Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

Tune in to this special episode of the Suite Spot to hear from two very special guests of the International Luxury Hotel Association. First off, President of the ILHA, Barak Hirschowitz, and Co-Founder of the association, Jonathan Edelheit, join the podcast to preview the upcoming INSPIRE USA conference taking place on December 10-11, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  These two luxury hospitality experts discuss several important topics in this episode, including the humble origin of the ILHA, how the luxury hotel market is leading the industry in innovation, what attendees can look forward to from INSPIRE USA 2025, 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. Welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot, episode 185, and from the title we are previewing another hospitality event. One of my favorite things to do look at, and this one, it's a first timer for me, not certainly for our guests. I'm gonna bring them and we're gonna talk all about it. The Inspire USA event hosted by ILHA, the International Luxury Hotel Association. My two guests with me today, Barak Hirschowitz, President of the ILHA, and Jonathan Edelheit, co-founder of the ILHA, Barak, Jon, thank you so much for taking the time and checking into the Suite Spot with me. Barak Hirschowitz: Well, thank you. It's wonderful to be here and great to meet you. Ryan Embree: And we're excited about it, excited about the event, but before we get into that, I wanna just start with a little bit of hospitality background. We always love to kind of start there. Hospitality's such a funky industry. People come from different brands, they come from different backgrounds. Sometimes they fall into it, sometimes they fall into the industry with a summer job, sometimes they're born into the industry. So I figured let's go ahead and give our Suite Spot audience a little bit of background into your hospitality journey and what led you to the ILHA Barak. We'll start with you and then go to Jon. Barak Hirschowitz: Yeah, thanks. So I started in the industry in the late, late eighties, early nineties. I went to Johnson Wales. I started as a, I started in culinary, as many people do in the hotel industry. And those were interesting times because back then there were really only a couple of places you get a degree in culinary arts. So it led me to, you know, travel abroad, which was great. I started, just before I went overseas, I did an internship at the Grand Floridian, which believe it or not, was still a fairly new hotel back then. And then started working abroad internationally, moved eventually to more the hotel side of the business. I worked in South Africa for some very well-known hotel brands. Sun International. Sun International is Saul K's original brand that he had when he was still based in South Africa. So that, you know, today we know him for Atlantis and we know him for one, um, one and only hotels. But, um, back then he had Sun International, so I worked with him. I worked for a company called Halian Hotels, which had, uh, luxury hotels in, in South Africa, and actually a few up Africa as well. And, um, I had an opportunity, I guess my sort of real push, first push into luxury was in the late nineties. I got to help open a hotel called Bushman's Klu in South Africa, which is a luxury safari lodge. The year, within a year of opening, we, um, we became a member of Relay and Chateau, which was a pretty prestigious, uh, pretty prestigious organization. And after I left a couple of years later, the hotel went on to win Best Hotel in the world, um, travel and Leisure. So, you know, that was a, it was really a, a great opportunity to see the best of the best in the world. I still to this day think it's probably the most luxurious property I've ever stayed in, and still the best service, uh, that I've ever seen in any hotel.

Check out the latest Suite Spot episode featuring SVP and CMO at Best Western Hotels, Joelle Park! Joelle joins the Suite Spot to discuss the incredible BWH portfolio, their Life’s a Trip campaign, marketing to different traveler segments, 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. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree, here for another special edition of The Suite Spot. I am so excited to bring in our guest today. We're gonna be talking about everything, the Best Western Hotels and Resorts brand, but also marketing that is, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Joelle Park. Thank you so much, Joelle, for being on the Suite Spot with me today. Joelle Park: Thank you for having me, Ryan. Ryan Embree: We're gonna have a great conversation about marketing, about your wonderful brand. Some of the recognitions that the brand has seen recently. And we're gonna talk about some industries trends as well. But as per tradition here at the Suite Spot and really hospitality, we love to hear everyone's kind of journey story that led you in. You know, sometimes we have people just fall into the industry, but at the end of the day, a lot of people fall in love with our industry 'cause hospitality is one of the, if not best industries to work in. Talk to us a little bit about your story, Joelle, and what led you to SVP and CMO at Best Western Hotel and Resorts. Joelle Park: Thanks, Ryan. Well, I'm really excited to be here and it sounds like many others. I have fallen into hospitality and fallen in love. I've spent over two decades in marketing overall working across brand strategy, customer experience, communications, and on every project, every account, it's about driving results through innovative marketing. Early in my career, I started agency site and I partnered up some incredible brands in retail, entertainment, technology, and my last client was hospitality. And that's where I fell in love with the industry. And now I've spent really more than 16 years in hospitality telling compelling stories. I have a love of travel personally, but I also just believe in the power of travel to make the world a better place. So I've been fortunate to take on some leadership roles spanning across loyalty. Now product development and something I'm especially passionate about is culture and customer experience, because the most powerful form of advertising really is the customer experience here at BWH Hotels. I have the privilege of leading our marketing, communications, loyalty and partnerships teams, and that's encompassing of Best Western rewards and Worlds Hotels rewards. So excited to share more about what we're up to. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it's exciting to hear and it's interesting because hospitality, you talk to a lot of hoteliers in the hospitality world, and they say, although it's a massive industry, right, it's a very small world. You run into people that you know all the time. Sometimes you're working with one brand, then you go to another brand. But I always find it fascinating to find stories like yours, Joelle, where you start outside of hospitality maybe, and then find your way into it. Because I do think that really does show the passion and love that people have towards our industry because once that bug, you know, and it happens to travel too, it grabs a hold of you. It's hard to let go. And here you are. And a lot of the hospitality professionals that I have spoken to they've had that exposure to other industries. And there's just something about hospitality that is so special. And I think you nailed it on the head about talking about the power that travel has. And one of the things within travel is storytelling. And I've heard you in other interviews talk about your passion and storytelling, especially,

The Suite Spot takes a trip to central Florida to visit the incredible AC Hotel Orlando Downtown, part of the Kolter Hospitality portfolio. The Regional Director of Food & Beverage at Kolter, Robert Mason, joins the Suite Spot to discuss: Seasonal Menus F&B in the Guest Experience How Kolter Hospitality is Shaping F&B The Importance of a Social Presence for a Hotel Property Be sure to tune in to catch the whole episode. 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, continuing our series of the Suite Spot Road Trip into the summer a little bit coming into the fall. I'm here with right down the road from our Travel Media Group headquarters, I-4. I know you probably hear that and think might be a long way away. I-4 can be congested sometimes, but not too bad of a drive here. We're gonna talk about that today. I'm here with Robert Mason, Regional Director of Food and Beverage at Kolter Hospitality. Robert, thank you so much for joining the Suite Spot. Hey, thanks for having me. And we're gonna talk a little bit about your property today. We're gonna talk a lot about the portfolio and your job here as the Food and Beverage Director, but I do want to get to, as it is, tradition here on the Suite Spot, get to know a little bit about your background and what led you to Kolter Hospitality. Robert Mason: Wow. So I've been 42 years in food and beverage. It's all I've ever done. It's all I know. I started in the culinary side. I worked all the way up to executive chef. I actually studied under a master chef in San Francisco Bay Area and, had a really fun journey through culinary for about two decades. And about 15 years ago, I made the transition to the dark side, as I say, got into the front of house operations. and it's been a great journey. Work brought me to Orlando. In San Fransico, I was kind of a small fish in a big pond, but here I'm kind of, was kind of a big fish in a small pond, so to speak. Yeah, but Orlando has certainly grown and developed over the last 20 years that I've been here. And just having fun. And this opportunity actually came up right in the middle of COVID. I came from a much larger property down in South Orlando. And the reason I took this job was couple full first, you know, I like the company culture. I liked the fact that the Skybar had so much to offer. I saw the potential right away. And it's a smaller, easier to manage kind of thing 'cause everything's in one place as opposed to a big sprawling resort with 15 outlets and that kind of thing. But I have stayed with the company because I really do enjoy all the people I get to work with Sarah, I know, you know, Sarah and John from our corporate office and Scott, our president, they just do a wonderful job. And they're really people first. We're a really people first company. So I believe in the vision here and that's why I stay. It's awesome to hear. And your story resonates coast to coast, but I think it's a true example of hospitality professionalism. 'cause it's transferable skills, right? Yeah. You know, you can work at a hotel, whether you're in food and beverage on one side of the country, and then move all the way to the other, side of the country, like your story. And here you are in Orlando, before we get to talk about your property and this beautiful skybar that we're in right now,right behind us, I four can throw a rock to the Kia Center, Citrus Bowl right over there. Orlando City Stadium. For those that aren't familiar, Robert, that might be listening to this podcast, paint a picture of why this is just the perfect intersection and location. You've got yourself a great location here. Robert Mason: We really do. We really do. So, you know, I always tell people we're kind of three different operations within one.

