, but also gives you, I think, an appreciation of some of those other places that you’ve been or even properties which can span from the giant resorts that we’ve seen all the way to, maybe it is a campsite where it’s a lot more local and kinda community and, and tight-knit feeling.
Kim Wootteon:
Absolutely. Absolutely. I’ve enjoyed my journey. It allows me to bring perspective to the work we do every day that is unique. And we’ve done a really great job at KOA of hiring a team of leaders and a team of people, in the field with really diverse backgrounds, which I think is a great compliment to the diversity across our portfolio.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah, I think it’s interesting because you talk about this new team that you guys have created at KOA and the things that you’re developing and introducing into this outdoor hospitality. But for our listeners who may not know too much about KOA, we have a lot of hotel listeners. So if you can just give us a little bit of background about the brand and how it’s found its way to becoming one of the number one outdoor hospitality leaders.
Kim Wootteon:
So KOA was founded in 1962 by Dave Drumm in Billings, Montana. He saw this surge of travelers heading to the world’s fair in Seattle, and he opened the Billings Campgrounds, on his property along the Yellowstone River. And today, Kampgrounds of America is the largest system of privately owned campgrounds across the US and Canada with over 500 locations. We have 50 locations that are owned and operated by KOA, and 450 plus locations that are franchised. It’s a really interesting segment or vertical within the hospitality industry. Incredibly diverse portfolio, incredibly diverse guests. And we’re really fortunate to be the leader within this segment of the industry.
Ryan Embree:
And we mentioned at the top of this episode, this is our TMG Hospitality Trailblazer series. Now, I don’t think there is a much more fitting brand than KOA as far as being a trailblazer when you, when you think about that term, but I’ve been surprised to learn from getting to know you and the KOA brand of the different modern way that we kind of talk about trailblazers in our industry. And so, Kim, you and your team have been doing some incredible work. We’re gonna mention it in this episode, but what do you think makes the Kampgrounds of America brand a true embodiment of trailblazers and trailblazing in our industry right now?
Kim Wootteon:
It starts really with our vision at KOA. And our vision is to be the world leader in defining and advancing the business and experience of outdoor hospitality. And that’s been a focus for our company for years. We have taken a really unique approach to, I’d say, the traditional hospitality industry. We understand camping, we understand hospitality, and we are really committed to being the leader within not just the outdoor hospitality space, but the overall hospitality space in general. And it really starts with knowing our guest. And we are fortunate. We have tons of first-party guest data. We have years and years of history. And we’re known in our segment of the industry for the research we do to really better understand our guest and how our guest changes and what they expect. So it’s a really unique advantage. And the research we provide is not just for KOA and our franchisees, but it’s for the entire industry. And trailblazing shows up in a variety of ways, almost every decision that we make as a brand. So from the guest experience standpoint, we’re launching a new koa.com website that’s really powered by AI and focused on personalization and trip planning and flexible cancellation policies and the guest’s ability to manage reservations. So some of the more traditional things that you would see in the hospitality industry, but with some unique features that are custom to how guests like to camp. From an organizational structure standpoint, we have a commercial strategy team, which we really are the only one in the industry that has a full commercial strategy arm. And we have an AI team. We built our AI department at the beginning of this year, and that team continues to grow and really focus both internally and externally on how we can use AI to enhance the employee experience and the guest experience. And then within outdoor hospitality, technology has kind of always been a little bit of an opportunity. We don’t necessarily follow some of the mainstream tech choices that you see in indoor hospitality. So our focus has really been how do we align with what works well within indoor hospitality? We’ve been exploring OTA integrations and an RMS integration and enhanced text messaging capabilities and housekeeping modules to help operations be more efficient. It’s about really how can we be the first in the outdoor space to align most closely with what works in indoor hospitality, and then try to address the points of friction where we can that are really unique to outdoor hospitality.
Cassady Quintana:
I love that you mentioned this balance of outdoor hospitality and what that means to people, but also finding those opportunities for technology because that is the trend these days, right? Is AI this, AI that, and how can we bring in that technology? And we know that KOA has built such a recognizable brand in outdoor hospitality. So how do you guys find that you’re balancing and maintaining what Dave built back in the ’60s, that trusted legacy of what KOA is with continuing to try and attract a younger generation or maybe people that have never been camping before?
Kim Wootteon:
It is a really fine balance that is not easy. We truly work at it every day and we’re really, really fortunate to have such a legacy brand and such a trusted brand. And so it’s really this balance of how do we stay rooted in our core values and our mission with connecting people to the outdoors and each other while meeting guest expectations for who the camper is today? And so, we see participation in camping across all generations, which is really fascinating. In 2025, participation among adults, 65 or older, reached its highest level in eight years. So we’re seeing this rebound in the boomer population. 25% of all new campers in 2025 were boomers. And at the same time, younger generations, particularly millennials, continue to make camping a really meaningful share of their leisure travel. So it’s this ongoing challenge of how do we attract and retain campers? It’s the same challenge everybody has in our industry. And then keeping existing campers and getting new ones to come back. It’s really that frequency question. We’ve seen some shifts in frequency over the past several years. Our more legacy campers used to take two, three, four trips a year. And we’re seeing that frequency diminish slightly. New campers come and experience it. And maybe don’t, maybe don’t camp again in the same year. It may take one camping trip a year. So that’s a unique challenge our industry is navigating. But we do a lot of research to understand what inspires each generation to camp, and we work really hard to deliver memorable experiences to keep them coming back. But I think the thing that is consistent across all generations and what really matters most to campers, whether they’re new or they’re legacy campers, there’s some core foundational items that we really pride ourselves in across the KOA system. So safety and security is one, cleanliness and quality. We have a really rigorous quality assurance program, and we visit every single campground every single year to ensure each campground is meeting quality assurance standards. And we’re okay to say goodbye to those campgrounds that maybe aren’t meeting our standards. Campers are looking for some self-guided recreation. So if they want to be in the outdoors and really utilize their time as they see fit, the amenities and the recreation continue to play a critical role in that decision-making process. Pet friendliness is really critical and so many people in outdoors love to camp with their pets. And so it’s vital that all of our properties be really pet-friendly. And we have pet-friendly accommodations, pet walks, and camp canine parks. Pets are, are really an extension of our guest base, truly. And then basics like clean laundry, clean restroom facilities, clean laundry facilities, all the essentials that are needed for a great camping experience.
Ryan Embree:
You definitely have the advantage of a memorable experience on your end, right? I think that has been the knock on the indoor hospitality space, is that sometimes it’s your hotel stay or experience there might not be the most memorable part of a trip versus camping feels like something, if done right, and the quality is there, that is a memory that’s not just gonna stick with you for a year that you might just tell a couple people about, but maybe decades. Maybe it becomes a family tradition, and I’m sure you have some incredible stories to share there. But as I mentioned at the top of this episode, Kim, we had the pleasure of meeting you in Arlington, Texas at the Digital Transformation Summit and Hospitality and Hotels. And again, from what I knew about Kampgrounds of America then and what I know now, it was like kind of one of those spaces where I was like, “Well, I wonder, I wonder what KOA is doing in this space.” And then I got to hear your keynote and I was blown away. But it was also one of the most fascinating conversations I had at that event because of the relationship with technology where some of your guests might be looking for an escape from that technology while others kind of see it as this is the baseline and maybe WiFi isn’t a tech- technology to them. Maybe that’s just a standard for them. So it’s so interesting. It’s fascinating. I’m sure it’s that balance what you’re talking about, Kim, but you also have to balance between the guest and you also have 450 franchisees out there, right? And you’re an owner yourself of 50 properties. So I wanna get into both of those kinda spectrums. One is, what are you seeing the guests, their relationship with technology when it comes to KOA? And then maybe you can speak to the owner side of it, of are you hearing owners wanting to implement more technology or are they kind of resisting that when you’re saying, “Hey, let’s start to look at these new kind of maybe fancy technological updates.” I know there’s a packed question there, so.
Kim Wootteon:
Yeah, no. And lots to unpack within that question. So let’s start with the guest first and really the unique expectations that come from our campers. And while historically, camping has been a way of a form of leisure travel where you can kind of disconnect from everything that’s going on in daily life and really spend time in the outdoors, nearly half of all campers, about 47% site wifi as very important. So we have learned over the years that wifi is a utility. It is not an amenity anymore. It is a price of admission expectation for campers. Technology and remote work is still shaping camping behavior. And then Gen Z is the most likely to work while camping. So, we cater our experiences to every generation. And so Wi-Fi becomes a critical, critical component. While we’ve seen a slight decline in work camping, with people going back to the office and those just individual changes, it’s still really important. And it, what’s really unique is new campers, and again, kind of new campers, 25% of all new campers last year were boomers. So when we think about new campers, they are more likely than experienced campers to prioritize connectivity. So about 50% of new campers versus 43% of experienced campers. So access to technology directly influences length of stay and the experience. So we have focused heavily on tech and not just wifi at the campground, but how technology is used throughout the guest journey. Have we made it really easy for them to book and find the campground that meets their experience expectations? What’s the communication with the guests look like pre and post, or pre-during, quite honestly, and posts say through text messaging or, or other forms of technology? How easy can they find their site? Just all of those simple things where tech is a really great way to create efficiencies in operations, still have really, really connected touchpoints, relationship-wise, because I think that is, one of the most critical pieces of outdoor hospitality is the relationship our owners build with their campers. And then can they connect while they’re on site? And for those who don’t want to connect and really wanna disconnect during their stay, have we effectively marketed those sites that are best for them to stay in? Have we created connectivity zones where if they do choose to connect, there’s a place on the campground that is best for that, and the rest of the park could be more of a disconnection zone. So really thinking about how a camper is using the space. On the flip side, our owners, this has been an interesting challenge and journey. Just like our campers, our owners are incredibly diverse as well. We’re really blessed. And I think this kind of lends to the success of our legacy brand. We have legacy owners within the KOA brand. We have franchisees that have been in the system for 50 and 60 years. They’ve been here since the beginning, and that ownership has passed down through generations, which is really rare to find across our industry today. We have a lot of individual owner operators that, they gave up their careers as nurses and as architects, and they follow their passion for the outdoors, and they built and own, decide to buy a campground and and be entrepreneurs. And then we have a lot of investors coming into our space, that are diversifying their portfolio. They have hotels, like that public storage and outdoor hospitality is just a natural transition in their portfolio diversification. So the diversity amongst our owners is a unique challenge when it comes to technology. And then across multiple, age demographics as well. So from a wifi standpoint, we make it a requirement. It is now part of our quality assurance. We incentivize our owners to deliver really great wifi. We have a wifi royalty incentive program, and they can receive reduced royalties for a select period of time if their wifi meets certain standards. We believe it’s that important to the guest experience. And then really from tech adoption, I think that’s where we see some of the larger pieces of friction as our industry evolves and we’re constantly trying to balance the expectations of the guests with the needs of our owners and operators. Things like a couple years ago, we were getting ready to launch online reservation management. Okay, I can, I can book, I can change, I can cancel my reservation all on my phone through the app or otherwise. And then was faced with quite a bit of resistance because it was different and it was new and it took some of the control out of the hands of the owner. And so different components of that have kind of made it out to the public, and then there are some key components that have not quite made it out yet. So it’s really that balance of how do we meet guest expectations and owner expectations? But at the end of the day, we do have the responsibility to ensure our brand stays profitable and our owners are profitable. And so sometimes we do have to make those decisions that may not be as favorable to our owners, but are truly the best decision for the business. And it comes down a lot to training and education and really making sure they understand. So we have a great learning and development team, great communications team, a great project team that really ensures all of these initiatives come to fruition in the way they need to be successful.
Ryan Embree:
Well, and you also have, like you said, 50 properties that you own and manage, which I’m sure is a great kind of sandbox that you can play before you roll something out across the entire brand. But to put this in perspective for our listeners, you just mentioned that maybe there was some resistance to the online bookings that you were talking about, all the way to the owner that you were talking to me. I had to bring this up again, that there was drones bringing firewood to campsites at your property, right? So, I mean, that is the spectrum that you’re talking about. And I think that also is on the guest side. And that’s why probably, you and your team do such a great job of keeping your ear to the ground with these guests and constantly staying. I thought it was a fascinating stat that you talked about, Kim, where you’re saying that the first time campers are expecting more tech than maybe your returning campers or campers that have done that before. And I think that is a, it’s a telling statistic of, “Hey, we’re gonna try this for the first time. We’re gonna go camping.” And they’re coming to the camping site and being like, “All right, well, where’s the plugs and where’s the, the wifi and all that stuff?” Versus the campers that have been there have been like, “Oh, you, you’re camping. What are you talking about?” So interesting.
Kim Wootteon:
It’s a fun challenge.
Cassady Quintana:
I’m glad you mentioned that because when I think about it from a marketing perspective, you’ve talked about the different types of guests. You also have diverse owners, but you have diverse guests. When you think about hotels in the hotel industry, a lot of them have their niche and what they expect their demographic to look like when they come visit them. And so they can kind of cater that marketing a little bit better. But you have people ranging from children all the way up until boomers, and so they’re all expecting something different and they all want it to be exactly what they want. So when I think about it, I’m Gen Z, and this outdoor hospitality thing has really started to become a big thing for us. Like, whether it is because we wanna fully disconnect everything is too technologically advanced now, or I want a little bit of the best of both worlds. I wanna feel like I’m in nature, but also I can check my Instagram later if I really need to. So when you guys think about that from a marketing perspective, what do you think is driving that Gen Z interest, but also how do you develop a marketing strategy so that you can connect with those new campers and that, that younger generation?
Kim Wootteon:
Oh, my gosh. It’s a nonstop kind of everyday challenge that our teams work through at both the national level. How do we really connect the brand to people? I mean it’s so much of the success of our brand, and really camping and outdoor hospitality in general is built off of some, like, this emotional connection to nature and this desire to be outdoors. And how do we be part of that journey? And how can we be a catalyst to creating that experience for people, whether it’s their hundredth time camping or their first time camping? And there’s so many different tactics and strategies, within the marketing space that are available to us now. And it’s constantly evaluated with AI. We are traditionally rooted in SEO, and now we’ve got GEO to adapt to. But the Gen Z population within our camper mix is about 13% of all of our campers, as of 2025, and had been up to about 25% of our camper mix in 2022. So a really significant portion of all of those people that are participating in camping are in that Gen Z demographic. And it really comes down to doing a lot of research and understanding, what motivates people to connect to a brand, what’s important to them, whether it’s sustainability or looking at the health benefits from being outdoors, whether it’s the thrill of trying something new and really adventure-seeking, whether it’s we camped with our parents as kids, and we wanna try it again as adults. And the value proposition for, especially Gen Z is not to that point in life where you’re fully invested and you have a ton of disposable income. And so camping has always been a really affordable way to travel and leisure travel and experience and see things. So it’s this balance of how do we connect with each generation on the right channel? Social media plays a really critical role in our marketing strategy, having a presence across multiple platforms, Facebook, which tends to cater to a little bit more of our Gen X and baby boomer population, TikTok, Instagram, other channels for Gen Z. So social media plays a really key role, and we’ve seen a huge insurgence of social media conversions in our marketing strategy over the past several years. And then the technology piece of some of our generations like to pick up the phone and call and ask questions about their stay. And then others really just wanna be 100% booked online, make all of their change, and make all of their choices without any human connectivity. So finding that balance. But the, the Gen Z demographic is really fascinating. And I love watching how they use campgrounds. We see a lot of Gen Zers use campgrounds as that hub for all of their outdoor adventures, really wanting to spend time in nature and are utilizing a campground to facilitate that experience.
