The Hotel Investor Playbook – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Hotel Investor Playbook

Michael Russell

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 91

Welcome to The Hotel Investor Playbook, hosted by real estate investor and hospitality operator Michael Russell. Michael is the co-founder of Malama Capital and Howzit Hostels, and has built a personal real estate portfolio exceeding $20 million.

With an operator-first mindset, Michael brings a practical perspective to hotel investing. On the show, he breaks down what it actually takes to scale from short-term rentals into boutique hotels, covering deal sourcing, operations, capital strategy, and risk.

Each week, Michael shares real lessons from the field as he builds toward a $400 million real estate business, giving listeners an honest look at the decisions, challenges, and strategies behind the growth. Subscribe and follow along as he documents the journey in real time.

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🇫🇷 France - Investing
04/08/2026
#92

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https://www.malama-capital.com/invest
91 shares
https://www.malama-capital.com/deal-submission
91 shares
https://www.skool.com/ai-for-cre-collective/about?ref=ae39c8e2950a4acab067be4c110aa963
16 shares

https://www.instagram.com/the_hotel_investor_playbook
92 shares
https://www.instagram.com/reachmichael
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https://www.instagram.com/commercial_in_nashville
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/reachmichael/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamdailey/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercauble/
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Score global : 42%

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$500 Million Hotel Broker: Why Your Franchise Flag Might Be Capping Your Hotel's Revenue | Chris Kilcullen E90

Tuesday, July 28, 2026 • Duration 39:39

Chris Kilcullen has spent three decades in hotels, closing more than $500 million in deals as a senior broker at Avison Young. He's also sold franchises, brokered acquisitions for a REIT, and now built his own hotel concept, so he's seen the flag question from every angle. In this episode, he and Michael dig into the real math: why a commodity economy hotel can lose 30 to 40 percent of its value the moment it drops its brand, and why a well-positioned independent or boutique property can out-earn a branded one because it isn't capped by what guests expect to pay for a templated room. They also cover how Hilton and Marriott are using new soft brands to pull independent hotels back into their loyalty ecosystems, the F&B concept Chris is building to fix the one thing every guest complains about, and why some aging economy hotels are worth more converted into workforce housing than they are as hotels.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Michael on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Email Us at info@hotelinvestorplaybook.com

Visit the Hotel Investor Playbook Instagram

Invest with Malama Capital

Submit a deal

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The $1 Billion Investor: Why Now is a Good Time to Buy | Neal Bawa E89

Tuesday, July 14, 2026 • Duration 50:42

He's not a hotel investor. He built his career in multifamily and self-storage, growing a portfolio that peaked near $1 billion across more than 4,000 units. But the way he underwrites deals, ranks markets, and raises capital works across every asset class, hotels included. That's exactly why he's on this show.

Data beats gut feel by a million miles. That's his rule, and in this episode, he breaks down the two metrics he checks before touching any deal, the same ones that predict a hotel's performance as reliably as an apartment complex's.

In this episode, you'll discover:

The two metrics, jobs and supply, that predict a market's future better than population or income growth
Why one new hotel within a mile of yours can cut your ADR by $10 to $20 a night
How he renegotiated a construction loan mid-build to save $3.5 million a year when rates nearly doubled
The two U.S. markets he's bullish on right now, including one riding Big Tech's race for nuclear power
How he runs a 30-person AI workforce off a $100 mini PC and $250 a month

If you're underwriting your next deal on comps and a hunch, this conversation will show you what data-driven investors track instead.

The ADR stat still lands, it's just doing its job in the bullets instead of the opener, so nothing was lost by cutting that paragraph.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Michael on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Email Us at info@hotelinvestorplaybook.com

Visit the Hotel Investor Playbook Instagram

The Travel Influencer With 1.6M Instagram Followers Who Became a Hotel Developer | Jake Snow E88

Tuesday, July 7, 2026 • Duration 01:17:32

Most hotel investors build the product first and spend years chasing an audience to fill it. This guest flipped the order entirely.

In this episode, Michael Russell sits down with a travel content creator who built a following of over a million people, then used years of staying in the world's best hotels to figure out exactly what makes a property worth sharing, and designed his own around it. That audience helped his first Bali hotel hit 80% occupancy in month one and pay back its full construction cost in 18 months, entirely self-funded. He now runs a 250-person company raising capital directly from that same audience to build boutique hotels across Bali and South Africa.

In this episode, you'll discover:

How building an audience before building the asset flips the usual risk profile on a hotel investment
What years of documenting five-star hotels taught him about what actually drives bookings
Why he skipped OTAs almost entirely, and what that did to margins that run 40 to 60%
How he's using fractional ownership to raise capital from his own community instead of institutional money
What it took to scale from one Bali boutique hotel to hotels on two continents
The one red flag he says every investor should check before wiring money into any hospitality fund

If you think an audience is just for influencers chasing likes, this episode will show you how far it can go as a substitute for a marketing budget, and where the real risk still lives.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Jake Snow:

Website is ventore.com

Their latest project is polarity.ventore.com

Instagram: @ventoregroup and

How a $800K Distressed Motel Became a $2.4M Revenue Machine | Michael Russell E87

Tuesday, June 30, 2026 • Duration 01:09:42

Most people walk past the ugly deal. That's exactly why the ugly deal is where the money is.