The busy summer travel season is just about wrapped up, which means the Suite Spot is due for another quarterly check-in with the American Hotel & Lodging Association to get the latest news and developments taking place in the hospitality industry.  AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta joins the Suite Spot to discuss current hotel trends, industry challenges, the importance of mentors and mentees in hospitality, and 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. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree. So happy that you are listening to us here and ready to bring you another incredible episode with our quarterly check-in with AHLA in a preview of the 2025 Hospitality Show. It's my immense privilege to welcome in our special guest for today's episode, President and CEO, Rosanna Mietta. Rosanna, thank you so much for being with me on the back on the Suite Spot. Rosanna Maietta: Good to see you again, Ryan. Thanks for having us. Ryan Embree: Yeah, we're excited to talk about the Hospitality Show. We're excited to talk about AHLA. What we've been up to last time we were together was at NYU IHIF. Since then, the AHLA and the hospitality industry in general has been super busy, that super travel season, that hoteliers love to see travel all over the across the country. Catch us up on some of the top issues AHLA is focusing on right now and maybe some of the key wins that have happened year to date. Rosanna Maietta: Sure. It's been an incredibly busy summer. There's nothing like a quiet summer anymore. We've had a lot going on both in Washington and around the country. Obviously, the most important thing the administration has been focused on over the last six months of this year was passing the one big beautiful bill, which while it had many, many provisions tucked away in it, the ones that our industry was really focused on were those that impacted our small business community, our franchise community, and our employees. So we were focused on passing provisions like the 100% bonus depreciation and making that permanent, preserving the like kind exchange, deferring capital gains tax on real estate at point of sale. All those changes will help the industry reinvest and grow. But we also helped to promote the no tax on tips, which will support 800,000 employees in the industry who benefit from tips. And so we're working on what that guidance actually looks like once that detail is developed and how, and educating our employers on how they can roll that out to their employees, but also provisions around overtime and child tax credit and family medical leave. So all of those things, were really important to our industry. And so we were really pleased to help get that over the finish line. Outside of Washington, there has been a lot going on, whether it is advancing legislation in markets like Boston or Philadelphia on human trafficking training and prevention, which our industry has been leading on to working in Los Angeles, where we have seen over the last two years very intense work around pushing back against onerous regulations that would essentially increase wages for the industry by 40% overnight. Simply a situation we cannot, we cannot handle because demand is so low in Los Angeles, it's second to only San Francisco. And San Francisco in terms of occupancy, has been starting to see an uptick, whereas Los Angeles has not, it has not come back to pre-COVID levels. So we've been working really aggressively there with the business community to push back on that ordinance that has gone into law, but we are still working with city council to try to make some amendments that would make sure that the travel and hospitality sector is strong, especially in the lead up to some of these bigger events that we're anticipating next year,

The 2025 Hospitality Show is fast approaching! While it is only a couple of months away, it will take place in Denver, Colorado, on October 26-28. Alexi Khajavi, President of Questex—Hospitality, Travel, & Wellness, joins the Suite spot to discuss the upcoming event and what attendees can look forward to this year.  Alexi shares insight on:  New Interactive Zones & Networking at THS 2025 Questex’s Quest Zero Sustainability Initiative The Changing Landscape of Hospitality Digital Marketing and the Importance of Social Media for Travel 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. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. So happy to be with you today, previewing the 2025 Hospitality Show. Yes, it is that time of year, this year. We are headed out to Denver in October. We're gonna talk all about it, with a very frequent guest, a Suite Spot veteran at this point, Alexi Khajavi, Questex President, Hospitality and Real Estate. Alexi, thank you so much for being on the Suite Spot once again with us. Alexi Khajavi: Ryan, great to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah. We're gonna talk about the Hospitality Show, but it is crazy to think that this, we had you back on the podcast in 2023 when this was first announced, and here we are today. You know, this is three years strong. This is the third year going into it. You know, I wanted to start with you. We've talked about your journey. We've talked about your role, some of the mentors along the way. I'd love to just hear from you, Alexi, if we could go back to that podcast in 2023. What do you think the biggest change in hospitality that you've seen over these last few years? Alexi Khajavi: I'd say it's half and half. I mean, on one hand, I think we were, we were absolutely correct and spot on in that hotel profitability and the complexity in hotel operations would only increase and would be in terms of achieving profitability would become harder, and more challenging. And I think we were right in that assessment and we continue to see a lot of challenges in the space. And now we're starting to turn into negative territory in terms of operating performance with RevPAR ADRs and occupancy, which is normal, right? I mean, this is a cyclical, industry and it's an industry that is dependent on the macro economy. So, we've had an incredible run, but I think looking back in 2023, we absolutely got that right. It was only gonna become increasingly more complicated and challenging, and that therefore profits would also be challenging in turn. What I don't think we anticipated was how massively AI would start to impact not only our industry, but our world. And it is increasingly becoming, I think it's, it's gonna have a much more deeper impact on, in a shorter time than what we anticipated back in 2023. And not all of that, by the way, is negative. There's a lot of positive opportunities that come out from AI, but I think we're all trying to figure it out right now in the hospitality industry. Could be both a beneficiary, but will certainly and undoubtedly be impacted by it. But those are two things that I think we got right, and one, I think we, we didn't anticipate the enormity of the impact of AI. Ryan Embree: Yeah, or the acceleration. I mean, in a industry whose technology adoption is typically slower than most, we're, we're up there right now, I mean, or at least hoteliers. And the market feels like hospitality is trying to embrace this maybe differently than other technological fads, right. And I think it's really, really cool to see, you ever want to explain the complexity of hospitality to someone who doesn't know hospitality? Go to the Hospitality Show and see all the vendors that are on that showcase list, and you're gonna see everything over there. And I think that's why hoteliers, I know I certainly I do,