Ryan Embree:
This question is certainly resonating with me. I’m a little bit older millennial. I have a two and a five-year-old. And I remember camping as a kid. I wanna take my kids, but I also do not want to just maybe stay in a tent and not have any sort of. So, I want, I want that, that nice little balance of, yes, we are camping, but we might be going into a nice air-conditioned cabin or lodge, and we might be able to still watch a little TV. But I think it’s fascinating what we’re talking about, because that’s exactly it. And Gen Z, they’re great storytellers. Let me tell you about marketing. They’ll do most of your marketing for you if you put them in the right position, especially on Instagram and TikTok.
Kim Wootteon:
I’m really fortunate on my team. We have a really diverse team as well. And I have, I have kind of boomers and I have a ton of Gen Zers on my team. And so it’s great just to watch those generations meld and figure out how we, how we best connect to our owners and our audience. We spend a lot of time in the outdoors just as a team, when we have meetings and stuff like that. And I just love what comes from it. And then we take those best practices and really implement them with our guests because it’s, it’s the same. We all camp. Most of us in our team, we love spending time in the outdoors. So it’s like what’s gonna be attractive to us? We are our own demographics, right?
Ryan Embree:
<laugh> There you go. Well, I wanna shift gears and congratulate you and your team, the entire KOA team, recognized as one of the top 50 most profitable franchises by Franchisee Business Review. What do you think Kim, I mean, obviously, when we talk about franchises and we look at the ROI, but I think there’s probably a different type of reward that comes with having a KOA franchise, being obviously we look for that, that financial one, but also from kinda to build something meaningful. You talked about the legacy of some of your franchisees and that being a family business. We’ve talked about the close connection and memories that you get from camping. Well, first of all, congratulations, but what do you think you and your team did to kinda make that list?
Kim Wootteon:
Thank you. We’re really, really proud of this recognition. And I think it speaks to just the uniqueness of the brand. So we have a unique mix of brand standards and entrepreneurial spirit. KOA is a franchisor unlike no other, you know? And I’ve worked with a lot of the big franchisors, especially in our industry. I’ve worked with the Marriott brand and Hilton and IHG and Jellystone and Sun Outdoors. But what I think I love most about KOA, which makes it such an attractive business opportunity, is, we’re hyper-focused on quality. We’re hyper-focused on our brand position consistency. We have three brand positions within the KOA brand. We have the KOA journey, the KOA Holiday, and the KOA Resort to really help campers identify and connect with the experience they’re looking for. But what I love the most about our franchise that is different from a lot of others is that each location is truly unique to space and place, which fuels the creativity and the pride of our owners. So there are certain things that you will find very standard across the KOA portfolio, and there, there’s an expectation campers have with KOA, but every single location is unique. And that’s what makes the system of campgrounds truly special. You’re not gonna get the same overall experience at any two locations. And our owners take an immense amount of pride in understanding the market that they’re in, understanding their campers, and building an experience that drives them to come back and stay with the KOA brand and book again, and at the same time, is quite profitable. So that unique blend of uniqueness and standards is what really sets us apart. And I will say to you, I remember this, if I didn’t shout out just the incredible support that KOA offers its franchisees. Again, I’ve kind of worked with many franchisors, but the support that KOA offers is quite unique. I’m very, very proud to be part of that. We have an amazing field operations team, franchise operations team. We have a team of just passionate, dedicated franchise business coaches that are working with our owners every single day to help them truly grow their business and optimize their investment in the KOA brand and then their campground. We have a whole coaching team within commercial strategy focused on marketing and revenue, and how to maximize revenue and optimize profitability. And then multiple other departments across the organization that really, their customer is the franchisee. And so I think this is a really adequate representation of the hard work our team puts in to support our owners on a daily basis.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. I mean, with a, such a complex ecosystem that we kind of talked about throughout this episode, it’s a true testament to the work you and your team are putting in to be recognized. So again, congratulations to you and your team on that. We’re gonna shift gears. This is the rapid fire portion of our episode. I love doing this and I was looking forward to your portfolio specifically. You’re no stranger to travel, Kim, you’ve already mentioned. So we’re gonna get to list a series or a series of questions to get to know you and the KOA portfolio a little bit better. So let’s start with favorite view at one of your properties.
Kim Wootteon:
Yeah. So, and just for the record, so I have been to well over 100, almost 200 KOAs across our systems. I’ve been really fortunate to see a lot of our portfolio with some amazing, amazing properties and experiences. But I was just recently at the campground in Fredericksburg, Texas, which is under construction. We are building it and it’ll be introduced to the KOA system this fall. But the view from The Overlook, which is sort of our main building in the back part of the campground with all of our food and beverage and our meeting space and our pool and our lazy river, the view is absolutely spectacular overlooking the entire campground. The sunsets are great, and it was just, it was a really magical moment.
Cassady Quintana:
Awesome. Ryan, write that down. We gotta take a look at when that one opens up.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, for sure.
Kim Wootteon:
You’ve gotta come experience it. And, and Ryan, we do have some amazing glamping accommodations, so you’ll get all of the amenities of home and a really cool outdoor setting.
Ryan Embree:
Love it. Best both worlds, for sure.
Cassady Quintana:
All right, Kim, favorite fun fact about one of your properties?
Kim Wootteon:
Oh my gosh. There’s so many options because we have such a diverse portfolio. But one of the things we learned as we were prepping for America 250 and just kind of learning our history is the Mystic KOA campground in Connecticut has a house on property that wasn’t built in the United States. It actually existed before the United States existed. It was brought over as settlers have founded that area. And it’s still standing on our campground today. And there’s a lot of history with that property.
Ryan Embree:
So it’s one of my favorite questions to ask, just because you get to learn these, these stories that you would have no idea about. Very, very cool. What about favorite guest experience or amenities at one of your properties, Kim?
Kim Wootteon:
So, the Mount Rushmore KOA Resort at Palmer Gulch has a rodeo, like a full-on rodeo. <laugh> So that’s a crazy thing to experience. The campground in South Padre Island is right near SpaceX, and we just built these beautiful, RV sites, along this peninsula on the water, so you can see the SpaceX launches. And then there’s simple things like blueberry picking in covert and just amazing hiking near some of our National Park properties.
Cassady Quintana:
Awesome. Something for everybody. There’s something for everybody at every different property. Yeah. So kind of with that in mind, what’s one of your favorite locations of your properties?
Kim Wootteon:
So it’s funny. So I am a camper myself and I love to spend time outdoors. And I have kind of this unique mix of properties that I love to visit because, every time I camp, I look for a different experience. So I love, like, Lake Placid, KOA, it’s just that, like, quintessential camping experience, really, really wooded and nature-driven. If I’m looking for just incredible beauty with really, really amiditized recreation, I love the Astoria KOA on the Oregon Coast. If I want a tropical resort retreat, I go to Sugarloaf KOA or Fort Myers KOA. So it’s just, it’s. I don’t know. I can’t pick one. I love too many of them, which is my problem and why I’m always on the road and traveling. <laugh>.
Cassady Quintana:
It’s a good problem to have.
Kim Wootteon:
Exactly. I know, right?
Ryan Embree:
That’s what I was gonna say. <laugh>. Well, we appreciate you playing along with us. As we wrap up today, we always have kind of a tradition to, especially, with some of our industry leaders that we get the opportunity to speak to multiple times. You teased back in March, you had working on that revamped website that we talked about you formed a new AI team. What’s the status of those projects? And then maybe just looking into the future, what’s your vision for, for KOA as we wrap. Can’t believe I’m saying this. Wrap up 2026 and go into 2027.
Kim Wootteon:
Oh, my gosh. Yes. We, we are really hyper-focused on 2027 right now as a leadership team, which is crazy. I’m like, we’re all happy through 2026. But yeah, we ha – we’ve had a ton of really large projects this year as a brand, and really in, in that vein of trying to modernize our brand to meet the guest expectation, the owner expectations, and stay that, brand of choice. Both of our projects, the development of our AR team and the rebuild, redesign, and launch of our new website, as well as campground landing pages and a new content management system are going incredibly well. We are on track to launch in Q4 with a slew of continued enhancements throughout 2027. A lot of really AI-focused efforts for koa.com, specifically in trip planning and just communication on a site, as well as personalization. We know that that’s so important. How does a guest land on the site and how is everything really customized and tailored to what they’re looking for and what their needs are and how they’ve came to before? So those two teams have been really, really critical in, in the rollout of this project. And selfishly for me, the AI team does a, a lot of work with our internal teams, and how do we impl – improve the employee experience? So the work they’ve been doing just, I mean, so many efficiencies for my role and so many other roles across the organization around really quick access to data within our KOA ecosystem. Like every bit of data I could ever want to access is available through our AI platform. I am able to ask questions quickly, research things quicker, and really get to an end result, which makes the analysis of our business so much easier in identifying trends and opportunities. So those two pieces are just really game changers, not only for our brand, but in the industry right now. And 2077 is stacking up to be a pretty, pretty insane year as well, with just really double down focusing on how do we continue to attract guests, retain guests, really strong focus on that short-term leisure RV camper, and kind of that mash of how do we take all of our legacy campers and all of these new campers and really just exceed expectations to grow the business next year.
Ryan Embree:
Wel like I said, a true embodiment, a brand that is truly trailblazing in hospitality. So wish you luck with all of those projects. We’ll have to keep a close eye on which campgrounds we’ll do an onsite. I still haven’t given up on that dream of doing –
Kim Wootteon:
No, we’re, we’re gonna get you outdoors, Ryan. <laugh>
Ryan Embree:
Let’s do it. I’m, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t, I can’t wait. So, Kim, we know you’re busy. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me and Cassady here on The Suite Spot.
Kim Wootteon:
Yes, thank you both. It’s a pleasure.
Cassady Quintana:
Thanks, Kim.
Ryan Embree:
All right. Thanks, everyone. And thank you for listening to Suite Spot. We’ll talk to you next time. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Cassady Quintana:
Absolutely. And I’m glad you mentioned the different locations, because that kind of leads me into my next question. You know, at Remington, you guys have properties that span across very different markets, like you said. Something in Key West not going to resonate with someone that’s looking at a hotel in Texas. So when you guys are kind of building those strategies, how do you make sure that it feels unique to each property but still staying, you know, efficient as a corporate social team?
Anneleise McEvoy:
For sure, for sure. So one thing I always say, you can’t market a property that you’ve never experienced. And I’m sure that that’s true in every industry. I knew, I know that it was true in the food and beverage industry too. So before I build a social media strategy, I want to walk the property. I want to eat at the restaurant. I want to meet the team and experience it like a guest. So that’s where you discover the little things that make the hotel memorable, the experience. So that’s the first thing. I wanna visit the hotel like a guest. And then I pair that with the brand standards. So for example, if you’re a Marriott, a Moxie should feel completely different than an autograph collection. Every hotel should have a personality, but in that personality, we’re working in the brand standard. So at the end of the day, hotels don’t sell rooms. It’s all about the experience. We’re selling experiences. So social media’s job, every content creator’s co – that come into the property, our job is to create a place where someone wants to book before they even book. So that aesthetic feed is where they picture themselves experiencing.
Cassady Quintana:
Oh, I absolutely love that. And it’s, it’s interesting because when we think probably when you first started in social media or even when we were in college, social media was a completely different thing than it is now. We’ve seen all these updates and especially in this new age of AI, things are changing. So do you and what you’ve noticed with your job, like, how has social media changed, you know, even from two to three years ago and how has that changed your day-to-day role with what you’re doing at Remington?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Honestly, everything. Like six years ago, social media landscape changes literally every single day. I feel like I open Instagram and there’s a new update. Like last week, you can scroll through an Instagram carousel, I’m sure you’ve probably seen, and you don’t have to pick one caption. You can caption each photo now. So just things like that. There’s just always another update that content creator social media managers have to publicize out to the property teams as well. But I actually think that’s one of the most exciting parts of social media because it’s ever-changing and we can… There’s always something new to learn. And then on top of every algorithm that’s changing, I think the biggest thing that’s changed in the social media industry is influencer marketing. Because when I started six years ago, I would give an influencer a pizza and beer and they would post five inseed posts about it. And they would post it all on their stories and tag us and even do weekly posts. And I just gave them a pizza and beer. And now creators understand the val- value that they provide and are asking for paid collaborations, which I don’t think is a bad thing because we’re getting more of that quality content. But the challenge there is finding a partnership that works for both parties because for everyone watching, you probably know that hospitality budgets aren’t as big as people think. So even the marketing budget. So I think it’s about negotiating with influencers and giving them what they need as well as what we need. And then the last part of that question I think that’s changed is, of course, AI. I think I have a pretty strong opinion on it on the marketing landscape. I think there’s a right way to use AI. And a lazy way to use AI. So of course, when you’re scrolling your LinkedIn or any social media platform, you see captions with those M marks and you assume that they’re a AI-generated caption, but I think marketers should use it to enhance their ideas. Right. In my career, I found that all marketers have creativity. So it’s just an enhancement. Make a good idea great and AI is not here to replace creativity, I would say.
Cassady Quintana:
I definitely think it’s, can be used as a vehicle, like you said, to enhance the skills you already have. And even just to, like, bounce ideas. I know I use AI a lot of times, like, “Hey, I have this post idea. You know, what do you think about it? ” Or, you know, asking AI to just clean up my copy a little bit or, you know, helping me along the way. And we’ll talk a little bit more about AI further down. But since you mentioned influencers, I did wanna ask you about that because you do work closely with influencers. So from your point of view, like you said, not, not every influencer is a match and not every influencer is gonna deliver what you want them to deliver. And a lot of the times when hospitality professionals think about influencers, they just want someone with a lot of followers, right? They just want the big numbers, but there has to be alignment. So for you, and when you guys are working with influencers, kind of what separates a good partnership from someone, you know, that maybe not f – maybe doesn’t fit that well? And how do you guys go about finding those influencers?
Anneleise McEvoy:
For sure. I think what you just said, people think about the follower count and just look about at follower count. It’s all about the vetting process upfront. So you’re looking at engagement rate. I’d rather work with someone with a higher engagement rate, a smaller audience, and people that are connecting with their followers, and you can see that that’s genuine than someone that has over a million followers and doesn’t have a connected audience. And I find that their content is more authentic anyways. One of my favorite success stories, actually happened the other week. He did have a lot of followers, but it’s not even about his content. It was the creator. We always, after creator partnership, we always ask what we could have done better or how their story went. And it was a creator telling us he brought his whole family, extended family, and he already booked a trip for Thanksgiving with his family again, because they loved the experience so much. So that’s when influencer marketing, influencer relationships become more than just the content. It creates future guests because they’re gonna keep coming back. And if they’re passionate about the property, you know that you have an ongoing partnerships. I think that’s super important to create those ongoing partnerships as well.