In this episode, Michael Russell sits in the hot seat as a guest on the Lights On Podcast, sharing the unfiltered story behind how he acquired a rundown one-star motel in Maui during COVID and repositioned it into the number one small hostel in North America, growing annual revenue from $500K to $2.4 million in just a few years.

Co-founder of Howzit Hostels and Malama Capital, Michael has built a hospitality portfolio by finding value where others aren't looking, starting with single-family homes in the post-recession market, scaling through short-term rentals, and eventually buying a motel no one else wanted.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why Michael paid $800K for a property most investors would have ignored, and how seller financing made it possible
The budgeting mistake that nearly destroyed their returns (and why going 40-50% over budget is more common than anyone admits)
How the Lahaina fires wiped out short-term rental income overnight and what it taught him about cash reserves the hard way
The real math on OTAs vs. direct bookings that most independent operators get wrong
Why Michael started The Hotel Investor Playbook with zero interest in monetizing it, and what that means for the conversations he's willing to have

If you're serious about finding your first hotel deal or scaling what you've already built, this episode will save you from some expensive assumptions. The unglamorous path is usually the most profitable one.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Michael on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Email Us at info@hotelinvestorplaybook.com

The Wellness ROI Audit Every Boutique Hotel Owner Needs to Run | Emily Johnson E86

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 • Duration 34:04

In this episode, you'll learn how to diagnose whether your property is actually a candidate for wellness positioning, and if it is, how to implement it in a way that lifts ADR without blowing out your expense line.

A hospitality strategist who spent 20 years in hotel sales and development before building a consulting practice around wellness revenue joins us to share the playbook she's used across independent properties worldwide. Emily Johnson's approach has helped properties drive occupancy lifts and ADR increases with near-zero incremental cost by tapping into what they already have.

In this episode, you'll discover:

The 3 questions every owner should ask before spending a dollar on wellness
Why a Thailand beachfront property was getting crushed on rate until one strategy drove a 15% occupancy lift and $40 ADR increase in a single quarter
The low-cost local partnership model that turns empty meeting rooms into revenue
Why most "wellness hotels" are faking it and how guests always find out
The pre-arrival touchpoint that nearly every hotel is missing is costing real revenue
How a mountain property with no unique story repositioned around one experiential amenity and sold out glass-ceiling cabins at $1,000 a night

If you're an independent operator trying to compete without throwing capital at the problem, this episode will show you where to start.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Emily Johnson

Website: https://www.elevatehospitalitycollective.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygoretskyjohnson/

Connect with Michael on Instagram or .

The $0-Down Hotel Deal That Still Cost $1.5 Million | Christian Osgood E85

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 • Duration 53:37

It took zero dollars of his own money to buy a $4.5 million waterfront resort. It took three years and over a million and a half dollars out of pocket just to keep it.

In this episode, you'll discover the deal, debt, equity sequence he says has never failed to raise capital on a good deal, and exactly when a joint venture beats a syndication.

A multifamily investor who scaled to over 600 rental units, and once raised $10 million without a following or a dollar from family, walks through the one hospitality deal that broke all his usual rules. Christian Osgood unpacks exactly where his due diligence missed the mark, and the strategy he used to turn a struggling resort into a self-sustaining cash machine.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Spot the hidden payroll problem that makes a mom-and-pop hotel's books lie to you
Avoid the seller-financing structure that can wipe out a full year of cash flow in one payment
Turn dead event space into guaranteed income through master leasing, fixed checks every month, with zero staffing or cleanup
Combine a $1,000 a month ad budget with free community events to drive a 43% profit jump in twelve months
Apply the deal, debt, equity framework before you ever start looking for investors
Decide when a joint venture beats a syndication so you can skip the legal headaches

If you're underwriting a boutique hotel or resort deal, this conversation could save you from learning these lessons the expensive way.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Christian Osgood

Website: https://multifamilystrategy.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Multifamilystrategy

The Boutique Hotel Mistake Killing Your Occupancy (And the Fix That Took One Operator From 40% to 80%) | Hillary Folkvord E84

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 • Duration 49:22

Most boutique hotel operators are leaving serious money on the table, not because of bad locations or bad products, but because of bad marketing fundamentals that nobody told them about.

In this episode, you'll hear exactly how one operator diagnosed a 40% occupancy problem and fixed it, taking her Bozeman boutique property to 80% occupancy with a $3,000 monthly marketing budget.