The next stop on the Suite Spot: Road Trip takes us to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to visit the newly opened Hyatt Place with special guest and Dual Property Sales Manager - Jennifer Odom!  Jennifer sits down with host Ryan Embree to discuss how a special property, such as the Hyatt Place Cape Canaveral, leverages its space coast location, social media, and community engagement to grow business and provide an exceptional guest experience. 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, in another edition of our Suite Spot Road Trip. We are just right down the road. If you could see the view that I'm looking at right now, the cruise ships coming in the ocean right here behind us. We are here on the Space Coast. We wanna welcome in Jennifer Odom, Dual Sales Manager at the Hyatt Place, Cape Canaveral. Thank you so much for hosting us at your brand new beautiful property, Jennifer. Jennifer Odom: Yes, thank you. No, it's a pleasure to have you here. We appreciate the opportunity and are just thrilled to share with everyone just what a fabulous property we do have here on the Space Coast in Cape Canaveral. Ryan Embree: It's incredible. We're gonna talk all about it, but before that, We were, we wanted to learn a little bit about you. Share with our Suite Spot audience your hospitality background and the journey that led you to opening this brand new Hyatt Place. Jennifer Odom: Absolutely love to. So I've actually been here in this area alone for 25 years. I was the typical story of the grandparents were the snowbirds that moved from Indiana and we followed. I came down one year and was like, why am I gonna go back to Indiana when I have all this with the beach and you know, the launches of the shuttles and so forth. And so that's what drew me here. I ended up moving and as a young teenager, I had actually worked in a gift shop that was kind of connected between a hotel and a restaurant. And the front desk people would always come over and we would chat while they're getting snacks and stuff, and they're like, oh my gosh, John Glynn was just on our lobby, the famous astronaut, Buzz Aldrin's here. And I'm like, how old do I have to be to come over and work at the desk? And so as soon as I turned 18, that's where you would find me. So I started off my career at the front desk, was at that limited service property and then found out I had a real passion for it and ended up at a full service property right in Cocoa Beach, just six miles from us here. A different, a brand that I was with for about 20 years. So just got to experience everything from, you know, working, starting off front desk to a catering admin, to a group coordinator, to catering sales manager. I mean, I've worn all the hats, all of it. All the way up to a DOS. So, and then super excited, I'd taken a little break and what was phenomenal is I'd seen the article about the hotel here and at the time there was so many different properties that were being built around the area and just because of all the different markets and the growth. And what I actually found was that article and I was like, oh, I forgot, like that's right, like this property. Like I've gotta go check it out. And so I came over and I did a tour right when they had the soft opening in February. And as soon as I went up to our rooftop bar, I was like, oh, wow, I could sell this like this, this is my property. So then that is how I came to the Hyatt Place here in Cape Canaveral. Ryan Embree: It's so cool that, you know, I think hospitality is one of those industries where it's because we're all travelers, right? We all traveled as young children, maybe with our parents, and then we get to transition into, you know, maybe working the front desk in those entry level jobs. And then here you are and you've got a great career and yo...

Special guest David Audrain, CEO of Exposition Development Company, joins the Suite Spot to discuss the upcoming 2025 Independent Hotel Show Miami and how Expo DevCo develops, facilitates, and hosts the convention. Attendees will also learn what they can look forward to from this year’s event and much more in the episode. 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. We have reached the crescendo of our Independent Hotel Show series. It is fast approaching here and with me to preview the Independent Hotel show. Miami got a very special guest, David Arin, CEO, and partner of Expo Devco, which owns and produces the Independent Hotel Show Miami. David, thank you so much for joining me. I'm excited to talk about this event that is just around the corner here. David Audrain: Thank you, Ryan. I'm very happy to be here with you and always happy to talk about our show. Ryan Embree: Yes, it's an incredible show. We're gonna talk about the history, but before we get into talking about the show, what you have geared up for Miami Beach in September. I wanna first talk about maybe your career journey and what led you to Expo Devco and your involvement with the Independent Hotel show, Miami. David Audrain: Well, I'll, I'll try not to bore everybody with too much detail, but, I grew up in Europe, to a English Father, American mother, born in the us, grew up in Europe, little island of Jersey, the original one, not the new one. Right off the French Coast. Actually, my father and his father's business before was a Green Grocers, wholesale and retail green grocery business. So, I actually was walking in the back doors of kitchens of independent hotels from a very early age and always had some good contacts and good friends in the hotel business growing up and going forward. Ended up leaving Europe and moving to the US Back in 1989, I'd sold a technology business and moved to the US and ended up working for an association, happened to be the Texas Restaurant Association. And my very first trade show was a substantial show in Texas for the restaurant and hospitality industry. And that's what got me hooked on the trade show business. So I've now been in the trade show business for 33 years, and worked for several major, some of the largest trade show organizers in the world. I've produced some of the largest trade shows in the world, everything from the largest automotive aftermarket show to the largest floor covering show to the largest apparel fashion, manufacturing industry shows. And ended up running the North American business for a major European company called Messer Frankfurt. Ran that for seven odd years. And then in January of 2012, my partner, who happens to also be my wife, Stephanie Everett and I left that business and started Exposition Development company, Expo Devco. We've partnered over the years with several companies out of Europe and produce different shows. And the one that's obviously relevant to here is the independent hotel show. The company that originally launched the Independent Hotel show in London is a company called Montgomery Group. They're a 130 year old family exhibition business. And they had started the Independent Hotel show in London, more than a dozen years ago. And I happened to visit it and talk with my friends that owned the Montgomery and really liked what they were doing with it, the specific niche for independent hotel, independent luxury boutique hotel operators. And that's how, that's how we, we first got started. Ryan Embree: It's an incredible story. You've seen it all, but hospitality being the one that brought you into, being your first show, I think is super special to hear. And that's, I think the beauty of hospitality, David, is that, you know, we all get to experience it. Maybe some of those other,

The next episode in the Suite Spot: Road Trip series takes travelers to the newly renovated Marriott Pompano Beach Resort in Sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida! The resort's General Manager, Leslie Weil, sits down on the podcast to share with audiences the transformative renovation, unique dining options, and enhanced guest experience. Tune in now. 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 as you can tell, we are not in our Suite Spot podcast studio. Instead, we are on site at the beautiful Pompano Beach Marriott Resort. I'm here with GM, Leslie Weil. Leslie, thank you so much for hosting us here at your beautiful reimagined property. We're gonna get to it today. Leslie Weil: Thank you for having me. Excited to have you. Ryan Embree: And this is kind of a combination, of a couple different series and we're gonna share why that is special. Your alma mater, which we're gonna talk about in a moment. But we've got so much exciting stuff happening right here on property. But before we get into that, we always love to hear kind of the background of hospitality professionals. Sometimes you're jumping from place to place, sometimes you're local, born into the industry. Tell us a little bit about your story. Leslie Weil: So, I was not born into the industry, but I knew very young that this is what I wanted to do. At 15 years old I said I wanna study hospitality and I've stuck to it for over 30 years now. I absolutely love what I do and I'm from Peru. I was born and raised there. And then after high school, I studied for one year in Peru and I moved to Miami to study hospitality in FIU. FIU is a wonder for a school. It gave me a really great beginning in the industry and I have not looked back ever since. I've worked everywhere from hostels to luxury hotels at all over Latin America and the United States. So really I was lucky enough to start in housekeeping and in the kitchen and then I just got to grow to be in a GM and I love it. Ryan Embree: I love hearing that story. It's something that we're actually hearing more of now. Are people going to school for hospitality? Before it was, I fell into the industry, fell in love with it, and now we're seeing that intentionality into hospitality. I think it's because of stories that you hear sometimes from mentors about seeing and obviously just the love of travel. Right? I think that that's, that's comes with it. Leslie Weil: I really think the love of travel and the love of meeting people. Always merging into what can I do with those traits? And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, hospitality. And I think as a career, hospitality is a career that offers a little bit of every career into one. Yes. And hospitality is a world of sub worlds. So really it is true that still, I feel like there's a lot of people that fall into it. Like, you need a summer job and often sudden you love it and decide that that's what you're gonna do with your life. Yeah. But I think being able to study it and understanding all the components from a hospitality standpoint really gives you an advantage as you start your career. Ryan Embree: And a lot of transferable skills as well. Where you know, you can be at a property in the Midwest and then move to a beautiful property here right on the beach right behind us. And that's what we're gonna talk about next. Leslie, is this complete, we've visited at the perfect time, right? You would say the complete reimagining of your rooms, your suites, amenities, your pool restaurant. Talk to us a little bit about this project and kind of the journey that got you here. Leslie Weil: So I have not been here for as long as the renovation has been but my team has. And it was definitely, a very long but very well thought of project. It was fully reimagined.