Cassady Quintana:
I love that you said that because when you were talking about that, it makes me think of the parallel of just hospitality in general and how hotels treat their guests because, you know, you guys hired this influencer to come create content and share his story about his stay there. Yeah. And in turn, he wants to come back. That’s the same exact thing in the same way that hotels should treat their guests too, because they’re kind of like micro-influencers in a way. Like they’re telling their friends and family if their stay was good, they’re gonna post about on social media if their stay was good. So I love that there’s that parallel there. And a lot of times, influencers can be expensive. I think we all know that, especially in this age. Yes. Like they’re making enough money to live off of it, but there are those micro-influencers that do still have dedicated audiences. So I think it’s important not to, you know, just look them over because they may not have the biggest numbers that you’ve ever seen. But kind of along those lines, I wanna talk about, you know, content that hotels can post because I talk a lot about on my webinars and other podcasts about content that’s evergreen or things that can work across the board. So is there any kind of content that you guys do at Remington that you see that works well no matter where the property is located? Like just some type of evergreen content that you see that works really well?
Anneleise McEvoy:
For sure. And I think, again, this works for across the board for every industry because I found this in the food and beverage industry as well. But two things that always perform best, pets and people. So if you’re a pet-friendly hotel and you’re not posting that dog, you’re missing an opportunity and it helps that I am, I have a golden retriever. So every day, that’s one of my favorite parts of my job. I do community management as well as content creation. And so every day I get to go on the hotel social media and scour the comments, send the DMs everything and I love to repost pet content as it comes in. But also my favorite type of content is, highlighting people behind the performance. So, whether it’s a chef, a bartender, a housekeeper. Remington, actually, our motto is driven by people powered by performance. And social media is one of the best ways to bring that to life. I actually have a story about that at one of our Key West properties. It’s been around for maybe 20, 25 years, but we have a bartender that works there that she has worked there the whole entire time. Every time I post a photo of her, I’m not kidding you, I get 250 organic comments commenting about her, their experience with her. A story about her, how she makes the best drinks, how they’re booking the hotel because of her. And when I go to lifestyle photo shoots and see her, she explains that the guests are her friends. Yeah. She’s traveled the world with some of the guests. So it’s always about highlighting the people behind the performance and behind the scenes as well. And people like seeing that connection. They don’t like just seeing the evergreen. So I think posting people is a way to do that.
Cassady Quintana:
And in a way, I feel like that is evergreen. You know, she, you just said she’s worked there the entire time, like – Yes. And people love her. So, you know, keep posting. I love that because I have that same kind of relationship with some hotels that I regularly go to with my family, like bartenders or – Yes. You know, general managers, things like that. And that makes, like you said earlier, like, we’re booking an ex – an experience and not just somewhere to sleep, right? So having that comfortability with people that work at the property just makes it better. And social media, we work in, like, the, the most feel-good industry. Our social media to reflect that, you know, it’s, like, it’s the most exciting industry to me because it is changing every day. There’s something new to talk about. People are always wanting to travel.
Cassady Quintana:
People love to travel. Like, it should be fun content to kind of match that. But kind of on, you know, the other side of social media marketing and some things that can scare hoteliers is, like, that paid social strategy. So for you guys at Remington, do you have a paid ad strategy? And if you do, what is your, you know, attack to figuring out, okay, we’re gona put some money behind this post, or we’re gonna keep this one organic. Is there a strategy there, and what does that look like for you guys?
Anneleise McEvoy:
There’s a strategy. I think that’s one of the things that has changed in the social media marketing world since six years ago as well. I think s – all social is pay to play. Yeah. So you need an organic strategy and you need to layer in a paid strategy. So paid social for me always starts with one question. If a hotel asks, “Hey, I would love to market a seasonal activation or I’d love to market, let’s say, Easter Brunch, Father’s Day brunch, 4th of July, what’s the business goal? What… Who do you want to see? Start with that one question. What’s the business goal?” And we just invest in where paid can reach the right visibility and right audience, and support the business results that we created in that strategy. So always start with that one question.
Cassady Quintana:
I love that. I think that’s a great way to go at it because it helps hoteliers that may be doing their own social media for their hotel. Like, okay, I do, I know what my goal is for this post. So if you already have that in mind, that’s a great way to kind of look at your strategy and understand which ones should be organic and which ones should be having that ad spend behind it. Definitely. We kind of mentioned this earlier that, you know, authentic, feel good, sh – posting your people. You know, we’re seeing a lot of… Instagram has honestly flipped a little bit. When it first came out, it was very, like, post your best photo with the best filter. Yes. You want that perfect shot. But now it’s like, that we don’t want that anymore. We don’t want polished photos on Instagram. We want authentic. We want real. So I know I’m sure you guys have a lot of user-generated content. I’m sure you have great photos of the property. So how do you balance that of, you know, we do wanna show what the property looks like, but we also wanna show the authentic everyday scene of the hotel. So what’s that balance like of UGC, of user-generated content, photos and videos you guys have taken? How do you kind of balance that together?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Like you said, I don’t think it’s an either/or conversation. I think you need to have both. Professional lifestyle photography and videography is our evergreen content. Right. I think the cool thing about Remington when I came on, hotels did understand that they needed lifestyle photography and videography. So we’ve gotten to do a lot of lifestyle shoots and create social media campaigns that are evergreen. And throughout the year, kind of with our lifestyle photo shoots, we also ask the property, “Hey, do you have any events that are gonna be coming up since we’re in July for 4th of July?” And ask them from there if they want some professional photography. But basically, that lifestyle evergreen content is the foundation of what we post. So I have, I would say 80% of our content calendars are that professional use po – more polished look that you were talking about. But I think that you’re right. I don’t think that we’ve moved away from the aesthetic feed to people want to visualize themselves in the feed. How am I gonna experience that rooftop bar? How am I gonna swim at the pool and get drinks brought to me type of thing? So that’s where we layer creator partnerships. And usually with our creator partnerships, we request one reel to be part of their deliverables where we can do a collaboration post where we share that engagement. It goes on both pages. And then UGC, user-generated content is an interesting conversation because obviously you don’t wanna post every single post that you’re tagged in. Right. So our process, we vet, at the beginning of the month what we would like to post. And then you have to be careful about permissions. So we always ask if we can po- post before posting it, but layering that in as the last one to make the page more authentic. And I think, I mean, to conclude, the best hotel pages balance both.
Cassady Quintana:
Absolutely. I totally agree. And you guys, you know, you’re managing multiple properties social media so obviously you can’t be at the property every day capturing that content in real time. And a lot of hoteliers and people that work at hotels, like, we’re, we’re hands off with social media because Remington is doing that for us. So is there, you know, how do you kind of get that buy-in from them, you know, if there is something going on at their property, like, “Hey, can you please get some photos, like, so we can in turn post this on social media?” ‘Cause I know, you know, it, it can be hard to get them to, to want to do that, right? It’s like the last thing on their mind because they’ve already given that to you guys. So is there a way to create that buy-in without, like, making it seem like we’re just asking them for more and more and more?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Scary. I mean, as you’re scrolling your own social media, I know that, I would be daunted by creating a reel of the activation I just told the marketing team. Right. So I don’t expect any hoteler or a director of sales and marketing to become a content creator. I start all of my social media calls like that. I expect one thing for them to be passionate about the thing that they want to market. Yeah. Passionate about the idea that they had to bring to me. And let’s give an example of maybe we have a rooftop market, farmer’s market experience. So when you’re talking about passion with that idea, I can make it come to life. Not everyone has to be a content creator, but you can create a social media champion on property. So designate one social media champion and I hop on a call with them. They’re usually very excited to capture the content. And then we make it easy with ideas and tell them how to get the best lighting, give them guidance on the best, the best clips and tell them that you don’t need to mute the clips. We’ll put on the music later. Right. It’s just about guidance and encouragement. But basically having one social media champion and having that passion is all you need.
Cassady Quintana:
Oh, I love that. And I think most hotels can find at least one employee that would be happy to do it, right? A happy to take those photos. And I’m sure they love their own social media, so why not, you know, do it for the hotel too? I would be that person for sure. I would love to, I would love to just go around properties and, you know, shoot content for them.
Anneleise McEvoy:
People even even raise their hand and say, “Hey, I wanna do this. ” And those are the best kind of people because you know that they’re, they’re really passionate about it.
Cassady Quintana:
And I’m sure it makes your life easier because you don’t even have to worry about finding that person, right? They’ve already made themselves know. So I’m sure that’s really helpful. And it’s cool to hear your guys’ process because, you know, when you work with a management group or you’re working with, you know, an agency like Travel Media Group to do your social media, it’s almost like sometimes it can be hard, I think, for hoteliers to fully be hands-off or, you know, there’s that kind of balance you have to have of, like, I’m passionate about it. I want people to see our hotel’s personality, but I’m also trusting someone else to make that come to life. So I think having that relationship with them and making sure that they understand, like, you want to bring their vision to life, right? So this is kind of an off-script question, but do you have trouble, like, do they have trouble coming up with ideas? Like, how does that balance work if you guys presenting ideas versus them saying, “This is what we wanna talk about this month?”
Anneleise McEvoy:
Like you said, I think two types of hotels. Some hotels come with me with 25 ideas, “Hey, can we post about National Lollipop Day?” Yeah. And I kinda have to reign them in and say, “Hey, let’s look at the brand standards and go back to our social media strategy. And I’d love to post about these five things that you brought up because, it’s in the area.” For example, the example that comes to mind is a DC hotel last year had, was close to the zoo, and they had pandas that were just born, and they wanted to post about it. And I was like, “That was kinda random, but we can make it a thing.” Right. They wanted to make it a whole activation. So they do come up with ideas. It’s all about balance in that relationship and being able to say, “No, that really doesn’t fit the brand voice,” versus, “Hey, yeah, let’s, let’s make that an idea.” So I have hotels that bring me ideas. We talk to the hotels at least once a month to present our ideas, whether that’s a local idea, what I just said about a panda being – Right. Born and it’s a, it’s a big piece of news. Or it’s more like National Wine and Cheese Day, “Hey, you should hop on this and we should get some local cheeses to come out and enhance your already done hot happy hour.” Yeah. So kind of both, both ways. We present ideas, sometimes they present ideas, but I like both.
Cassady Quintana:
That’s best of both worlds right there, have a little bit combo, because that allows you to still have your creative side too. So, okay, kind of shifting back, I know we touched on AI a little bit, but is there any AI tools, or workflows that you guys have utilized, you know, into your social media process? And how do you think AI is gona kind of fit into social media as we continue to move forward?
Anneleise McEvoy:
I actually think AI has made creativity in the marketing world more important, not less. Audiences know, like I said earlier, when something doesn’t feel authentic. And AI is not taking everyone’s jobs, as everyone’s saying. Hospitality is about people and the best stories still come from real guests, real employees, and real experiences. So they’re leaving those reviews. They’re leaving the comments. And I think we’re the liaison between the comments in the hotel. So for example, like I said about community management, we do community management every day, and I look at comments and reviews. I have one specific hotel that has been open, the same one as the bartender one, has been around for about 25 years, and people are repeat guests. Right. And they, they comment all the time, “Hey, I have 25 days till my vacation. I’m celebrating my wedding anniversary.” And so we could do an AI response back to that, but I like to send via email that comment to the hotel team and work with them on a special amenity that we can give someone because some of the comments I see, they’ve gotten married there, et cetera. So creating those real experiences that AI hasn’t. But yes, we do use AI. I think it’s just as enhancements. I don’t think that in the social media world, you should put your whole content calendar in there and use all of the captions, the cookie cutter captions that it comes out with. And then I think really interesting, the newest thing about AI that I’ve seen is AI influencers. And so I’ve seen a couple, of those and I think it just all goes back to being authentic. And some of those employees that you’re seeing in the AI influencers are not real places that these repeat guests are used to. So I think it’s a good thing and you can use it for lazy ways, like I keep saying. But just enhancements to already ideas. We put in different activations that we’ve though of and it’s came out with even better ideas. So yes, we do use AI.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. I mean, I think you kind of have to these days. It’s, it’s everywhere. And so if you’re not utilizing it, you know, you, you might as well be utilizing it in some way to help, help enhance your strategy or just to bounce ideas off. But I’m, I’m glad you mentioned that about, you know, employees that don’t actually exist. And I haven’t seen that influencer thing. I’m gonna have to check that out after this, but it’s, that’s kind of scary, actually, like, when you think about it. It is. ‘Cause that stuff looks so real. And if… Imagine you saw that. Imagine that you saw an em – an employee at the hotel and then you get there and then you never see them. And it’s like, it can be hard to make sure, like, okay, do I believe this or not?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Like you said, I mean, different… AI is just improving every day as you know. Right. And different generations look at that differently. And if an older generation looks at that AI influencer and they’re like, “Whoa, we wanna go there and we wanna experience this view and the view isn’t – Right. Like it is, then it’s not real.” So – Yeah.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. Yeah. It can definitely have a negative effect too. And we might even see, you know, negative comments, negative reviews about, you know, I saw this image on their social media and this is not what it looks like because maybe they used AI. And it’s like – Yes. A very fine line there. And we see it too with responding to reviews, and like you mentioned, responding to comments too, how it’s pretty easy to tell if something was just AI generated, but if you can take those comments and respond back to them like a real person and then like you said later on, they come to visit and you remembered that and you did something special for them, I think that’s awesome. And we can’t lose that humanity aspect of hospitality. And I don’t think we will. Like I think at the – Me. The base of hospitality is people and that’s what makes a hotel stay special is the people behind it. ‘Cause at the end of the day – Yeah. It’s just a building. It may be the most beautiful resort ever, but if the staff is not nice and they don’t have a good experience with them, like, overall, it’s not a great time. So look – I agree. I appreciate your insight on those. So before we wrap up, I like to do these, like, rapid fire questions. Okay. So I’m gonna give you questions and, like, first thing that comes to your mind, all right? Okay. Perfect. So what is one hotel social media trend you think is overused or overrated?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Lots of trends. I mean, I think we live in an era of pop culture. And not every brand needs to participate in every single trend. So we live in an era of all these trendy TV shows, award shows, the Super Bowl, all of these things. And sometimes saying no to a trend is having a strong brand voice. Yeah. And it’s not all cookie. So I would just say don’t hop on all of the memes just because they’re trendy.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. It’s like, I don’t know if you saw during the World Cup, the Levi Stadium had to cover, you know, their logo with the white cloth and all these brands are doing all of a sudden. And it’s like, it’s, that’s not what the, you know, that’s not why it blew up. Or the same thing with the – No. The couple that just climbed the Empire State Building with the flag, and now people are putting their stuff on the flag. Everywhere. It’s everywhere. It’s like, okay, guys. And I get it. I get why people are doing it because they want, they want that viral moment. But anyways, I digress. So, okay. <laugh> Favorite hotel brand or property to follow on social media that’s not Remington?
Anneleise McEvoy:
I have three. So I would say, I mean, I’m in social media, but I’m also on social media doom scoo – scrolling a lot. So my local one would be Dallas Hotel Swexen. I think it’s a boutique hotel and they have a really cool aesthetic feed that w – like I was talking about lots of professional shots. So taking inspo from there. Why I started in s – hotels, I love LOEs. The story of the Plaza. So I love looking at the Plaza Hotel in New York and they have a great dog-friendly program. They get robes and room service for dogs. It’s just, it’s great to watch. And then the Lafayette in San Diego, I think it was recently transformed from a motel actually. I think it’s an independent, but they have a lot of great programming for food and beverage and pools and everything. And so I like looking at what events they have going on.