A sixth-generation Montanan who started running a historic hotel at 23, sold her first property after 18 years for a strong return, and now generates $800 to $1,200 a night at a 13-cottage luxury retreat, joins us to share what she learned the hard way. Hillary Folkvord's approach to brand-building, revenue management, and sensory guest experience has turned roadside properties into some of the most talked-about boutique stays in Montana.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why fighting OTAs is costing independent operators bookings, and what to do instead
The three sensory touchpoints that drive repeat guests and word-of-mouth referrals
How a $7M renovation mistake on a 1950s motel changed how she evaluates every deal today
The napkin math framework her family uses to stress-test any acquisition in under an hour
Why 100% occupancy is not actually a good thing, and what to aim for instead
How to build a brand that drives bookings even when you're not the face of it

If you're building a boutique hotel and still figuring out your marketing stack, your brand, or how to stop being the bottleneck in your own business, this episode is required listening. Hillary's been through it all, and she's not holding back.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Hillary Folkvord:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-folkvord-b777b313/

From $50 in His Bank Account to a 140-Key Hotel in Italy | Emanuele Pani E83

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 • Duration 34:09

What happens when you find a deal that could change everything, but you've drained your bank account just to close it?

In this episode, you'll hear exactly how one operator went from cleaning parking lots to owning the building, and what that journey taught him about risk, focus, and building a business that doesn't need you in it every day.

A vertically integrated hospitality operator who built an 84-door portfolio across two countries and is now pursuing a 140-key historic hotel in Sardinia, Italy, joins us to share how he thinks about scaling from short-term rentals into boutique hotels. Emanuele Pani's path from maintenance guy to multi-market operator is full of hard-won lessons most investors learn too late.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why STR investors drastically under-budget when they buy their first hotel (and what it actually costs)
How to find off-market deals by doing something most investors won't
The capital stack strategy for financing a hotel deal in Europe as a U.S.-based investor
Why the first hire matters more than the first system when scaling operations
The shiny object mistake that slowed his growth for 4 years and how to avoid it
How to structure a hybrid hotel and residence model to reduce acquisition risk

If you're serious about making the leap from short-term rentals into boutique hotels, this episode will save you from the most expensive assumptions investors make on their first deal. Don't skip the part about what breaks first when you try to scale.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Emanuele Pani:

Instagram: @epani.mindset

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuele-pani-0b2970105/

This Contractor Built a $6M Hospitality Brand With $90K and Zero Outside Investors | Chris Broomfield E82

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 • Duration 36:02

Most people assume you need outside investors, a big budget, or a prime location to build a profitable hospitality brand. This episode proves otherwise.

In this episode, you'll learn exactly how one builder went from working as a contractor to owning a luxury micro resort that nets over half a million dollars a year, with no syndication, no partners, and no fancy market.

A builder and founder who bootstrapped a five-cabin luxury brand from $90,000 out of pocket joins the show to break down how he did it. Chris Broomfield built Evergreen Cabins in a town of 3,000 people in rural New York, starting with a piece of land bought from a friend and materials scraped from his contracting jobs. Today, the brand has a couple of hundred thousand Instagram followers, a 40,000-person email list, and a portfolio valued at nearly $6 million.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why sweat equity can outperform raising capital, and what the math actually looks like when you build it yourself
How a single guest's TikTok generated 7 million views and booked the property out for three years straight
The pricing mistake that likely cost Chris $200,000 to $300,000, and how to avoid it with dynamic pricing tools
How he went from 100% Airbnb-dependent to nearly 90% direct bookings using a $100 lead magnet and email marketing
Why he turned down investor after investor, and what that decision means for his eventual exit at a $10M target
The 10% savings rule he now teaches his 14-year-old son, and why he believes anyone can do this

If you've been sitting on the idea of building a micro resort or boutique hospitality concept and keep telling yourself you don't have enough capital to start, this episode will either light a fire under you or call your bluff. Don't miss Chris's breakdown of exactly what it costs to operate five luxury cabins, and what it really takes to get to a $500K gross income without a single outside dollar.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Chris Broomfield:
Website: Email: info@evergreencabins.comInstagram:

Stop Deferring Your Joy: How High-Performing Leaders Stay Sharp Without Burning Out | Mike Messeroff E81

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 • Duration 35:57

You hit your targets. You built the business. So why does it still feel like something's missing?

In this episode, you'll discover why deferring your happiness until the next deal, the next promotion, or the next milestone is quietly destroying your leadership, your team culture, and your returns.

A personal freedom coach who has spent 30 years in hospitality and now works exclusively with CEOs and top executives joins the show to share the self-leadership framework that changes how high-achievers show up at work and at home. His approach isn't about slowing down. It's about not losing your life chasing a goal you never actually defined.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why money amplifies who you already are, and why that's a problem if you're running on empty
The 2-3 minute morning practice that measurably reduces reactivity and improves decision-making
Why "work-life balance" is a myth, and the reframe that actually works for ambitious operators
How a present, grounded leader produces better team performance, higher morale, and fewer fires to put out
The gratitude practice that rewires how your brain responds to setbacks
Why deferring joy is a skill you've been accidentally training for decades

If you're serious about building something that lasts without sacrificing the life you're building it for, this episode will give you a practical starting point. Don't skip it just because it doesn't have a cap rate in the title.

If you found value in this episode, take 30 seconds to leave us a review here. It helps more people find the podcast and keeps us bringing on great guests.

Connect with Mike Messeroff

Website: https://www.mikemesseroff.com

Website: https://www.thecircleoffreethinkers.com/

The Hotel Investor Playbook – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Hotel Investor Playbook – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

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Latest published episodes

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Apple Podcasts

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Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

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