Tune in to the next episode of the Suite Spot: Independent Hotel Show series to catch special guest Nicholas Gold, who takes center stage on the podcast! As Managing Director of Black Desert Resort, Nicholas shares the early beginnings of his hospitality journey, the one-of-a-kind appeal of independent hotels, and how the newly opened Black Desert Resort is accentuating the guest experience in hospitality. 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, or Ryan Embree here for another edition of our Independent Hotel Show series, episode #3, and we are getting closer and closer to September down where we are gonna have the largest collection of independent hoteliers and network. We are so excited to hopefully see you down in Miami Beach, September 17th and 18th. We're gonna talk about that a little bit more, but I'm gonna bring in my guest right now, managing director Black Desert Resort and Red Mountain Resort, Nicholas Gold. Nicholas, thank you so much for being on the Suite Spot. Nicholas Gold: Ryan. My absolute pleasure. Cheers. Ryan Embree: Well, we're gonna have a fun time on this episode talking about your beautiful resort in Utah. I'm so excited. But before we get into that, before we start talking about the Independent Hotel show, which we're both here for, let's talk about your hospitality journey and the story that led you to a Black Desert Resort. Nicholas Gold: Yeah, sure. You know, it's, I started when I was too young to know any better in the hospitality business. I at a fairly young age, I was working in a restaurant in London. I was the guy, you know, I'm relatively old, so we did a lot of tableside cooking back then, and I was the gang who worked the Gary Don, and that really spoke to me because it led me to, it fed my love of storytelling, which I've just been able to expand upon as I've grown in the industry, and that that juxtaposition between service and storytelling really is what the Independent Luxury Hotel is all about. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it absolutely is. Nicholas completely agree with you. Every amazing independent hotel has a story. You know, sometimes, sometimes it's challenging in the, in independent hotel space. Give our listeners a little bit, you, you say you love storytelling. Give our, our listeners a little bit of story about the property that you have the privilege of, of managing over there at the massive Black Desert Resort. Nicholas Gold: Yeah. So we are in about 600 acres just by snow Canyon State Park, and we do a really good job of blending luxury hospitality with golf, wellness, dining, a huge residential living component. We're building right now, we're about to break ground on a 24-court world championship pickleball complex, which is certainly the wave of the future. And we just finished working on the designs for a four and a half acre waterpark, which is not gonna be open to the public, only open to our members and hotel guests. Ryan Embree: Absolutely incredible. And I think, it's funny, we're talking about storytelling here in, in independent hotels because you, you're able to write your own story sometimes and be able to adjust and adapt to trends that you see out there. I see you mentioned wellness, a huge trend in hospitality right now, being able to do some unique things in that space. Pickleball, even on the amenity side, being able to do that and who doesn't love, I've got a couple young ones, who doesn't love a nice little waterpark to relax at as well. Nicholas Gold: I would also be remiss in missing the fact that I think we're one of the only courses in the country to host both an LPGA tour and a PGA tour. Ryan Embree: Incredible. Nicholas Gold: It is pretty good. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Listen, when those young ones are at the waterpark,

The Suite Spot Spotlight Series takes viewers to sunny Key West in the newest episode, featuring the lavish and beachside resort, Casa Marina Key West by Hilton!  Special guest and Hotel Manager at Casa Marina, Evelyn Summer, joins the podcast to share the property's rich history, insight on the $90 million hotel renovation, and how a strong digital presence on social media and guest review platforms plays a pivotal role in connecting with travelers worldwide. 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 Embee. Hello everyone. Ryan Embree here with the Suite Spot. We are here with our Suite Spot Spotlight series, and what I would argue is going to be the southern most episode we ever do on this Spotlight series. We'll explain in a moment, I'm gonna bring in my guest, Evelyn Summer, Hotel Manager of Casa Marina, Key West Curio Collection by Hilton. Evelyn, thank you so much for being with me on the podcast. Evelyn Summer: Thanks for having me, Ryan. Ryan Embree: Well, thank you for inviting me here to this incredible property. We're gonna talk all about it, but before, as tradition on the Suite Spot, we'd love to hear from hospitality professionals, their journey, their background. This is like every hotel professional's dream to be at a property like this. How'd you get here? Evelyn Summer: Ryan, you said that it's your Southern most broadcast, but it's also the best broadcast. You're gonna have to. That's true. I mean, come on, look at where we're at. How did I get here? Well, fun fact. I am from Key West. Okay. Yeah. So my family originates from down here. My grandfather's from Key Largo, my mother's from down here. And I've been here my whole life. Not to say that I haven't moved and, you know, went to college, worked in a couple of different areas, but I've been in Key West for about 90% of my life. Yeah. And started working here at these two properties probably in 2008. However, fun fact is that all of our high school proms and homecomings and family worked here. There's a lot of it. It was further back than 2008. Sure. When I actually officially became employed. So I can easily say that I grew up here. Ryan Embree: Yeah. We hear that all the time from hoteliers is like them actually living in the hotel sometimes. And you have like your entire history here and now here you are making more memories for guests all around the world. Very, very cool to see. And this property is iconic. It's got a history dating back to the 1920s. We're gonna talk about the recent renovation and transformation that it just had, but talk to us, to our listeners about the origin story of this property and its history. Evelyn Summer: Sure. Yeah. So Casa Marina was built, opened in 1920 New Year's Eve, 1920 to be exact. It was built by Henry Flagler. He was an industrialist that built the railroad that connects essentially New York all the way down to the southernmost point. And interesting fact is that Henry and his partners were the first to create the, and I'm not a railroad specialist, but the railroads that could connect to other railroad lines way, way, way back. Whenever someone would built a railroad, that was it. That track was just their track and you couldn't interconnect it with someone else's track Yeah. And use theirs. And he was able to create that. And then his dream was to build a way to get people all the way down to Key West. So he built us one, the old bridges that you see when you're traveling down to get people on a train all the way down to Key West. And then of course, once he figured that out, they needed a place to stay. So Casa Marina was it. And that's about 105 years ago. Ryan Embree: I mean, I think that's absolutely incredible. I mean, the fact that we're talking about the origin of connecting railroads and aligning with the history of this, of this space,