Cassady Quintana:
All right. There you heard it first, listeners. If you need social content inspiration, definitely go check those out. I’ll be checking those out after this too. Okay. what’s your favorite Remington campaign or post that you’ve done or that you’ve been a part of?
Anneleise McEvoy:
It’s actually happening right now. So Laconcia Key West is turning 100 this year. Nice. And I love it because, we layered so many different marketing strategies into the campaign. So we had a lifestyle photo and video shoot. And the video shoot was focused on reels where it compares vintage to now time. Actually, every week in July we are releasing, a different video. So that’s been fun. And then we had a couple weeks ago, we teased a social media giveaway. So they were established in 1926. So we teased this giveaway and we were giving away five lucky people, $19.26 a night rates. And so if they commented at the certain time that we posted, first five got this and of course we had blackout dates app, et cetera. But since we tease it, we got about 200 comments in the first minute. And so we had to be on the first five commenters and that was really fun. And they’re all staying in 2026. So it’s been a really fun 100-year campaign. That’s awesome.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. I wish I would’ve known about that. I would’ve tried to enter. <laugh> Yes. Yeah, that’s awesome. I, I love that kind of stuff too, because that, I don’t know, that just adds another layer of personality beyond this day because it, it shows that you really care about that relationship with guests and wanting to do that kind of stuff. Also, 100 years is, is impressive on its own. Okay. What, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to a hotel that’s trying to grow its social presence? Maybe they’re just starting out.
Anneleise McEvoy:
I would say create those experiences. I would say if you have a ho- hotel happy hour and it’s just in a hotel bar and maybe you’ll Your branding is European. You make a European happy hour with a viral Aperol Spritz that people are going to take pictures of. Maybe it comes out in a cart. Maybe you train people to say a special word when they get this Apparel Spritz. It’s all about experiences on social now because that’s what you get, that’s when you get your user generated content. So it just makes sense. So create those experiences.
Cassady Quintana:
Love it. All right. Well, before we wrap up, I like to ask everybody, you know, kind of looking ahead to 2026, I can’t believe we’re already more than halfway through the year. It’s crazy. But what are some social marketing trends you’re seeing right now that hoteliers and other social media managers should pay attention to?
Anneleise McEvoy:
I think it’s actually going back to what hospitality means. I know we’ve talked a lot about people and experiences and everyone is talking about all of these trends, but it’s actually just saying, “Hey, we’re in the hospitality industry. Travelers are looking for not just a place to stay anymore. They’re not just putting their head on the pillow. They’re looking for a place where they can experience everything. They can walk to everything. They have all, they have a navigator at the front desk telling them what the closest d- destination spots. They’re curating that itinerary for them so they have to do no work. Our job as marketers, social media managers, content creators is to translate those experiences into content that makes someone think, “Hey, I wanna go there.” And then you can layer in all of the trends that people are talking about. But it’s really those, “Hey, I wanna go there,” moments that get you those bookings.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah, for sure. Well, you’ve had great advice all this entire episode. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this. For our listeners, is there anywhere they can find you, connect with you, or Remington?
Anneleise McEvoy:
Yes, we have social media. Remington Hospitality is our handle on TikTok and Instagram and LinkedIn, so go follow them. And for me, Anneleise McEvoy on LinkedIn is great.
Cassady Quintana:
All right. Perfect. Well, Anneleise, thank you so much for joining me today. I had a blast talking to you and thank you everybody for listening to this episode and we will see you next time on the Social Success Series.
Anneleise McEvoy:
Thank you.
Cassady Quintana:
Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so you don’t miss an episode. The Social Success Podcast is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I am your host, Cassady Quintana, and we hope you enjoyed this episode.
Ryan Embree:
Really cool origin story there. And a lot of parallels from the event industry to hospitality and lodging. So, Dave, what about you?
Dave Jacoby:
Yeah, thanks. So I’m born and raised in Philadelphia, but somehow I ended up in Galveston, Texas, so I did not have that on my bingo card growing up. But here I am, out of college, worked in some finance and kind of hotel development related positions. First in New York City, then went to graduate school, then moved to Las Vegas and actually was in the casino space. But throughout that whole kind of portion of my journey was developing projects that were other people’s ideas and kind of on behalf of others, even though, you know, in Vegas, for example, I led development and opening up a resort there, moved to Galveston, where my wife is from. And my family’s now based in 2016. And just felt like I fell in love with Galveston, but felt like Galveston needed a slightly different hospitality experience here. Something with a little more soul that matched the soul that this whole town has. But the hospitality offerings that I didn’t feel like harnessed that soul really well, yet found an old kind of out of favor motel on the beach and figured out a way to acquire it and came up with a brand and a design and a team that we put together. And it’s been a labor of love and, you know, blood, sweat and tears sometimes, but a lot of smiles and happiness too. And we’re going on three years open, so, okay, that’s kind of how I got here.
Ryan Embree:
That’s like the America, the hotel American dream, what you’re doing right now. And listen, I went to school for hospitality and I think just this conversation already between the event management, hospitality, the gaming that you’ve included. I mean, this is like hospitality management 101 through the experiences, but certainly a familiar one where you’re bouncing around. But it sounds like you found your home there in Galveston. I was really excited about this conversation because it’s very rare I get to talk to two guests that have kind of built their brands from the ground up, right? And I think this is a challenge and a task that especially independent hoteliers have to kind of face and building their story and building a brand that resonates with travelers, especially today. So how important is branding and storytelling to connect with guests? Because I think that is what independent hotels strive to do is create this connection that might be missing right now and, you know, really hopefully leads to loyalty in the future. And what maybe advice would you share from your own personal kind of branding journeys? Dave, we’ll start with you and then go to Kaleigh.
Dave Jacoby:
The brand is so central to what we’re doing. We sort of started with that brand identity, and I use the term identity not as like a business jargon term, but it really is an identity. We personified our brand and there are still decisions that we’ll make where we have this fictitious Aunt Lucine that we will use as a muse for decisions we make around property. And it’s sort of a guiding light for us. But, I think the concept of kind of personifying your brand really helps make it make sense, at least for me. So, I look at how do we connect with our guests? I really look at how we connect with our local community and use that as the window in to our guests with the kind of overriding assumption that if our whole town and local surrounding population considers us part of the fabric of that neighborhood, that the outsiders will, that authenticity will come through. Outsiders will see that that’s where they’ll want to stay. So then, back to the personification of it, just like in your personal life, if you are friends with a group of people, you need to add something to that group and you need to then take something back from that group. So I sort of look at Galveston as the environment here is like a play. And instead of us coming in and saying, well, what is everyone else doing, we’ll do that too. So that we fit in saying, well, how do we add a new main character to the cast here? And I sort of look at it that way. And so what are we adding that’s different, but how does it fit into and, and be complimentary with everything around it? And that’s, that’s kind of how we, we looked at how we fit in and what we offer to our guests both, as, you know, overnight hotel guests and local community that might eat, drink, hang out with us.
Ryan Embree:
Kaleigh?
Kaleigh Weise:
Well, I wanna also compliment Dave and Keith have done such a phenomenal job at Hotel Lucine that they have a brand bible, if you will. And I think that it is a testament to how the vision casting of Aunt Lucine infiltrates, the purchases that they make for design, the plants, the employees, the uniforms, how they want them to talk and walk, and all of that alignment I think resonates really well with attracting the right talent, but also attracting the right guests. And so I think having intentionality, I always say, your brand is what other people say it is. So we have to remember that we have control over how we position our brands and what we want. So I think intentionality is first, which I think Hotel Stein does. On the flip side of that, I think we have to be realistic about who is traveling and who is coming to the hotel or who is also the consumer. Obviously on the B2B side, I usually like to pick three to five different personas, and I think that that helps shape making decisions. We have a property we’re working with right now that is on 12 acres. There’s 43 cabins. It’s primarily outside, right? It’s like, okay, who is the ideal person who’s looking for a property like this? And I think the clearer that you can get with that, it helps you understand where your revenue programming is gonna come for, like, come from. It helps you understand like where you should put costs. Like do they care about the amenities? Do they care about the soap? Do they want a robe in the room? And I think sometimes we make decisions that are too close to maybe how we would like to travel or what we think is best, and we forget what our guests might be looking for, which then leads to greater revenue opportunities and better residents that leads to people wanting to come back because they feel like they belong there, right? Like that was created for them. So that’s kind of the flip side of I think knowing who you are, but knowing who your guest is is equally as important.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, a hundred percent. And there’s, I mean, guests are leaving us clues constantly on who they are based on online feedback, social media posts, reviews, there’s so many things. Even just a day-to-day conversations, you would be surprised, a tip that everyone gets, you know, you wanna know, you wanna learn about what guests think about you, just hang out in your lobby for a couple minutes during breakfast and just hear the conversations about what people are saying about their stay. But Dave, I loved your point there about talking about being embedded in the local community because you think about people that really prioritize a unique experience in the independent hotel space, which they’re independent hotels are so positioned to do, if you don’t become a part of your community, they’re looking for that unique kind of experience that only an independent hotel can provide them. If you’re really embracing your local community and sharing those same kind of aspects of it’s gonna hopefully resonate with that traveler. And then hopefully they amplify that story a little bit in some of the ways that I was talking about. But one of the things we’re gonna talk about the independent hotel show in a second in September, very excited about that. But one of the things that I love about that show is sometimes as independent hotels, you might feel a little bit like you’re on an island because you don’t have that big brand behind you, right? So getting a bunch of independent hoteliers together, you hear about some of the challenges that are going on right now. And unfortunately right now there’s a lot of noise in our industry. Economic shift, geopolitical factors, rising operational costs and margins are very thin, can be challenging for independent hoteliers. Where do you guys see opportunity right now? Because independent hotels are always looking for that little bit of edge. Where do you see opportunity right now in the state of this industry and maybe where do you see some shared challenges that we have to kind of battle as an industry for independent hotelilers? Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then maybe Dave you could zoom in maybe a little bit more on your property and market.
Kaleigh Weise:
I think the biggest thing that I’m seeing is, I talk about all these revenue drivers as like little dials. We get to tweak and twist, right? And I think that through some of the impacts that we’re having that are things that are outside of our control, right? There’s only so much we can do with some of these things. There are a few things that you actually can kind of take control over. And I think that investing more in the community and finding opportunities to drive revenue with the people who are in your local area who maybe aren’t traveling for the summer or fall or Christmas or whatever that might be through that event programming, it is not uncommon for us to go into a independent hotel and they haven’t really ever thought about events, especially if they’re under, let’s say 60 keys. Even 20 to 40 or 80 is a great number because you have an opportunity to having a full buyout, or you can have 40th birthday parties or a wedding or something like that. And that can be a huge revenue driver. And so I think as we look at shifts that are happening with, you know, the average event or wedding right now is booking a hundred or event is booking 120 days out. I think the average wedding is booking somewhere between nine and and 14 months out. You can start forecasting revenue a little bit more in control and then focusing on your rooms and your distribution in shorter term pickup opportunities. And so I think understanding where are all of your revenue drivers? What do you have control over? What do you not have control over? And where are, maybe there are opportunities that will be very low lift to you to be able to fill dates and have revenue coming in ways that haven’t been the pickup that you anticipated.
Ryan Embree:
yeah, and food and beverage, huge opportunity and doesn’t, you’re absolutely right, Kaleigh. It doesn’t necessarily need to be travelers from outside of your market all the time. The hotel restaurant, I feel like has got a bad rap for the last decade or so, but it is turning around, right? And it’s a place where people want to be. It’s a social setting where when people come, you might be hosting people and for the holidays or what have you, and you might find yourself at a hotel restaurant even if they’re not staying there. So it’s certainly a shift in what’s happening right now, but especially for independent hotels. Dave, what about you? What have you kind of seen in your market and maybe any creative solutions for some of these challenges right now?
Dave Jacoby:
I mean, I’ll sort of piggyback off of what Kaleigh said a little bit there, but it’s events and Kaleigh has sort of focused on booking events from, you know, outside groups. I’ll sort of look at it more as your internal event programming I think is also really important. And, and that’s, and it’s our kind of best way that we use to connect with our local community. And what that event programming is can be so many different things. It sort of depends who you are, who is in your community, and how do you fit into your community, what do you offer? So kind of when I talked about earlier, need to offer something back to your community that you’re in, for us that means a lot of live music. We’re very plugged into the local live music scene and we have a great curated music program every weekend night, all year long. And then in the summer we have a series called Sunset and Sounds, which is sort of larger bands that are touring. Some are touring the U.S. Some are based in Austin or elsewhere in Texas, and they come down to hotel scene and we put on free shows for hotel guests, the community, whoever wants to go. We do wellness events and that might be cold plunges or sound baths. We’ll partner with local organizations that wanna do fundraisers or other events. And it’s just a way to activate the space. It’s a way for people that are not from your town to have a experience where they feel like they’re integrated into what’s happening in that community. It’s a little more interesting for them as a visitor. And if you’re staying at a large chain hotel down the street or in another market, they just can’t deliver that. They don’t have the people, enough people with decision making power that are in the community that are focused on that. It’s just not the way they’re built. So that’s really the advantage I think independents do have over the larger chain hotels. We might not have the distribution systems and some of the other marketing spend, but we do have the ability to deliver on a day-to-day basis and experience that’s just different than what those larger hotels can.
Kaleigh Weise:
And I would like to comment that, you know, we’re seeing data around three hour drives being really hot, right? So I think sometimes you think you’re marketing to the next nearest city or, you know, looking for that destination destination visitor. I think really thinking about who are those markets that are within a three hour drive that are easy pickup for you once they know that you exist and you’ve again pointed your lighthouse of your marketing and branding in their direction, I think that’s a wonderful way to pick up opportunities for guests and community and events and things like that.
Ryan Embree:
Hey, I am the father of a 5 and a 3-year-old. And let me tell you, I’m a huge proponent of the three hour trip because that’s about as far as I can get before all of us go a little crazy. So you, you can bet I’m definitely looking for those opportunities to get out there and have that type of experience that Dave, you know, it’s around this time of year when we’re I’m talking to independent hotels that I get so inspired because the freedom of having an independent hotel and the activations and programming that you can put on, I think sometimes independent hotels, because they see some of these big branded hotels not doing some of this programming. They think should I be doing it? And it’s maybe because they have so much red tape in their branding, they have to get approval from, legal or their brand to actually run these things that they’re just not doing it. So it’s such an opportunity, and again, I get so inspired to kind of see that because the way the ingenuity that these independent hoteliers have is just, it’s second to none in our industry. It’s really creating a very cool experience, which is now being showcased and highlighted easier than ever via social media and reviews. So as we talk about industry trends, I wanna see, Kaleigh, you were talking about the three hour trip, right? Wellness is a big one, f &b, what are some of these maybe traveler trends that you’re starting to see bubble up and emerge right now? And how can independent hotels capitalize on these trends and over maybe branded competitors? Dave, you want to start maybe any trends that you’re noticing in your market in Galveston?
Dave Jacoby:
I’d say one might be the, and to use a buzzword here, the bleisure trends or the business leisure trends. So we will find, sometimes we’ll get small groups, maybe it’s a board or a small creative agency or something like that, that will come and have an offsite with us. And it’s partially meant to be used as a brainstorming session or some obvious business function to their meeting. But it’s also a time to hang out. Some of these groups might bring spouses with them or there might be a business component and then they’ll stay for the weekend and then it’s a little more freeform or social at that point. Or I’ll sort of see this bleisure happen from the other direction where someone will say, Hey, I want to come for a weekend and be at the beach, but why not come on Wednesday night and I’ll stay and I’ll just, I work from home anyway. That’s become so much more acceptable for all or part of the week for so many people. What does it matter if I work from home, from home home or from a hotel or a hotel lobby where I’ve got coffee? And it can be tended to. So we sort of see leisure trips happen in both those directions where the, the work kind of lends a little more leisure and the leisure lends a little more work.
Kaleigh Weise:
We also have a great living room for people to work and hang out and stay and enjoy beachside.
Dave Jacoby:
We do, we do. I sit in there often and you’re, and you’re right that it is when I overhear what people are saying about the hotel, I do my work, but I also eave drop and pop in on people and help out with things.
Ryan Embree:
It’s funny ’cause you know, modern day design for hotels now are accommodating for that. They know that the flexible workspace and they’re building lobby common areas a little bit larger or maybe even not so siloed so that people can mingle, interact, but also have some spaces to work from. So certainly a trend there. Kaylee, what are you seeing maybe from, as you zoom out?
Kaleigh Weise:
I mean I think experiences and add-ons are something that I continue to be surprised by. So if I’m the North American Ambassador for Muse, so I of course love Muse, but also cloud beds and stay in touch and all of, like, they all offer these add-on options where a guest during checkout or pre-arrival, they can add that early check-in. I’m blown away by the amount of people who opt into that $35 pre-check in or wanna add a bottle of wine to the room. Like those little details, it’s so helpful when they’re coming to have that reminder that we can make this a more customized stay for you. And so I think the sweet spot is no more than seven upsell opportunities. But I think that that even bleeds into, I know when we were helping with Hotel Lucine I’d ideate on some of these things, it’s like they ended up doing pop-up dinners on the balconies of their rooms and adding, I forget, a couple hundred dollars right? Or picnic baskets that people could take offsite. And I think people are hungry for having that almost like travel agent like experience where if the property can customize an itinerary for them or enhancements for their stay, I think they’re very excited and eager to be able to take advantage of that. So I think that’s a trend that’s happening and desirable, but something that I see a lot of independent hoteliers are stuck in the day to day and maybe not adding the attention that they could that will see the revenue that really is low hanging fruit out there.
Dave Jacoby:
Kaleigh’s so good at that. I mean she helped us with that as she mentioned, but she’s got this ability to kind of come in and just see what’s going on every day and she’s not seeing anything you don’t see immediately. But then she also sees these other opportunities of ways to personalize the guest experience in a way that you’re happy to do and isn’t a heavy lift for you and the guest is happy to pay for. And it’s just such a win-win. It’s almost like you get the surprise and delight moment right outta the gates and the guest pays for it too. It’s a great, it’s a great combo.
Kaleigh Weise:
Just a matter of training the staff and getting in on the website.
Ryan Embree:
That’s right. Very important. Get the buy-in from the staff. But you mentioned that word personalized. I mean that’s what we’ve been striving for in this industry for a long time. Personalization and with the rise of technology and AI like I put here, it’s not a podcast in 2026 if we don’t use those words. I don’t think I anybody would listen if we don’t talk about that or that buzzword. But I do wanna talk about it because I think especially with independent hotels, they might be more excited than most because it could figure out a way they could use AI and technology to maybe shrink the difference or find that edge against a branded competitor and maybe not feel so, you know, just David versus Goliath in that sense. So Kaleigh, have you kind of seen any competitive or creative uses of technology and AI in the industry, especially with independent hotels? And then maybe Dave you could share a little bit of your thoughts as well.
Kaleigh Weise:
I definitely see us being in a bit of a purgatory and as I’m talking about this, I’m thinking fast forward a year from now and I think agentic agents are at our fingertips for having access to supportive administrative help. And I see what Muse is working on behind the scenes and it’s like we’re gonna be living in a very different operational world. In I think all the best ways. And when I think about the future of an org chart at a small independent property where you have to get stuck in the day-to-day right now planning and preparing for guests and double checking things like being able to be synced in when Uber’s about to when Uber’s about to drop off your guest. And being able to be prepared with that timing. I think we’re gonna see our front desk admin become hosts for the first time and really have the time and empowerment to be able to greet them with the level of detail and customization. I also think the automations, I think we’re gonna snap that into being just such a helpful tool to ask the right questions or personalize the spaces. So I think currently it’s very challenging, let’s say for an independent hotel to offer a pillow menu, if you will, for the right pillows that that guest is gonna want. But I think in the future we’re gonna be able to have the opportunity for putting a time and attention into creating experiences that guest deserves that’s customized based on various preferences or interactions. And so I think it’s a really exciting time for actually hospitality to take back the spotlight. And that’s why people join this industry, right? Is they love hosting people and giving people experiences. And I think sometimes the admin takes away from that, you know? And I think that it’s gonna allow us to be more competitive when it comes to distribution. All of us didn’t go to school to be revenue managers, right? And I think that is a, that is a calculated game that to be able to have tools that can help support us and making sure that we’re optimizing the proper ADR and and pickup cost to be able to book our occupancy moving forward. I think it’s a really exciting time. I think we’re just in the purgatory of it right now. It’s like at our fingertips, but we’re not quite there. But I think about a year from now, things are gonna feel like it’s restabilizing in a really exciting way.
Ryan Embree:
So Dave, from an owner’s per perspective, you’ve, you just talked about how carefully you’ve kind of curated and built this incredible experience at Hotel Lucine. What is your thoughts on when you think about implementing technology or, or some sort of new AI initiative into the guest experience and how you make sure that doesn’t impact your brand too much?
Dave Jacoby:
I like the term Kaleigh used about purgatory. I don’t think we’re quite there yet. If you look at the amount of, certainly in the independent space, useful applications of AI in the day-to-day life versus the amount of words in print publications about AI, it’s a massive imbalance there. To me, the right ways that AI can be implemented are ways that are invisible to the guests. So the example Kaleigh was using is one that we’re, I’m rolling out actually now in kind of bits and pieces is how do you use AI to improve your day-to-day workflow? And for me, if it’s, I can unleash it on my Google drive and have it pull a bunch of information and synthesize it and put report together for that I can then give to our team. We’ve got better data and that would’ve taken me three hours, but I let it run in the background for 10 minutes and it’s done. You know, things like that to get better insights on your business, that can be done. Now, to the extent we can use AI to free up front desk agents, I’m working through a specific protocol on that now, just to get all the, what’s your pet policy, what time is check? And we just get so many emails that are repetitive in nature to answer. And the front desk agent isn’t always on top of it. Sometimes they’re doing other things, and I’d rather they be eyeball to eyeball with a guest acting as a host or hostess to the people that come in and providing person to person hospitality and not in the computer. We can free that up. You can do that now. So it’s a matter of just setting the systems up and taking the time to do it. And you can set it up with as much automation or oversight as you want to do, but it’s a matter of taking the time to actually do it so that you can free up those personal interactions. Because that’s where we as independent hotels, I think are, that’s what we people come to us for, is for that personalized touch and feeling like they’re having a human interaction and they’re not at a big corporate commoditized hotel. So we wanna give them that as much as we can.
Kaleigh Weise:
And I mean, I think human-centric is so important. I think we can, we can still remain to have a human-centric business with these tools. I hear all the time people feel like they’re so behind with using AI. And I guess even for those listeners today, I think you can relinquish the shame because the speed in which AI is gonna continue to grow is gonna continue to grow. And I think the application of that, depending on what market you’re in, what tools you’re using, I think if you can focus on one implementation thing that’s gonna actually help you serve your guests better, you’re not behind. It’s really just pacing that is right for your team, for your guests, and what’s gonna be right for you. But also don’t be afraid of it. Like, I think that there’s a lot of exciting things and tools that are only gonna be able to support us as an industry.
Ryan Embree:
My big bold prediction is that I think the GM of the next couple years is actually gonna look a lot more like maybe the GM of 20, 30 years ago before all of that kind of work that what we traditionally thought a GM had to do with reports and all of these things that actually some of those desk jockeying kind of tasks, AI can, agentic AI could potentially take care of for you. And then you get back to kind of doing what both of you described as, you know, that face-to-face human interaction. So what I’m hoping is that, you know, a lot of this technology actually kind of causes more of our service driven people and hospitality professionals to kind of rise to the top and create some really cool, memorable experiences and maybe just get that service back to where it was. Because it just feels like there’s some aspects of it in some hotels where it just, we completely missed the mark. So that’s my, maybe that’s me being a litte too, but that’s, that’s my 2 cents and what I hope happens.
Dave Jacoby:
No, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. And I thought of one other great application for independent hoteliers for AI. We don’t have an in-house IT guy. We don’t have an in-house like maintenance tech. We’re just not big enough to carry those positions. But you can go to your, claude, chatGPT, whatever it is, and say, why did my TV turn on three times in the middle of the night by itself in room 212 last night? True story, this happened and the guest was upset. And then I explained what my systems are and how they work and what they can, you give it a little bit of input information, it’ll help you diagnose. I haven’t yet tried the recommendation ’cause I’m on here talking to you guys. But there are all kinds of solutions you can ask for help for and they might not be right, but before you’re spending money to call out an HVAC technician, find somebody who can handle whatever this one specific system you have is and can service that you can troubleshoot a lot of these things and 60, 70% of these things you can fix on your own because it’ll walk you through it. It’s really a helpful way to save money. And that also helps guests experience, right? Because now if that TV’s not turning on three times middle of the night for that guest tomorrow night, she’ll be happy.
Ryan Embree:
Love it. Yeah. There we go. Just claude gonna be employee of the, of the week over there at Hotel Lucine every week If we get that figured out. But I do wanna shift our attention to the reason we, you know, started this series, the Independent Hotel Show this year happening September 16th and 17th in Miami Beach. We could not be more excited. And for our Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Dave, you’re on the advisory board and Kaleigh, you’re a brand ambassador like myself. We were on a call talking about the show just the other day. I wanna get your thoughts on what inspired you to get involved with this event and maybe some of your personal favorite aspects of the show. So Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then Dave, you can answer.
Kaleigh Weise:
I have been an active conference goer my whole career, right? Like a little bit of hustling, a little bit of gorilla marketing. And when I look back at the growth and success in my career, it really comes down to the thin threads and the people that I meet. And I think to have an opportunity to pull up a seat at the table for independent hoteliers who do feel very isolated most of the time, right? They don’t have any other friends who have independent hotels to call. They feel like they’re stuck in the day to day. This will be the fourth year. And I’ve been able to be a part all four years. And I think it’s really exciting to even meet back up every year and hear about the growth that each person is experiencing, but also what’s working in their market and not, and just because you’re in Boston or you’re in Galveston or you’re in Monterey, California, you’re gonna find that you have more the same than different when it comes to the day-to-day challenges of operating a business or being able to get in front of the right guests that you know that you deserve, that are paying the price point that you want. And so to have an opportunity to hear what’s relevant in terms of content, but also talk with other people is just invaluable. And so I continue to be really excited about the niche of, you know, the subsegment. The industry is so large in lodging and we really haven’t had a place until the Independent Hotel Show that gathers this segment of people who are doing it. Owner operated and small with a passion.
Ryan Embree:
Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. Passion is is a word we hear a lot at that show. Because you can just see, I mean these are, you guys are both founders like I mentioned before. I mean the passion behind your brand, the storytelling makes such a huge difference. And to have that much energy and a place Miami Beach of all places, right? One of the independent hotel capital of the world, to see and hear all of that is a truly a memorable experience. Dave what about yourself?
Dave Jacoby:
Yeah, so unlike Kaleigh, I do not go to a lot of conferences. It’s not generally my thing, but I’ve been into this show and really loved it. I loved how we mentioned earlier how a lot of independent hoteliers haven’t really had a lot of places to congregate and kind of coalesce their thoughts together. I found the panels awesome, even the ones that I was like, well that’s doesn’t really touch what I do in my day to day, but I’m here so I’ll listen. All of them. I found really interesting. More than that, it was just the people that were there, these other independent hotel helped hoteliers who had done gone on their own journeys to get wherever they got. And they had all figured it out. Ghere was not a lot of resources in front of them telling them how to do what they needed to do. They just, they needed to pay their mortgage, they just did the next right thing and got there. So hearing the stories of how people solved whatever the issues were that were in front of them and sharing my own stories and finding the commonalities of maybe the setting was different or the problem was different, but really the approach was very the same. Or getting inspiration from people who have figured out things I hadn’t figured out yet and learning from them. So I really like just the being able to learn so much kind of one-on-one from people and in and in some of the sessions.
Kaleigh Weise:
I also think they do a great job of pulling together vendors and resources. It is not uncommon for an independent hotelier to go to Costco for some of their… Or order on, you know, Walmart.com or Amazon. And I feel like there really are great resources out there that are made for independent hoteliers and to bring them into the room to have a conversation around cost savings or ability to be able to elevate the amenities that they have on site. I’m really excited ’cause I think of the show floor this year is gonna be bigger and better than ever from what we were hearing in preparation. And so I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that people should allow time to walk the floor in addition to hearing the sessions because those vendors can really change their bottom line quite significantly with implementation.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s so cool to see the eclecticness of the independent hoteliers there from, Dave, you’re a great example coming from Galveston, Texas. You could be coast to coast anywhere from like a little five room air bnb rather to a giant independent hotel in a major market. So just everything in between, all different shapes and sizes when it comes to independent hotels, independent hotels. That’s why we love them so much. That’s why we like hearing the stories and why it’s such a unique space and hospitality. And to be able to spend those couple days putting the spotlight on sometimes, this really, really unique segment, it’s such a privilege. We’ve had the opportunity to cover the show for four years as well. So we’re very excited and hope our Suite Spot listeners will join us in Miami Beach this September. So as we wrap up, I do like to just kind of give the opportunity for any final thoughts as we wrap up today. I want to thank both of you for taking the time to join me today. Kaleigh, any final thoughts before we wrap up?
Kaleigh Weise:
Yeah, I feel like the, the topic I wanna touch on is a lot of hoteliers in the making are interested in the show and I feel like there’s a little bit of intimidation showing up, not really having background or knowledge or even knowing what they’re getting themselves into. And so I guess from an affirmation perspective, this is a wonderful show if this is an industry that you’re curious about or you wanna learn more about or you wanna have the conversations around. And so we look forward to hopefully welcoming you in September.
Dave Jacoby:
Yeah, I will echo that. And kind of say there are a lot of people at this show that are interested in the space and maybe are there to learn and they’ll find that people are there like myself or other people who have kind of gone through the process and developed their hotel. I would just say to all of them here, what I’ll say to you at the show is, I didn’t know what I was doing either when I started and a lot of us don’t. And there’s no playbook. There’s not gonna be a playbook. You’re not gonna find one that’s gonna tell you what to do at all steps. You just surround yourself with smart people. You need to know what you can and cannot do and where your limits are and kind of take the plunge and figure it out as you go. And your decision making in the moment is really gonna be what’s gonna drive the process. And if you’re always waiting to have the full roadmap, you’re never gonna have that roadmap.