The next episode in the Suite Spot: Road Trip series takes the podcast to Central Florida to visit the incredible Homewood Suites by Hilton nearest to Universal Studios!  In this exciting episode, the brand leader of Homewood Suites, Rick Colling, and the General Manager of the property, Carlos Sotillo, sit down on the podcast to discuss the Homewood brand, the evolution of the extended stay hotel segment, and the future of hospitality. 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, a part of our Suite Spot 2025 Summer Road trip series. We are right here in our backyard in Orlando at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando nearest to Universal Studios like I said, right in our backyard down the road, out of our TMG headquarters out here with Rick and Carlos who have been both here at this amazing property. We're gonna talk all about it. Now, Rick, we have met up with you earlier this year, and we have, yeah. One thing we haven't done is done a proper, you know, hospitality journey. We love a good story in hospitality, right? All of our humble beginnings where we might've started at the front desk. Bellman for myself. Give us a little bit of background in our audience, background into your hospitality. Rick Colling: Got it, Ryan, with pleasure. And it's a fun journey, Ryan, mate. So, we're like you. I started at the front desk, at the Kalamazoo Residence Inn, right after graduating from college. And I walked into the hotel and I said I've graduated from college. I think I should be the GM of a hospitality hotel. And the GM said to me, do you know anything about the business? I said, nothing. So he became my mentor in the business. So I started at the front desk and worked my way up through the ranks at Marriott. Spent 10 years with Marriott and I've been with Hilton now for 27 years, and been a GM and property director of sales on property, but I worked all the disciplines and it's just been an incredible journey to finally end up leading a brand like Homewood Suites over the course of the last five years, which has been, you know, certainly a career highlight for me. So, a fun journey to get me here today. Ryan Embree: But yet a familiar one; one that we hear all the time, a lot of college students, you know, maybe just taking here a summer job, end up falling in love with the industry. But another piece of your story that we're hearing so often is mentors. Yeah. And I wanna highlight that is because there's so many hospitality professionals out there mentoring the next generation of hospitality professionals. So important in our industry right now. And Carlos you have a background here in this area, this campus? Of hotels. Give us your hospitality journey. Carlos Sotillo: Well, actually, funny story, when my parents first came to America, they actually started working at a Homewood Suites. Oh, okay. I was, came out, yeah. My mom was a housekeeper. My dad was a houseman. And I was 11. So during summer break, they would take me with them to work sometimes. And so I grew up in a Homewood Suites during my summer break. Rick Colling: Which is where you needed to be, right. Carlos: Right. In full circle. But officially, my career started, I was a breakfast attendant at a small hotel down on I-Drive. And then the opportunity came out to be a night auditor. So, you know, I went for it. And now, low and behold, here I am. I went through four different Hilton brands. I've gone through Hampton Hilton, Garden Inn, Home2, and now here back at the Homewood. So it's been a fun, fun journey. Rick Colling: No, we're glad to have you mate. One of the best in the business right here. Ryan Embree: Well, it's incredible. We always say sometimes, hospitality runs in the blood, runs in your DNA sometimes,

Tune in to the most recent Suite Spot: Independent Hotel Show Series episode to hear from the founder of Salt Hotels, David Bowd, as he discusses the origins of Salt Hotels, founding the Salt School, hospitality industry trends, and the next generation of hotel professionals.  Be sure to follow and subscribe to the Suite Spot so you never miss an episode, and be sure to check out our Travel Media Group YouTube channel as well. 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, for another edition of our independent Hotel show series. I can feel the anticipation, the excitement building up. We're just a few months away from September where we're gonna have independent hoteliers from all over the country coming down to Miami Beach of the Convention Center. And one of those hoteliers and guests is my special guest today who I'll invite into the podcast for the very first time. David Bow, founder and CEO of Salt Hotels. David, thank you so much for being on the podcast. David Bowd: Thank you for having me. Great to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah, we're excited. We're gonna talk Independent hotel. We're gonna talk about your beautiful portfolio that you have over there at Salt Hotels and everything about that. But before we do that, we always like to get a little bit of background for our hospitality guests. Talk to us a little bit about your hospitality journey, David, and what led you to ultimately founding Salt hotels? David Bowd: Yeah. My story began crazily 40 years ago now, back in the UK. I started when I left school, and I left school very early at 15 years old. And I became a bellman in a local hotel and absolutely loved it. I realized this was the career for me up to sort of, during my school years, I'd played, my mom had a cafe/restaurant, and I really, really thought I wanted to be a chef, and so I started to go towards that department. But I was too young to go into the kitchen, so I started as a bellman, and then I finally got into the kitchen, and funnily enough, I got into the kitchen and didn't enjoy it as much as I did front of house. So, which is often the case, I think, for a lot of people, they have this dream, and then it's not as, it's not, the reality's not the same. So I sort of spent the time in the kitchen. I did a couple of years in the kitchen, and then I went back to front of house and I worked through all departments and then moved to London where I was working in the more traditional hotels, the more, you know, Hiltons, Marriotts, holiday Inns. And actually at the turn of the century, Ian Trager had just opened his first hotel in the outside of the U.S, in London. And I was out invited to go and to meet with his team. And I met with the team and loved it. And, you know, his first hotel St. Martin's Lane was an absolute masterpiece, as was his second, which was Sanderson. And I was fortunate enough to get the job, and I was hotel manager of one for a period of time. And then I took over as regional general manager of both properties. And I ran those through 2000 through to 2007, which were the phenomenal, phenomenally good years in London. And so we were making a lot of money at that time. And Ian invited me to move over to the US and to take over an operations role focusing on a lot of openings for what had then become Morgan's hotel group. And I did that, moved over to New York, loved New York, and loved the lights in America, and spent some time with Morgans. And then Ian had actually left to go and start addition and public on his own. And so I ended up leaving Morgans and going to Ian and to work on those projects with him before moving on to Andre Bola, sort of the other, what I would consider the other genius celebrity hotelier, you know, who is one of the founders of our sector of the indu...