Ryan Embree:
Maybe that’ll be our next endeavor as the independent hoteliers playbook and we can publish that as a couple authors.
Dave Jacoby:
Yeah, a long book.
Ryan Embree:
Yes. Take a lot I’m sure.
Kaleigh Weise:
Variation A, B, C, D.
Ryan Embree:
Exactly.
Ryan Embree:
Well, Kaleigh, Dave, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time, sharing your stories today. We cannot wait for September at the Independent Hotel Show. And thank you all for listening to the Suite Spot. We will talk to you next time. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And what a unique opportunity. We’re gonna talk about that here in a moment because I think it’s absolutely fascinating. But your story is very familiar. I mean that we hear all the time from our guests, a lot of them start in that f&b kind of space and then transition over to the hospitality side, but super comprehensive skillset, which I’m sure has set you up for success in your role at Minor Hotels. Now, we met face to face at NYU IHIF, where just a couple weeks removed. I call this kind of takeaway season where everybody’s on LinkedIn, kind of frantically typing their takeaways and what they felt about the state of the industry right now, what we’re looking back on New York City, maybe you could start kind of zoomed in version of how that event for you and then maybe back up with an industry lens on some of the biggest takeaways from your time at New York City.
Genna Panagopoulos:
So from a Minor perspective, we had a really successful conference. So we had tons of meetings while we were there. Really good ones too, on some deals that were hopefully perpetuating. And then we’ll be announcing maybe by the Independent Boutique Hotel Show, but it was, the energy was very live, the excitement for Minor Hotels, was very visceral people, I think, you know, hoteliers are really looking for brands that understand their position. And because Minor is, you know, I always describe it as an owner first, then an operator, now a brand, right? And we still own an owner lease a vast majority of our portfolio. So we know what it’s like to be in their shoes, quite honestly. So it was a successful, like I said, the energy was there. It’s very validating to know that a lot of our marketing is working and all of the, the word of mouth and the fact that we’re out there, iI’m having to educate people less and less with every conference about who we are. So that’s great. Zooming out on an industry lens, you know, I think, you know, even just looking at beginning of the year to NYU IHIF, this sentiment is very different, right? You know, at the beginning of the year there was so much excitement over the World Cup. You and I spoke about that at NYU and it’s, it’s obviously been tempered quite a bit, and the K economy is still happening. We’re seeing luxury, the rates of the projects that I’m working on, I’m just shocked at how high they are and, how well the competitors are doing in the upper luxury space. It’s really fascinating. So I’m definitely seeing that as well. But the sentiment, and appetite to grow is definitely there. People are still looking to place equity, not ton, not huge amounts, but we’re, we’re seeing that there are still gaps on that front.
Ryan Embree:
The resiliency of our industry, I think, continues, right? It just, the momentum there, every single time we see a headwind, we continue to push through, which is really, really cool to see that owner. And, and from a development, I mean, new brands, new projects being announced, this is the space that we’d love to see, you know, more and more because there’s more and more demand growing travelers continue to prioritize travel and the experience economy, which is great for us hoteliers. So we just need some more rooms here, which is obviously what you’re tasked with, right, Jenna? So, but I wanna talk about Minor Hotels. I know you talked about needing a little less education now, but educate us here on the Suite Spot. I mean, Minor Hotels, brand spanning from select service all the way up to that ultra luxury segment ton of brands. They don’t have time for all of them today, but maybe you could share some of your personal favorites and within the hotel, Minor Hotels portfolio, what makes those brands unique?
Genna Panagopoulos:
Yeah, sure. So yeah, like you said, we now have 12 different brands, four of which were launched last year right before I joined the company. But we have these two lineages, I think within Minor Hotels history, right? We have our roots, which come from Thailand, and Anantara and Avani are great examples of that. And then we have our European roots from acquisitions over the years. So we’ve got brands like…that came from Portugal, NH, which is a very established brand out of Madrid. The four that we launched last year, offer really unique things that we never had before in our portfolio. So as we were looking to grow, we knew that that was something we’d have to have to kind of have on our menu of options for potential hotels, because some of these brands don’t work in every asset type and not every market, though most of our brands have a lot of flexibility to be able to grow into different asset types. But I guess my favorite, and I’m really excited about the Wolseley hotel brand we launched last year. So Minor International owns, which of course, Banner Hotels Resorts is a part of, owns Wolseley Hospitality Group out of London. And there’s a really beautiful institutional restaurant called the Wolseley that’s very famous. If you ask anybody from London, they definitely know the Wolseley. In fact, most people I know that just traveled to London know the Wolseley. So we own, we own that company and decided to take that brand into the hotel space, which is interesting because it’s a restaurant moving into the hotel world. And our first one will open in New York next year, but it’s been really fast. I think it’s really fascinating. There’s a lot of membership club opportunities with that one. And so that’s kind of an new trend we’re starting to see in the luxury space.
Ryan Embree:
It’s gotta be great to be able to have that breadth and spectrum of property or investment type for an owner to come in and say, this is maybe the market that I’m interested in pursuing, and then figuring out and kind of curating and tailoring what asset, what brand is gonna fit best there. And we talked about this a little at NYU, but I think, again, your job is so fascinating. You have this well-established, extremely popular worldwide brand, and here you are tasked with bringing it into the North American market, right? I’m sure there’s a lot of envious developers out there, what has been kind of, and really you only get to launch a brand like this into a new market only once. So what has been kind of your approach, Jen? I’d love to get kind of the background on what’s been your approach and what kind of feedback you’ve been initially hearing. Have owners been kind of waiting for this, you know, to arrive here and, and what are you hearing from owners right now?
Genna Panagopoulos:
It’s a tale of two stories as they say, right? So in the luxury space, there’s so much excitement. We are very established, people in that space know us, and wanna be the first to help us develop here. So that’s where we’ve seen the vast majority of our interest. Now, when you shift to looking at some of the upper upscale through the select service brands that we now also offer franchise, which I don’t know the stat off the top of my head, but it is a large component of those properties, those segments are operated by third parties and franchised. So being that we’re newer into that space, that’s where the challenge has been. So, but yeah, in terms of the hardest thing and I have to tackle every day is where do I spend my time? Because there’s constantly deals coming my way. We have to, we have to be quite strategic and mindful about what has the most likelihood of being the best representation of our brand in our target markets. So early on, when I started, I think the first four weeks of me taking the role, I had developed a pretty cohesive development strategy of where we wanted to spend that time. And where that is really any of the top, let’s call it 20 markets in the US that have international demand. So we have top markets that don’t have as much international demand, and we’ll look at those, but we just think that our value is gonna come from driving international business into these hotels. And then totally opposite from that, with Anantara, our, you know, wellness, upper luxury experiential brand. We are really excited about finding deals in kind of everywhere else except for those urban markets, right? So hard to get to places. Last week I was driving through Utah and Colorado, six hours in between each of them. So just to give you a little flavor, we were looking at a couple different opportunities in those states. You know, Hudson Valley is somewhere we wanna be Montana, Wyoming. So, you know, it’s a little bifurcated our approach to our various brands. But we’re trying to be very diligent and strategic about it. So we don’t get distracted by things that aren’t going to help us grow here. Because once we have good examples, we really believe the first few have to be really good. Once we have those, we’ll be able to drive further, further growth at a more quick pace.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, no, absolutely. And what you were talking about how best to spend your time, I think that’s a, a challenge that hoteliers have had since the dawn of this industry. But it’s very exciting and very cool to hear those different approaches because, you know, you have the privilege of having that background, of having that history and, and culture already built over an in another market, bringing that here. But you also have the exciting new flavor of providing something new, maybe in some, some very experiential markets right now, which experiential travel is just absolutely exploding another traveler trend right now. And you already have some several success stories we touched on at NYU. Let’s dive a little deeper into some of those projects, Genna.
Genna Panagopoulos:
Yeah, so we’ve got, I guess our next one that I’ve already kinda spilled the beans on it, but the releases are already out there, but the first Wolseley in the world will be opening next year in New York in the former Lambs Club property. And I think it’s just such a fantastic market to open the first Wolseley hotel. You know, theoretically it could have been in London and hopefully we do have one in London soon, but it’s a very special cherished brand and it’s not the one thing I also just wanna spend a moment on, even though it’s luxury and it’s this very quintessential British kind of formal service style, it’s egalitarian at its roots, it’s really meant for everybody. So you could walk into the, into the Wolseley in London and see celebrities next to politicians and you’re Joe Schmo walking in off the street, you don’t need a reservation. And so I think it’s a really beautiful evolution of the, of the history of that brand. And I’m so excited for it to land in New York.
Ryan Embree:
So we can announce right now in 2027. The Suite Spot will be on site. We can do nice little episode up there hopefully.
Genna Panagopoulos:
Next, next conference in New York. We’ll be able to do it there.
Ryan Embree:
Alright. <Laugh>
Genna Panagopoulos:
Yes. And then a little, actually, I guess the next one that’ll open in 2029 is Anantara Turks and Caicos, which is a 100% residential hotel, really, really beautiful resort heavy wellness, you’ll find with Anantara. We really lean into the wellness, longevity space. And so, we pride ourselves on always being at the forefront of the latest wellness, the direction wellness is going. And so longevity, for example, right now is very important to us. And we’re seeing that bleed into the residential space. So, you know, just the way that’s getting threaded into the residential experience, into the hotel guest experiences is very fascinating to watch. And then in 2030, we’ll also have another Anantara in Miami, very close to design district. It’s kind of at the epicenter of where design district, Edgewater and Midtown all meet the views from the hotel will be incredible. There’ll be a helipad, a 30,000 square foot spa. And then a mix of hotel rooms, residences that people are living in, and then also residences that can get rented out to hotel guests as well. So we are super excited, I think, you know, having these three hotels in these three markets, right? We’ve covered New York where we already have a hotel, by the way, the NH collection, Madison Avenue, we’ve had there for a few years, which we actually own. And then, you know, Miami, which is a key market, obviously very heavy international demand, but just if you had to tell me to pick one plate, one urban market to put it an Anantara, that would be it. And then Turks and Caicos is such a important market for U.S. leisure travel. So these couldn’t have been better, better markets for us to be entering and launching region.
Ryan Embree:
Congratulations. What a strong pipeline and really cool projects you’re working on, excited to kind of see those and the announcements as they start to roll in and the pictures, those views that you’re talking about. But I think, you know, the Turks and Caicos property is something we’ve been talking about on the podcast. That CALA region is also booming right now. So, you know, it’s not just, I think sometimes when we say, you know, obviously bringing into the North American market, we tend to go a little bit more domestic, but to expand that into CALA I think is gonna be absolutely critical. ’cause you’re right, so much of that US domestic travel is now spending, you know, time and money in those areas, and looking a little bit more towards that for their experiences. So exciting all around. And of course we love, you know, we’re based here in Florida, so we’d love a new project. We’ll, we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on that Miami project that you have. But this is speaking of Miami, this is our independent hotel show series. Talk to us, you know, why you feel some of the Minor Hotel brands fit within this independent and lifestyle category. And what advantages do you see independent hotels or even experiential brands and lifestyle brands have in today’s hospitality landscape?
Genna Panagopoulos:
I’ll answer that last question first. If you don’t have that experiential, that’s table stakes today. So, we’re, I believe we’re only gonna see that become more and more important as the years go on. Because if you look at the consumer data of what the younger demographic, where they’re spending their money, it’s not experiences. It’s not, it’s no longer on goods. So having these really cool, unique experiences that they can travel and and receive is gonna be critical in terms of what we have to offer for independent hoteliers, keep in mind this is our roots, right? We started our, our company was founded by Bill Heineke, who, fun fact, and I can’t remember if I’ve already told you this, but the reason we’re called Minor is that he went to go start his business at a very young age of 17. And when he was getting his his business license, they said, sorry, but you need an adult to sign with you ’cause you’re a minor. So he’s really one of those serial entrepreneurs, wicked smart, wicked great at launching businesses, but he was an independent hotelier. That’s how he got his start. So he’s still driving a lot of the vision of the company. And I could tell you coming from a larger brand company into this environment, it is incredibly entrepreneurial. And because we also own hotels, but also operate for a lot of our owners, we truly believe we have this, like this hotelier mindset. We’re more of an operator than we are a brand at this moment. And so I think that could help lend itself to independent owners who are looking for a little bit of support. And we’re here to lean in as much as they want and as little as they want, but there’s benefits to it, right? We can help save on OTA costs, we can help save on purchasing. We’ve got great technology to help with forecasting and revenue management and and so on. So there’s definitely places to tap in. And I think particularly now more than ever with our two collection brands that we launched last year, so I started telling you this, but I didn’t finish telling you the brands that we launched, but two of them that we launched last year are collections. One is minor reserve collection, which is in the luxury space. And then Colbert collection, which is more upper upscale, maybe entry luxury. And those are just such, they’re primed for independent hotels, right? That’s why they were launched. To be able to keep the heritage and the name of an independent hotel play off of it, but then get all the back support, all the things behind the scenes that consumers will really never see, but it’ll help make operations much more efficient and smooth. And so we think that’s where there’s a lot of opportunity and we’re, you know, we’re priding ourselves on that. We’re here to be a partner and not a brand that’s telling you have to do it this way. So that’s where we’re really thinking this is the opportunity for us in that space.
Ryan Embree:
Well, it says, it says a lot that, to have two collection brands dedicated to that space really shows the investment in the future of these kind of independently run or branded properties and see the opportunity there because again, looking, you mentioned the lens and view challenges about independent hotelier and brand is very different from those big brands that have the scale to kind of combat those challenges a little bit more efficiently. So, you know, independent hotels, we always talk about on this series specifically are looking for any edge or opportunity to differentiate themselves to the traveler because they are really first in line to present a one of a kind experience. If you think about it, one of those places is f&b, a trend that obviously Minor Hotels has taken and ran with, especially with converting a f&b brand to hospitality brand. How have you leveraged the f&b theme with potential owners and when you’re having these conversations with investors, as you look to bring Minor Hotels to North America?
Genna Panagopoulos:
Yeah, so, well first we have a, when I was doing my onboarding in Madrid and Amsterdam, I toured our Anantara in Amsterdam and they had just, maybe they, a couple months before they had just concluded a chef series where they brought I believe 20 or 30 Michelin rated chefs under their roof and had a food festival, which I had never seen that. Like how amazing to bring. I didn’t know that, that that many Michelin chefs would be side by side cooking for each other, right? But it’s a really special thing. And I think that shows you that Minor is very credible in this super experiential high end f&b space separate to that. And so we have the talent in-house. Separate from that, when you look at our brands and the way our Colbert brand, for example, our Colbert, I don’t even wanna call it a brand ’cause it’s a collection. It’s not really a brand the way we thread food and beverage into the guest experience, right? So each hotel is completely unique within the collection. We don’t want any two to really look alike, to be honest with you. But as part of the one ritual that you can, that you can count on as a guest at every Colbert is a food and beverage driven experience. So whether that’s a bespoke cocktail that’s mixed for you, right as you enter the door, or maybe, after you’ve checked in and you’re in your room, a bell cart is a food and beverage bell cart of sorts is delivering a special experience to your door something that ties back to the identity that the hotel has, but is very curated and special, right? Not something that’s like a here’s the, the chocolate chip cookies we made today. No. Right? We want something really beautiful, thoughtful, creative, and that shows the craft in it that either ties to the experience or the identity of the hotel. So I think that’s really important and those little things go a very long way.
Ryan Embree:
A hundred percent. And those are the little things that add up in the independent hoteliers world that can, you can have the edge, right? And I mean there’s a whole now space with food tourism. I mean, it’s got a name for it now. That’s how large this trend is. And hoteliers are looking at F&B very, very differently than they did five, 10 years ago. It was a first a place where they started to look and say, where can we cut costs? Where can we make efficiencies? Now the brands that I think are doing it right are leaning into it. They’re seeing it as a part of their guest experience and also a huge opportunity for their local markets too. I think people, you know, in locally have looked at through a different lens at what a hotel F&B experience can be. And when someone comes to town, they might not be going to that restaurant. They might be going to a hotel or a resort, and it having that experience there. So very interested to see, right.
Genna Panagopoulos:
It’s, I don’t mean to interrupt you. But I just wanna say, I was recently having the conversation because when I started in the industry, we would joke, you could, you could like blow a cannon through a hotel restaurant. Nobody wanted to go to a hotel restaurant. Back in the day, they were cool. And it was like, oh, I’m staying at this hotel, meet me at the restaurant. But for a while, you didn’t wanna go to a hotel restaurant. It was vanilla, it was boring, it had no identity. It was just an extension. It was just a restaurant within a hotel. Now it’s such an important driver of bringing people to that hotel, whether local or visiting from out of town. And so there’s such an opportunity. I just, I look back at the time that those hotel restaurants were not attractive. And now I’m like, no, it’s such a beautiful component to an experience and I’ve seen really amazing destination hotels that are operated by the operators, but have a totally unique identity that’s very strong and compatible with the hotel, but not homogenous with the hotel.
Ryan Embree:
Absolutely. It’s very, very cool to see that evolution. And I think it’s only, again, as the trend continues to grow, I think it’s only gonna get stronger. You’re gonna see more emphasis on that f&b experience. And I personally can’t wait. Because I love those types of experiences to kind of see that evolve. And we’re gonna learn a little bit about maybe some of your favorite f&b experiences within the portfolio here. So let’s do my favorite part of the episode. Some rapid fire to get to know you Genna and the Minor Hotel portfolio a little bit better. Let’s start with one of your, you talked about maybe future favorite views at your property, but right now what is one of the favorite views at your properties in the portfolio?
Genna Panagopoulos:
I know you’re trying to do rapid fire, but of course I’ll just story tell a little bit.
Ryan Embree:
<laugh> No, not at all. Please.
Genna Panagopoulos:
The Avani in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity during my onboarding with Minor to go to Amsterdam for a few days. Because we have a ton of hotels in Amsterdam. And I got to stay there and I woke up, I think it was a Sunday morning, and I had one of the upper level rooms and floor to ceiling windows. And I just, I watched the city wake up. It was so cool to see the sunrise from my room, but also the canals were coming to life. People were in boats and I had this cup of coffee and they had a great lounge here. And it’s not, it’s not a fancy hotel, right? It’s an approachable lifestyle of hotel. But it was really, it was so beautiful. I had this like Minor Magazine I was reading and I read the full thing. It was so lovely. And I’m actually taking my daughter there in a few, in two weeks, because I loved it so much.
Ryan Embree:
Very cool. Yeah. And she’ll get to have that view of the, the property as well. What about favorite fact? A fun fact about one of the properties?
Genna Panagopoulos:
Okay, so one of our new Colbert collections, that I believe is open now in Florence. It’s called Port Rosa, which it translates to Red Door. And it is actually one of the oldest, it might have been the first hotel actually in Italy and one of the first hotels in Europe. So it’s just so funny ’cause here we call our historic hotels 200 years old. And, and here we have like an 800 year old hotel. So I think that’s, I don’t think I could top that.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, that puts it in perspective. Favorite signature dish? We talked about f&b experiences at one of the properties.
Genna Panagopoulos:
So I know I’m talking a lot about Amsterdam, but that was, it obviously left an impression on me, but at the Tivoli, which is one of our entry luxury brands, very well established in Europe, they really pride themselves on food and wine. And so culinary is a huge component of that experience. So I get to eat at the restaurant in the Tivoli called Ombre. And they really try to weave in creativity and art into the overall experience. And so they took it, they took inspiration from Rembrandt, and so Ombre is one of the 12 colors of Rembrandt’s palette. And so they, they had a beautiful way of weaving that into the food, the color of the food, the color of the menu, the names of the menu items. And it was just a beautiful, and you could watch the chef finish the food right at the entrance. And it was just, it was remarkable. It’s also on the canal. It was an evening candle lit room. It was beautiful.
Ryan Embree:
I mean the marketing team for some of these properties I’m sure has no shortage of content and storytelling. I mean, this is every hotel marketer’s dream. What about favorite guest experience or amenities at one of your properties?
Genna Panagopoulos:
That’s a good question. The, also in the Avani in Madrid, so, when I had wrapped up, I had trained in Madrid. I went to Amsterdam for a weekend, came back to Madrid to kind of give everybody my 2 cents of how the project or how the onboarding went. And I was only there for one or two nights. I was so tired. I had been gone for like two weeks. I missed my kids. But I came back and the Avani in Madrid as my welcome city had a smoothie set up. And I had never seen this, and I don’t even know if I’ll ever see this again, but they had a little, a little tiny, I think it’s called like a bullet blender, right? That I could blend in my room. They had the most beautiful, I don’t even know what fruit it was, but it was sweet. It was delicious. They had a variety of milks next to it that I could mix with the fruit, and then of course a little ice bucket and some honey. And it was just everything that I needed. I was so tired from being on the road and to come back and have this really like, cool, healthy, nutritious, it was so, it was like they were reading my mind of what I needed. And I’ve never been in a lot of amazing hotels. And again, Avani is not a luxury brand, but they totally nailed it. And then about an hour later after it, ’cause I had checked in fairly late in the day, they showed up at my door with this beautiful wind down tea set up, and it was, you know, tea can be hit or miss. Yeah, it was so beautifully floral and delicious. And I’m not even a tea drinker. And I loved every moment of it. And they had the most perfect cookie to compliment.
Ryan Embree:
It’s brilliant by the way, that smoothie, because it makes you a part of the process. It makes you feel a part of the experience. I’m sure a ton of people are sharing that on social media. They’re talking about it. I mean, how easy could it have been to just deliver a smoothie, but for you to kind of be a part of that experience, I think makes it a little bit more special. Very, very cool. I’ve never heard that either. Very cool. And then the last but not least, favorite piece of artwork at one of your properties?
Genna Panagopoulos:
Thats a tough one. Coming back to the fact that we have an NH hotel in Amsterdam called the Schiller, with tons of authentic Danish artwork. But I’ve also heard that the Tivoli Puerto Gaia has a lot of remarkable pieces. In fact, they have over 70 pieces of authentic art. One of my favorite artists is a Spanish artist…and his works are there. So I haven’t seen it in real life, but that’s on my bucket list.
Ryan Embree:
Well, I’ll tell you, this was probably the most internationally friendly rapid fire that we’ve had here. When asking these questions. You took us to Madrid, Amsterdam, Italy, all over the place. So, we’ll definitely, I can feel the hoteliers now doing some research on these hotels and planning their vacations. Let’s shift to the Independent Hotel show. It’s happening September 16th, 17th in Miami Beach. And remember Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Genna, and I would love to see you there. Genna, you recently joined the show’s advisory board. Congratulations on that. What inspired you to get involved with this event and how do you see it supporting independent hoteliers?
Genna Panagopoulos:
First of all, thank you. And I’m really flattered to be on the advisory board. When we started our, when I was working through our development strategy as part of that, we were talking about the various conferences we wanted to attend. And we really think that we’re different from a lot of the big players that are already here, right? We’re trying to not be aligned with them, but a totally different offering. And so for us, it was really important that we find these independent hoteliers, boutique hoteliers that, again, are looking for somebody to help support them and maybe make their lives a little bit easier, but not be always watching over their shoulder. And so for us that this was perfect, I actually hadn’t come across it until they reached out to me. And it came about 48 hours after we had said, we need to find a show or a conference that has specifically this. And it just fell into our lap. And so we, it was, it was very serendipitous and we’re very excited. In fact, I hope we can continue to attend and I’ll be bringing my colleague from Mexico actually to help run the process with us while we’re there. So we’re excited. I also think that we could learn a lot of what independent hoteliers need and their challenges are and be able to help them out.
Ryan Embree:
Yeah, it’s a very, very unique event. I’ve had the privilege of being to the show since its inception a few years back. So much learning, there is something special when you put a group of independent hoteliers together in a room. The networking that goes down. It really is unlike any other event I’ve been to. So, again, hope you will join Genna and I in Miami Beach in September. We hope to see you there. As we wrap up today, we got a couple more minutes. What is your vision for the future of Minor Hotels in North America?
Genna Panagopoulos:
Listen, we don’t wanna be as big as everybody else that’s here, but we wanna have a really good foothold. I don’t think I mentioned this, but we have a little over 600 hotels worldwide, including in pipeline. And we’re really everywhere except for North America. And so it just feels like the right progression, of where we even have hotels in South America, in Mexico, right? So we’re really kind of closing in from all directions. And so we just wanna have good hotels here. Good representation on, fun fact, British and US travelers make up the majority of Anantara guests worldwide, even though we have no Anantara here in the U.S.. So, Norin England. So people want it, and I think once they’re here they will absolutely come. So we’re excited. We just want what we want. A good representation of hotels. Hopefully that’s somewhere around 20 to 30 hotels in the coming years.
Ryan Embree:
Well, you’re off to a super strong start. Congratulations again, Genna. It’s exciting to be here, kind of at the starting line of this Minor Hotel’s journey in North America. It will soon follow suit, like the rest of your brand is. So we’re excited to watch that unfold here in the upcoming years. Genna, thank you so much. We know you’re busy. You mentioned it before. We appreciate you taking your time, spending some time with us and talking about Minor Hotels and in the Independent Hotel Show. Again, we’re, we’re excited that we’ll both be attending there in Miami. And hope you will too. So Genna, thank you for your time.
Genna Panagopoulos:
Thanks for having me again.
Ryan Embree:
Alright and we’ll talk to you next time on The Suite Spot. Thank you for listening. To Join our Loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. No, that’s awesome. I feel like a lot of the people I talk to and we talk to here, it’s kind of a similar story. They fall into hospitality, they don’t realize, and it happened to me too, like I was working just in normal social media marketing before I got into hospitality. And that’s kind of how it happens for a lot of people. So you live in hotels, you’re traveling constantly. A lot of people would only dream of that. I wish I could do something like that. So for you, at what point did you realize, like, this wasn’t travel anymore, but you could kind of turn that into your brand and a business for yourself?
Scott Eddy:
So, okay, so as I was doing the agency, and again, I just hired really smart people that worked at advertising agencies. And just watched them. But during that time, that’s when social media first came out. And I’m very early on every platform. I was probably first 2000 people on Twitter. And Twitter was it back then. So that’s actually where I built my brand. And I was the first American expat in every Asian country to have a million followers on Twitter, which back then got me headline news, which got me speaking gigs, which got me consulting gigs. So after a while, all my business was coming through my social media. And again, this is back when there was no term influencer, there was no term personal brand. There was no, that might have been a thing, but it wasn’t a thing. So eventually I just decided to sell the agency because it just made no sense to me to have a brick and mortar office paying 37 full-time employees when the clients are coming through my phone or my computer. Like, it just didn’t make sense. So I sold it and started traveling around. In total did 11 years in Thailand, one year in Philippines, one year in Sri Lanka, four years in Spain, one year in Portugal, and one year in London. And then I came back to the US in 2015, thereabouts. And that is when I literally blew up because that is when real budgets were starting to be applied to social media marketing. And I was approached by a PR agency as soon as I came back to be the travel host for the first video, for the first travel show that was gonna be a lifetime. And it was like a Anthony Bourdain type show. It was called Video Globetrotter. So that solidified me in the U.S. Then I just started doing just huge campaigns with F1, with Air New Zealand, with like, all these big brands. I was a brand ambassador for Lexus for two years. I mean, it was, it was very, very cool. But when I, before I came back to the States when I was in Europe, I was just looking at like what was gonna happen when I went back to the States and I was like, well, I don’t want to get a lease and like have like a normal life. I haven’t had a life for a very long time. So I ended up selling everything that I own while I was in Europe and even now. So I was born in Michigan, but I was grow, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale since I was little. I used to only have a storage unit in South Florida. So I used South Florida as a base in between all my trips. But I’m there two, three days. Like, I was just there this past weekend. I went to F1 and then I came to Europe right away. That’s awesome. So, yeah, I mean, it just happened. When did it happen? Who knows? But it just, I’ve been in the trenches of hospitality marketing for 17 years, since day one of social media. Not that we were doing social media strategies on day one. Back then it was like websites and SEO and graphic design. Remember when people paid for that?
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah.
Scott Eddy:
So the services side is very different now. But it’s fun. But it’s fun and hospitality, like it’s the greatest people in the world.
Cassady Quintana:
I couldn’t agree more. I mean, how could you not be happy with being able to travel to all these places and meet new people and stay in different hotels and you’ve experienced, a wide range of different hotels. So when you think back of all these places you’ve stayed at, for you what makes a memorable stay versus one that’s kind of forgettable?
Scott Eddy:
And I’ve had both. The difference is emotional impact. That’s it. Most luxury hotels today are physically beautiful. And emotionally empty. The industry has been become obsessed with that whole polished and everything else. But forget humanity. Guests don’t remember the sink design or the way the lobby looked. They remember how your people made them feel. And I’ll give you a perfect example, and this is not to put them down, but I just left Tulsa. I was there for eight days. I mean, you’re talking about Tulsa, Oklahoma. Like it’s not New York City, it’s not Paris, it’s not Hong Kong, it’s Tulsa. And I was at the Marriott there. And again, this is not a ultra luxury property, I’m telling you right now, I stay over 300 nights in hotels and have done so for the more than eight, nine years. This was the best employees, the best staff that I’ve ever met in my life, ever. And I’ve lived in Asia for 13 years. And Asia has, I mean, the best of the best. But I mean, it, it was crazy. Like the finance lady coming out and she’s like smiling and laughing with the staff. Have you ever seen finance person smile? Like that’s where the creativity goes to die. That’s the person who’s telling me, no, no, no, we don’t have the money for this. Like, it was unbelievable like every day I was just like pinching myself. I’m like, is this real? It was just, it was really crazy that the best experience that I’ve had ever in hospitality just happened.
Cassady Quintana:
Oh, that’s awesome. And I feel like this is something that a lot of hotels should be posting about on social media because I always say like, your hotel and the way it looks is part of the experience, but what makes it memorable or what makes it terrible for people is how the service was. So, and that can be hard to translate online. So when you are looking at a hotel, social media page for you, like what makes something make you gravitate towards it and wanna engage with it, rather than it being a promotional or sale. Like how can hotels translate that inhuman experience and how awesome their staff is and how awesome their staff makes you feel to social media so that potential guests can feel that through the phone?