Vice President of Brand & Marketing at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Loay Nour, joins the Suite Spot podcast to discuss the launch of Fairmont’s global campaign - “Make Special Happen”.  Tune in now to learn more about the brand and the campaign only on the Suite Spot. 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. We have a very special episode for you today. Gonna tell you in a minute why that is so telling. But first, I'm gonna go ahead and introduce a first time guest with me today, Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, vice President of Brand and Marketing, Loay Nour. Thank you so much for joining me here on The Suite Spot. Loay Nour: Thank you for having me, Ryan. Looking forward to our conversation. Ryan Embree: It's gonna be a great conversation. We're gonna talk a lot about some exciting things on Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, things you and your team have been working on over there. But before we do that, since you are a first time guest, I always love to just hear everyone's hospitality background, unique journeys to where they got there and for you at Fairmont Hotel and Resorts. Loay Nour: Absolutely. So my name is Loay Nour, and I've been in the hospitality industry for more than 18 years actually now. My background goes specifically in luxury hospitality brand. It's a passion that started for me, although I haven't done hospitality school. But I ended up in the hospitality by passion, not by education. My background is actually goes very much into guest experience, brand and marketing, loyalty marketing, partnerships marketing. So I've got around like a 360 degree on marketing. And today, myself and my team we're in charge of the Fairmont brand globally, proudly managing a portfolio of 95 hotels worldwide, and a very strong pipeline of around 28 hotels coming up in the next few years. And today, really looking forward to tell you about the chapter of that. We have just recently launched with a new campaign of Fairmont Presents Make Special happen. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it's a massive global campaign. We're gonna jump all into it. But before, let's give our sweet spot audience maybe a little bit of a history lesson. We've had some iconic brands on this Sweet Spot podcast. This might be the most iconic. It's got a rich legacy of timeless hospitality as it's described. Share with our sweet spot audience, a little bit about the origin story behind this incredible storied luxury brand. Loay Nour: It's actually one of the brands that has a great legacy and history since 1907 with the first property that opened in San Francisco. Fairmont took its name actually from the vision of the foundries, the two first sisters which was the first half of the name. And then the mont was actually because the San Francisco was built on a mountain, and that was the first property that was open for us. Since then, we actually, our hotels has been social epicenters in the different destinations where they operate. And we were able to actually host a lot of key defining history moments like the black and white ball, like the bed in peace with the John Legend and Yoko and Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. So we've always been a place where if we always like to say if it happens in a city or it happens in a destination, it happens at a Fairmont. And until today, we actually continue to host those great moments. We became a truly international brand back in 2002 when our first property outside the America opened in Dubai. And since then, our portfolio has accelerated. Today, we're a proud member of a core group that manages more than 42 brands globally. And we are one of the very well known and very well beloved, luxury brands globally. Ryan Embree: It's incredible growth and we're gonna talk about that a little bit later in the ep...

Check out the latest TMG Hospitality Trailblazers episode featuring the Founder of Aligned Hospitality, Bryan Tubaugh!  Bryan joins the podcast to discuss founding Aligned Hospitality, the meaning behind the brand, technology in hospitality, improving the guest experience, and much more.  Tune in now. 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, with another edition of our TMG Hospitality Trailblazers series. This episode we head west to bring in my next guest from Aligned Hospitality, Brian Tubaugh, founder, and CEO. Thank you so much, Brian, for being on the Suite Spot. Bryan Tubaugh: Hey, Brian, I appreciate it and glad to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah, exciting. We're gonna talk all about Aligned Hospitality. Talk about the journey where you guys are, you guys have seen some explosive growth, which we're gonna talk about, but first, since it's your first time, love to get people's background stories journey. What ultimately led you to Aligned Hospitality, but founding Aligned Hospitality as well. Yeah, absolutely. I'm one of the I guess, rare breeds. I grew up in the industry. Both my parents, were both general managers. Both of them started in the hospitality industry, line level, housekeepers, bellman, and then, you know, the typical hospitality love story fell in love, one became a front office manager. The other became a GM. Then they started traveling and they had me. So, yeah, so both my parents were in the industry. I, to be honest with you, it's all I've known. It's, you know, all I choose to know. Anytime I try to take away or get away from the industry, it brought me back. So yeah, so I was born into it. And then my business partner, Helinda, my mother, she raised me, my parents divorced. She raised me in Tucson, Arizona, where, you know, our headquarters is still at Tucson and Phoenix. And so, yeah, so we just I grew up in the industry. I started off in operations with Hilton. Went that route, started in housekeeping at 14. We won't tell people that though. So I was a houseman summer job. It was an exterior corridor hotel. So I got to feel that $120 heat. And, yeah, I mean, quickly worked my way up to the front desk. And you know, I may have had some back push on that help as my mom was the general manager at the property. And then the fun part of the whole story, the twist was when I was 18, I had an HR director at the DoubleTree that I was working at. It was a full service, DoubleTree. And the HR director called me into his office. I'll never forget him, love him to death, Eduardo. And he said, Hey, Brian, do you like this industry? I said, well, yeah. I mean, is there anything else in the world? And he said, well, if you like it and you love it, you need to leave Hilton. And I was like, whoa, did I do something wrong? I mean, I, I love Hilton. I'm at a double tree. This is what I've known. I eat a cookie a day. Like, you know, what, why? And, you know, and he kind of looked at me and he said, listen, because of who your parents are, you're never gonna be able to progress in your career. And you're never gonna be able to take that next step because everybody will know you as Rick and Helenda's son. And if you truly want to make your own staple in this industry, then you need to, you need to, you need to move on. And, I tell that story too, and I'll tell you where that leads, but I tell that story because I do think that's a gap nowadays in our industry, is that that mentorship, that line level to that middle management to management, right? We go rockstar front desk. You're now a general manager. Figure it out. So anyway, so he shipped me out. I found Starwood at that point. The four Points by Sheraton. I became an SRSA, I don't know if you remember that position. Sales Reporting Systems analyst.

Check out the latest episode in the Suite Spot: Independent Hotel Show Series, to hear from the COO of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, Gabriel Perez!  Gabriel breaks down the intricacies of F&B in hospitality, how the Indigo brand is evolving, and what attendees can look forward to at the 2025 Independent Hotel Show Miami.  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 Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embry, and we are part of our Independent Hotel show series. This is the second edition of this new series that we're kicking off in collaborating with the Independent Hotel Show. This is your first time we're bringing on advisory board members, team members of the Independent Hotel Show, getting us geared up for that show here at Miami Beach this September. We cannot wait. Uh, and I also cannot wait to bring in my guest, so I'll bring him in. Gabriel Perez, COO of lodging at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Gabriel, thank you so much for being on the Suite Spot. Gabriel Perez: Well, thank you. Happy to be here. Ryan Embree: We're excited. We're gonna talk some independent hotels. We're gonna talk mm-hmm . About the Independent Hotel Show. That's why you're on here. But before, uh, love getting a little bit of background on your story, uh, your hospitality journey that led you to Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Gabriel Perez: It's, uh, the journey of a very lucky guy. I started this without knowing that it is what I wanted to do long time ago, late eighties at the Intercontinental Hotel in Caracas. And it has been a progressive set of situations and a great joy of many privileges, which had allowed me to, uh, grow within the career in few different segments and disciplines of, of the hospitality. Again, privilege to be today where I am in supporting and leading a great team of individuals, uh, with real hospitality, where the emphasis is experiences in addition to profitability and results. Ryan Embree: This is why I always love starting the episode talking about this, uh, because you just get such perspective, um, where people start their journey. You have a common thread with a lot of our guests that we have on the Suite Spot of maybe falling into the industry not knowing that this is something that you wanted to pursue as a career, but once you get into it, it kind of sticks onto you, right? It kind of gets stuck in your DNAA little bit as so to speak. Right? It does, Gabriel Perez: It does very much is it's a contagious daily excitement that is always different. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. And that variability, you know, it's funny you say it like that, it's always different, but hospitality is the, the skills are so transferrable, um, from whether it's different parts of the world, different brands, you know, hosting people and, and providing them with good service can be done at a high level, uh, again, through a lot of different medians. But that energy, that passion that you bring, Gabriel, that you were talking about, it is, it's, it's contagious. And that's why we see so many people, um, with these stories where, you know, you're talking to a bellman that, that started in a hotel. Uh, and, and now I get the privilege of, of interviewing hospitality professionals like yourself. So, uh, the, the stories range far and wide, but I, I love hearing them and I think they need to be told. I think, you know, in a, in a time right now where we've struggled over the last couple years with, with hospitality workforce, to hear these stories out there of where, what a career and hospitality can look like, because sometimes in industries you think, Hey, I need to be promoted by this time, or I need to be at this stage of my career. Hospitality is very different. Gabriel Perez: It is very different. It is, um,

The Suite Spot travels to Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, to visit the historic Mission Resort + Club as the next stop in the Road Trip series. This property is renowned for its prestigious golf courses, natural environment, and rich Florida history dating back to the early 1900s.  Tune in to hear from General Manager Cindy Staley and Director of Agronomy Danny Parks as these two join the Suite Spot. 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. If you're watching us on YouTube, you can tell we are not in our Suite Spot podcast studio, but instead, right in our backyard at the Mission Resort + Club. It's such a privilege to be here. I just got off a tour. It was fantastic. We're gonna talk all about it today. And now we're joined here by Cindy Staley, General Manager of the Mission Resort + Club. Cindy, thank you so much for joining me on the Suite Spot. Cindy Staley: Well, thank you for being here. We appreciate you coming out to the resort. Ryan Embree: It's an incredible property you have here. Before we talk a little bit more about it, get in depth about its amenities, the guest experience here, talk to us a little bit about your hospitality journey and how you ended up here at the Mission Resort + Club. Cindy Staley: How far back do you want me to go? Just kidding. I actually always wanted to be in the hospitality industry, even in, believe it or not, high school. I wanted to be a chef. Went to college for it. Really just saw what the hotel arena and resort arena could bring to me. You're never bored. Yeah. There's always something new or something different to do. So I worked my way up. I've been in the central Florida area since 2005 working more in the Orlando market. This opportunity came up roughly three years ago. And that's when the prior owner purchased or sold the property and sold it to MMI Hospitality Group. With that, I was hired before they came to the hotel, and they actually took it over in December of 2022. So we've been through this transition of the prior owner to the new owner, both families and have been through the transition of what MMI has accomplished in the last two and a half, almost three years. Ryan Embree: It's incredible, and we're gonna talk about that today. But getting back to that point, a historic property like this with such a rich history, that's not something that just can hand over to something. It requires a lot of care, and I think that's a real testament to MMI hospitality that they're entrusted in this, this really, you know, jewel that has been around for, for so long. It's really, really cool to see. Talk to us a little bit about, we, we heard about the golf side. Obviously that in itself is, makes it a destination, but you know, as general manager, you're obviously managing over the guests that you host here. Talk to us a little bit about the property, the guest experience, and some of the incredible amenities outside of golf. Cindy Staley: Absolutely. MMI had had owned it for I think, 60 plus years, the King and Prince Resort, which is on St. Simon's Island in, in Georgia. So they're good at managing historical properties. Mission Resort, it has been here since 1964 when the prior owner purchased it. And they really recreated the property from the golf course that was built in 1917, which is El Campeon. And then throughout the years, created the resort building by building, creating 176 guestrooms. We also have suites and villas included in that. They built three restaurants very good reputation restaurants from La Hacienda, the Breakfast Restaurant, La Margarita is our lunch and dinner restaurant. And then the Golf Clubhouse, which is just going through a name change called the Grove House. And it was formally Knickers Golf Clubhouse. Ryan Embree:

The Suite Spot was live at the 2025 NYU IHIF conference last week, covering the event to bring hoteliers exclusive content and insight on the most prevalent topics and trends in the hospitality industry currently.  Tune in now to get the pulse on how investors, owners, hoteliers, and guests are feeling about the industry and where they see it heading in 2025 and beyond as Suite Spot host, Ryan Embree, shares the 2025 NYU IHIF key takeaways. 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 with the Suite Spot. We are back here at our Travel Media Group headquarters in Maitland, Florida. Fresh off an incredible 2025 NYU IHIF. Uh, the conference theme was engagement drives returns. There was a ton of engagement. It was everything as advertised. And more. 2200 delegates, 400 plus investors, 20% of those being new investors. Almost every single brand, uh, major hospitality brand represented there, uh, with C-Suite leadership. It was an incredible couple days up in New York City. It was our first time covering the event. We got some incredible, amazing footage, exclusive interviews and insights, uh, and we're gonna share it all with you today. So, uh, thank you for joining me here on the Suite Spot for our five key takeaways. Uh, like I said, it was just an incredible couple days up in New York and really gave some perspective on how hotels are performing almost at the midway point of 2025, and what we have to look forward to. And that's really kind of my first takeaway, uh, is, you know, is is it really as bad as advertised out there? You know, one of the key sessions and, um, interviews that we spoke to was STR President, Amanda Het, uh, who, who really, uh, her message to the, the crowd out there in New York was, um, really don't read into the headlines as much as, uh, it's being said. Uh, you know, o obviously there are some, some, uh, outside major factors that are having some impact on our industry and, uh, will continue to impact the industry. But really year over year, there isn't too much of a difference there. Um, international travel did dip, uh, but there is a, a lot of, uh, positive sentiment that that seems to be returning. And hopefully in the future, those bookings will, will return here. 'cause that's obviously a major, major part of our, uh, domestic, uh, hospitality inventory and demand. Um, obviously there's also a lot of dependence on what market you're in, right? Amanda shared some incredible insights in our interviews of which markets are performing really, really well. She was talking about, um, San Francisco being one of those, uh, markets that little bit slower to recover last year. We've seen some headlines there, uh, but it seems to be, uh, really popping this year in 2025 up in the northeast. Some major bumps in New Orleans, obviously with the Super Bowl, uh, will continue to have to watch it, those big events as people can con continue to prioritize travel. But there is this bifurcation of demand between segments right now, and I think that speaks to maybe those headlines that of, of what's happening, um, tariffs, inflation, things of that nature, really impacting, uh, the economy and lower, um, lower middle class. Uh, maybe they are, uh, keeping their tight, their wallets a little bit tighter this year as far as travel goes, but the luxury, the ultra luxury segments are really, uh, enjoying those thousand dollar rates as we, we talked about, um, earlier in the year. Um, they're continuing to see growth. They're continuing to see, uh, incredible demand for their product, um, which is, which is fantastic. Now, hopefully, again, we can get a little bit, uh, more clarity and what our economic situation looks like so that people continue to prioritize travel. Um, but really, again, it, it's, it's not, it might not be as bad as it's made out to be right now.