Scott Eddy:
I mean, first off,I browse through social media profiles of hotels every day. I mean, I’m, I’m talking dozens and it’s, it’s honestly most of it just makes me wanna throw. It is ridiculous. We are in the most feel good, fuzzy warm feeling industry in the world. And they can’t stop taking these gorgeous pictures of rooms and dead pictures of an empty swimming pool. And like, it’s unbelievable. Most hotels, social media feels like it was approved by seven people in a boardroom and a legal department. That’s the problem. Everything is safe, polished, filtered, and emotionally flat human beings connect with people, not corporate perfection. When are you gonna wake up? Like, I don’t understand. It’s 2026. It’s almost as if they don’t have a calendar. Like show it, show the chef, show the bartender, show the housekeeper, show them, show humor. I mean, like, it’s crazy.
Cassady Quintana:
And I think that’s the thing, like when Instagram first came out, it was that opposite, right? We need the perfect photo, we need the perfect shot. We have to use the perfect filter. And now it’s, it’s kind of gone to the opposite. And maybe this is with AI becoming so pertinent in all of these things, but people want to see that real moment. Because it’s hard to imagine yourself in a perfect photo of a hotel room. Like, I wanna see someone enjoying their coffee, or like you said at the pool, things like that. So obviously you’ve followed this since it’s started and it’s changed. We’ve seen new trends. We’ve seen Instagram change its algorithm completely. So beyond that human emotion, is there anything else that you think hoteliers are still getting wrong in 2026 with their social media?
Scott Eddy:
I mean, the biggest mistake hotels are still making is thinking that content is the strategy. Content is not the strategy. Content is the vehicle. Emotional relevance is the strategy. Anybody can create content. Now, do you have a phone? You can create content, you have AI, it can create content. So the value is no longer in simply producing the content. The value is in perspective, storytelling, culture, trust, leadership, and emotional connection. That is the number one. Most hotels still have no clear voice online. What I love to ask hotels. I love to say, what is your brand personality? They don’t know how to answer. Like, how do you not know that there’s no founder visibility, there’s no staff involvement, there’s no community building. God help you if you can find a GM. They’re heading in the office. There’s no understanding of platform psychology. I was talking to a guy who is part of a group of a hotel group, and they own 11-17, they owned a bunch of hotels. And I asked him about one of the properties. So before we hopped on the call, I went on every platform to see where they are, how active they are. That way I have the ammunition. We get on the phone and I ask him, what about X, Y, Z property? I couldn’t find them on TikTok. Why aren’t they, oh, I don’t like TikTok. That wasn’t a question.
Cassady Quintana:
Right.
Scott Eddy:
And then, with me, I dive deeper. I’m like, why don’t you like it? kids dancing. Come on. That’s the way it started. I said, the average, the average age demographic that’s most active right now is 38 to 57. Luxury brands are killing it on TikTok. I love when people say can’t sell luxury on social media. What? These are the people that aren’t on their phones. Right. Come on, man.
Cassady Quintana:
No, and I love that you mentioned that because especially TikTok, it had that, that image, especially in 2020 of just being that platform where people dance. But it goes beyond that now because we’re starting to see integrations with, Booking.com on TikTok and Expedia on Instagram. Like, there the conversation of is important is long gone. Now it’s, why are you not on this? It’s kind of almost weird and embarrassing if you’re not on social media. Like, what do you mean you’re not on social media? ’cause that is, and especially my, I’m older, gen Z, but as these new demographics start to have buying power, this is where we’re searching. Likeand it, and like you said, TikTok is now that age group of 30 to 50. Like those are the people with the most buying power. So what do you mean, like that it, and it’s hard to get people to see that sometimes because when they have that preconceived notion of what social media is, to try and get them to a point of believing in it is tough. But I mean, the proof is in the pudding. We can show them how important that is. So kind of in that same world, I mean we’re seeing a lot of influencers in hospitality now. And we actually, I did an exercise last week where I was searching, hotels and the most viral videos and most of them came from influencers. So where do you see the value with influencers in hotels and maybe where do you see that continue to go?
Scott Eddy:
The problem with the whole influencer space, and I hate that word so much. Just because influencers ruined, just like marketers ruin the term marketing. Influencers have ruined the term influencers. I mean, it’s just such a egotistical. Ridiculous word. It’s just such a saturated market. So much so that I don’t even work in South Florida and I rarely work in Florida. And if I can avoid it, I rarely work in the U.S. I’d much rather work overseas. South Florida, it’s like all the big cities are just saturated. So, I mean, of course in between all my trips I get offered to do a million free things and I’m like, bro, I’ve been building my brand for 17 years. Like I’m not in the intern stage right now. Like, I already built my brand. I don’t, I don’t need your $20 meal for Instagram posts. I appreciate it though. But I mean, most hotels, they still evaluate influencers completely wrong. They obsess over follower accounts instead of trust and audience alignment. I can’t tell you how many times, so if somebody doesn’t know me, they don’t follow me on LinkedIn or a lot of other platforms and they just look from the outside looking in and they just see a big audience. So the first thing they’re gonna say, okay, this guy’s an influencer. Which I don’t mind. I still being an influencer, I hate it. But doing that is still a lot of what I do. Because yes, I travel with a video guy. They’re get and a photographer, one of the top photographers in hospitality by the way. And they both arrive here on Friday and we’re going on a cruise. So I do travel with a video guy and we do long form storytelling. We do a lot of things and we do complete photo shoots and this and that, but they always want my distribution. So like, I would never run away from that because I have a very good audience. I’m deep in the wine world. I’m deep in the finance world. I mean, my audience spends, so I know creators with massive audiences that couldn’t drive a booking if their life depended on it. Meanwhile, smaller niche creators, which strong trusts absolutely crush it because their audience actually listens to them. Listen, it’s the micro influencers that are killing it right now. Their engagement rates are in the teens, people like me, people with over a million followers, generally if you have a anywhere from one to 3% engagement rate, you’re killing it. I get very high engagement. So I mean, I just figured it out two days ago because I’m launching a new website and new media kit and whatnot. I just did my media kit or my engagement rate on Instagram so far in 2026 and I’m at 6.5%. Oh, that’s awesome. I mean, that’s like top tier, right? For somebody in my space. But I mean, most macro, most big, I think they call ’em mega like over one, two, 3 million. You’re lucky if you get one to 2%, but the numbers still work out to somebody who has 20,000 who’s getting an 11% engagement rate. Things like that. So, I mean, hotels need to stop treating creators like vending machines. Here’s a free room now, make us viral. It’s not a strategy. I can’t tell you how many hotels tell me that they want to go viral if I can help them. And I, and I asked them, I’m like, what is getting going viral gonna do for you? And they can’t answer going viral 90% of the time, does nothing. My photographer that I traveled with, he did a hyperlapse video on a river cruise that we were on of like a locks opening up and closing. It was very cool. I think it got like 12 or 15 million. I’ve never even gotten those numbers. I mean, he’s still sitting, like, he didn’t gain a hundred thousand followers. He didn’t get 10,000 brands commenting oor wanting to work with him. Viral does nothing without a proper strategy attached to it. What I mean? So the, the problem is these brands, they don’t do the research. I can’t tell you how many times I get reached out to and they’re like, Hey, we want you to do this campaign. And I’m like, this is not even my niche. Oh, sorry. It was a copy and paste email. Well, no kidding. Of course. It was like, it just, listen, over the next few years, creators are gonna evolve into, and they already are full blown media companies, production, distribution, consulting, storytelling, community building, all of it. The creator economy, let me tell you, and I’d much rather call it that than influencer space. It’s becoming one of the most powerful engines in hospitality because the bigger AI gets, and listen, a lot of these companies will go to the wayside. But AI, the technology is here. The bigger AI gets, the more valuable humans are gonna be.
Cassady Quintana:
Absolutely. We, we say that all the time, especially because AI is gonna fuel the tech. But at the heart of hospitality is the people and it will always be the people. And you can’t replace that people to people emotion. And like you said earlier in this episode about how that’s what you remember the most right. Is how the staff made you feel. And AI will never be able to do that. So I’m glad you brought up AI because we are seeing that start to shape the traveler journey. Like I mentioned with the integrations with Expedia and Instagram and their AI agents that are building these itineraries. So where do you think AI and social media and hospitality are headed now and in probably the next couple of years?
Scott Eddy:
I honestly think that most of the hospitality industry still underestimates how massive this shift is. This is bigger than social media. This is big tech, bigger than mobile phones, bigger than websites. AI is fundamentally changing how humans make decisions, right? We’re moving from search behavior to recommendation behavior. And that changes everything. Your website is no longer the front door to your brain. AI is becoming the front door. Yeah. Travelers are increasingly asking ai what hotel fits their personality, what cruise line matches their lifestyle, where they should go for a specific emotional experience. Yeah. So now your digital footprint matters more than any more than ever. Consistency matters more than ever. The brands that survive this next era are gonna be the brands that feel the most human, have the clearest voice and create the strongest emotional connection online, generic corporate garbage. You’re done.
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, and we’re already in the middle of that. I feel like we know a lot of us, we don’t necessarily know how big AI is gonna be and where we’ll be this time next year. I mean, I bet in just a few weeks we could be having this conversation again and it would be something new. So course it’s definitely always changing and I recommend everyone that’s listening to this episode to follow you because this is the kind of stuff that you’re talking about and you’re following and it’s, it’s super important. Hotels are busy and a lot of the time they don’t have the time to do the research. So if they can find people like you to get that information from, it’s extremely helpful because it’s, it’s changing every single day. So if you can stay up to date and understand it and what’s going on and how you need to adjust your social strategy and your marketing strategy as a whole, you’re gonna be ahead of the pack. And so with that, thank you for all that awesome information. I kind of wanna shift gears to get to know you a little bit more Sure. With some rapid fire questions. So first thing that comes to mind that you can think of. So favorite hotel you’ve ever stayed in?
Scott Eddy:
I have a couple, but let’s say Kuda Duke in Maldives.
Cassady Quintana:
Alright. I love that.
Scott Eddy:
It’s insane. Insane.
Cassady Quintana:
Okay. And then what do you think is the most underrated destination right now?
Scott Eddy:
Right now? Sri Lanka. I lived in Colombo for a year. It’s seriously underrated. I think it’s, I mean, and it’s already bubbling, right? But I think it’s just gonna explode soon.
Cassady Quintana:
Is there a best time of year to visit there?
Scott Eddy:
Just like, you’re in Orlando, right?
Cassady Quintana:
Yeah, I’m in Orlando.
Scott Eddy:
So, so just like us, winter time is their high season just like Florida.
Cassady Quintana:
Okay. Noted. Perfect. Okay. Do you have any travel habits that you swear by?
Scott Eddy:
Yeah. I, and this is a life habit. I mean, just ’cause my whole life is travel, but I wake up super early every day and I’m up for the sunrise and I go for sunrise walks. If you ever follow, especially my Instagram stories, I’d post sunrise almost every day. I think there’s no better way to start the day. I think it’s impossible to have a bad day when you start the day like that.
Cassady Quintana:
Right. That’s why they recommend you get 10 minutes of sunlight every morning. Right. There’s, there’s something to that. So definitely everyone follows Scott’s Instagram so you can get that morning motivation for your walks. Okay. One hotel that is crushing social media right now, or one that you’ve seen recently that you loved?
Scott Eddy:
Wow. That is a great question. Wow. That’s a good question. <laugh>. You can, there’s a lot out there you can tell. I didn’t really go over your notes, <laugh>.
Cassady Quintana:
That’s okay.
Scott Eddy:
I never do. ’cause that’s like the, that’s when you get the raw answers?
Cassady Quintana:
Exactly. And then you overthink it.
Scott Eddy:
Let’s go back to that. Let me think about that for a couple minutes.
Cassady Quintana:
Okay, perfect. Well that was the last rapid fire question I had. So maybe people just need to follow you and find out later..
Scott Eddy:
But let’s talk about brands as a whole. So like, I love, I love fun luxury and I guess they would call them luxury lifestyle or whatever, but I love the one hotels. Okay. All over. I really love, so if you really follow, I used to be, I used to do a lot of work with Ritz Carlton pre pandemic and now they’re just garbage. But horse, the guy who co-founded it started Capella. Capella Hotels is really cool, really fun. It’s just, I like brands that don’t take themselves too seriously. I mean, I hate the whole corporate stuffy stuff. And listen, I’m titanium bonvoy, like I stay in Marriott properties all over the world. Just so I can hit that status. Right. It’s easy because they’re large, they’re boring. The marketing is, I mean it’s, it’s so vanilla, it’s so beige. It’s so like, like it’s forgettable in 10 seconds. Never used to be, and it’s interesting. I remember when W first came out when they were Starwood. W was awesome. I mean fun, great, great, great. Like the marketing was like, just so off the chart and now they just look like any other hotel.
Cassady Quintana:
Which is so interesting. ’cause social media is like the place to be crazy and be fun because there are really no rules. And like why wouldn’t you be, especially if you were that at one time and your competitors are doing that. Why? I wanna, I wanna know like what the logic is behind that. Like are they trying to keep an image or?
Scott Eddy:
No? Well, well the ones that are that fly a big flag like Marriott and Hilton and that, they always hide behind, oh, well I can’t do that. ’cause of brain guidelines. Right? So you can’t show fun. Of course you can, right? They just hide behind the rule book and everything takes 15 approvals. So by the time you do have a good idea and you want to execute it, it’s gone.
Cassady Quintana:
It’s too late. The trend is over.
Scott Eddy:
It’s about speed.
Cassady Quintana:
Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I’ll definitely go check out those brand Instagram pages. ’cause that’s the kind of stuff I like to look at. I mean, that’s what makes me as a traveler, I don’t really have much brand loyalty. So I like to do research and look at their Instagram pages and social media, and I’m gonna pick the one that looks the most fun to me. So super important. Okay. Well as we wrap up, Scott, I’m so excited we had this conversation, but for anybody that’s listening, what are you up to next? Where can they find you? You have any campaigns or exciting things coming up?
Scott Eddy:
I mean, I’m pretty much, I mean, you’re all of this month I’m going, so the, the the top vacation club company and now they’re transforming into just hotels. Nice. But, it’s called Ante in Mexico. So they just launched their ultra luxury cruise line here in the med couple weeks ago. And we’re going out there to film and, and to shoot. That’s the cruise we’re joining on Saturday. And then I’m spending the last two weeks this month in Rome. And then next month I, I’m going to Ellie Miami the first week of June. And then I go to Sicily to speak at a conference. And yeah, so I’m going nonstop and at the same time I’m doing a whole rebrand. So in the next few days I’m launching new website, new logo, new everything. So it’s fun.
Cassady Quintana:
Well, perfect. By the time this episode comes out, you’ll have your full rebrand.
Scott Eddy:
There you go.
Cassady Quintana:
So when people listen to this and they find you, you’ll be ready. So, perfect. Well, I’m excited to, to watch your travels and of course I’m connected with you on LinkedIn and love to see everything that you’re up to. I’ll make sure to follow your Instagram too so I can get that morning inspiration for my Sunrise walks. But thank you so much for taking a little bit of your time out of your day. I know you’re super busy with travel and things going on, so I really appreciate it and I know our listeners do. So thanks for joining me.
Scott Eddy:
Thanks for having me, man.
Cassady Quintana:
All right, cool. Well, thank you everybody for listening to another episode of the Social Success Series, and we’ll see you next time. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so you don’t miss an episode. The Social Success Podcast is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Cassady Quintana, and we hope you enjoyed this episode.