Be sure to catch the debut episode of the all-new Suite Spot: Independent Hotel Show Series.  Suite Spot first-timer, and special guest, Kat Woods of NYC Women of Hospitality, joins the podcast to discuss critical topics including: The Importance of Women in Hospitality 2025 Independent Hotel Show Miami Social Media and Its Impact on the Hotel Guest Experience 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. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree, introducing a brand new series. We are here at the Independent Hotel Show series. Now this is a series where we're talking to independent hoteliers, advisory board members, and really getting geared up for Miami in September, all leading up to that incredible show that the Suite Spot is gonna be a part of. And so will my guests that I'll bring on with me right now, Kat Woods of Bridgeton and New York City Women of Hospitality. Kat, thank you so much for joining the Suite Spot. Kat Woods: Thanks, Ryan. Excited to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah, we've got a lot to cover, including that independent hotel show, uh, which we're gonna talk all about. But as it is tradition here on the Suite Spot, this is your first time. Would love to learn a little bit about your hospitality journey. What led you to Bridgeton in the New York City Women of Hospitality? Kat Woods: Sure. Thank you. So many years ago, um, I started my career with W Hotels. I actually started with W Barcelona in college and fell head over heels in love with the brand. I worked for about five years in rooms operations between the w New York Union Square and the w New York downtown here in New York City, and got a really great foundation for operating hotels in a nice corporate structure. But in the mid 2010s, the boutique lifestyle hotel scene in New York was really starting to grow, and 11 Howard was one of the hottest hotels opening at the time. I was able to join that team shortly after opening, and that was my first introduction into truly independent boutique hotels. I fell in love with it. There was so much creativity in the operation, so much creativity in the branding. Um, and that really started my career in independent and lifestyle hotels. After that, um, I was able to continue with, uh, l Howard up until the pandemic and throughout the pandemic I helped with a couple projects here and there, but ultimately landing with Bridgeton as the, uh, assistant general manager of their Walker Hotel, Tribeca Property, which is an incredible lifestyle property located in Tribeca. Um, and I've been with the Bridgeton team now in a variety of roles for about four years. Ryan Embree: That's awesome. And creative freedom is, you're right, such a draw for independent hotels and why some people like yourself Kat. Sounds like once you get a taste of that and the ability to really express and tell your story, which we're certainly gonna cover, and one of the, the foundational reasons why a lot of people are not just working, but also guests choose independent hotels is because of that, that story and creative nature. So it's, it's so cool to see. And again, this, this series is all about independent hotels and that that massive show that's gonna be happening in September. Now you're also the executive director of the New York City Women of Hospitality. For those who aren't familiar, talk to our audience a little bit about this organization and its mission. Kat Woods: Sure. So the New York City Women of Hospitality was founded in 2018 by Jolie Feld and Tiffany Perra. And the goal upon the initiation of the group was to create a supportive, safe space for women in the industry. It's no surprise that women are facing some battles that maybe their male counterparts don't. Um, and the idea was to create a community where we can bounce som...

The Suite Spot travels to the heart of Orlando, Florida, to visit the luxurious and one-of-a-kind property, Conrad Orlando!  This hotel and resort is unlike any other with its sensational amenities, lavish suites, breath taking beaches, and centralized lagoon right in the middle of the resort. General Manager at the property, Sean McCarron, joins the podcast to discuss the stellar guest experience offered to travelers, the Conrad brand, social media, and why this hotel is a must visit the next time you are in Orlando.  Tune in now. 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 and I hope you are watching us today on our YouTube channel because as you can tell, we are not in the Suite Spot podcast studio. We are instead at the beautiful Conrad Orlando here with me, Sean McCarron, general manager of the Conrad Orlando.Thank you so much for being with me today. Sean McCarron: It's a pleasure to be here and thank you for coming and seeing us today. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Thank you for hosting us at this incredible property. We're gonna talk all about it today. This is our Suite Spot Spotlight series showcasing some of the most unique hotels. This one certainly fits the bill. But before we get talking about the property, what I love talking about, this is your first time on the podcast, hospitality people come from all different places. Sometimes they're born into the industry, sometimes they're jumping from brands. Tell us about a little bit about your journey behind the scenes. Sean McCarron: Well, I've been in the business for over 30 years, believe it or not and all in luxury. So I went to hotel school out in Switzerland, and once I graduated from hotel school, I came out and went back to the States and started with the Ritz Carlton. So I was with the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company in various different areas and opening hotels for about six years. And then went to Four Seasons and spent about 16 years with the Four Seasons hotel company, opening other hotels and again, you know, variety of different locations. And then started with Hilton Luxury at the Waldorf Astoria here in Orlando about nine years ago, and been on this project for the last three here at the Conrad Orlando. Ryan Embree: Incredible. And that taste of luxury from different brands, I'm sure that certainly gave you a unique perspective as your journey led you here at the Conrad Orlando. Sean McCarron: Oh, it certainly did. You get different viewpoints from every location that you, that one works in from urban environment to a resort environment to, you know, Las Vegas I spent some time in as well. Opening hotels, all of it kind of lends to a broader experience in order to open this beautiful property. Ryan Embree: Let's talk about the Conrad brand, right. It's unique, known for its design and how it's built. For those that may not be familiar with the Conrad brand, what's the flavor? What makes it unique? Why do travelers love this brand? Sean McCarron: Their main pillars for the Conrad as a brand itself, one of them is bold design, as you had, as indicated. Experiences are also a big part of what we do from a Conrad brand perspective. This hotel is no different than any of our others. I think it's quite unique in the fact that a lot of the design element is based upon water. So lots of blues and refractive lighting, very contemporary feel throughout the resort. Lots of natural light, floor to ceiling windows from a design element. From an experiences element, I mean, you walked around this resort, there's a stunning lagoon right down the middle of it with beaches surrounding it and a lot of activations and a lot of activities from a resort perspective here in Orlando that make it very, very unique. Ryan Embree:

The Travel Media Group digital solution has hit the monumental milestone of responding to over 2 million online guest reviews for our hotel partners. To commemorate such a major achievement, Chief Technology Officer, Jason Lee, and Director of Product - Respond & Resolve™, Jackie Avery, join the Suite Spot to discuss this accolade, what it means to the organization, and the future of review response. 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 a very celebratory episode. Today we're gonna have two guests with me, our first Jackie Avery, director of Product - Respond and Resolve. Jackie, congratulations, as the title says of TMG hits over 2 million online guest reviews. Thank you so much for being with me on the Suite Spot. Jackie Avery : Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. It feels so good to be here. Just really excited to celebrate this. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I think it was August 2022, where we were actually in our older building, before we moved into our podcast studio. Hopefully you were watching us on YouTube and celebrating 1 million guest reviews responded to, um, which just seemed like unfathomable to even think about that amount. So now here we are at 2 million in 2025 before the summer, which we're gonna talk about that, that flux of reviews that come in during the busiest time of the year for hoteliers and for travel. But talk to me a little bit about what this accomplish means, to you and, and your team and network of professional writers. Jackie Avery : Yeah. I mean, honestly, this is just one of the many milestones for the team this year. So I guess, like full of transparency, what it means is continued momentum. I think, you know, we're feeling pumped up. We're doing what we love, and it feels so good to, you know, help our clients and really just connect, you know, in a really authentic way with travelers all over the world. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And when we talk about a number, again, like 2 million, that is reviews, online reviews from across all different platforms. Recently added Medallia surveys as well for some of the brands. But obviously it's not just you and a couple people doing this. You've got a huge network of US-based writers that do this. Talk to us a little bit about the training that goes into this, Jackie, because I don't think I've heard one GM, or front desk manager, whoever is responding to those reviews saying that I got into hospitality because I wanted to respond to reviews. Right. They're more focused on the people and guests as they should be on site. What type of training and nuances goes into responding to specifically an online hotel guest review? Jackie Avery : Alright, well, I'll tell you a little bit, but you're not gonna get all my secrets. Well, the team, when they join us, they come already with extensive education. I feel like that's talked about a lot, but in reality, that's actually just like the baseline. That's where we start. And then from there, right, they need to know about hospitality, they need to know about different hotel brands. But there's also extensive training in, specific person to person communication to be able to connect with someone, in a genuine way. Of course. Like with the main focus being in the written form. Because, you know, the team of writers. But yeah, so I'd say, you know, being highly educated and having those degrees and level of experience with different forms of writing is really where it starts. And then we build off that. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And we've been hospitality specific Travel Media Group that is for 40-plus years. Again, there's a lot of nuances that if you're that US hoteliers kind of take for granted things like, taking it a deposit at the beginning of a stay and maybe that deposit not hitting back or get o...