Behind the Stays

Modbeans Coffee Code for 15% off: BTS15 https://modbeans.co/bts Is the line between a hotel and a vacation rental finally gone? Zach Busekrus and Ben Wolff think the stays category is collapsing into one, and the big brands are waking up to it. This week it's just the two of them, together in person at the Oasi office in Austin, while Edwin and Scott are traveling. They open with big news: Zach is joining Oasi, a revenue growth firm for hotels, as chief growth officer. Then the headlines. Marriott's gross fees jumped 14% to $1.52 billion in the third quarter, driven by the co-branded credit card business, while a group of owners asked for a bigger share of loyalty income. Zach and Ben talk through what that means for owners and for the brand. Booking.com is leaning into AI, and they ask whether consumers really care about the payments layer and what AI assistants could do to direct booking. They also get into revenue management, and why dynamic pricing tools need watching instead of a set-and-forget approach. From there it's hotels versus short-term rentals, with points and loyalty at the center. Hilton's move to let guests pay a bar tab with points raises the question of who wins. Zach makes the case that regulation and permitting need to catch up with how people actually book stays. They close with local retailers, towns and hospitality businesses working together on new local offerings. A short pod this week. The full crew is back next week. Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

PriceLabs https://hello.pricelabs.co/dynamic-pricing/?utm_source=amb-youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nov26_amb_bts_podcast_ep3 Code: BTS15 30-day free trial plus 15 percent off Dynamic Pricing for the first 3 months. PriceLabs Global Property Manager Report 2026: https://hello.pricelabs.co/global-property-manager-report/?utm_source=partner-social&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=behindthestays_podcast Modbeans Coffee Code for 15% off: BTS15 https://modbeans.co/bts   This Week’s Guest: Jeff Iloulian, Founder & CEO, HostGPO Website: https://hostgpo.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-iloulian-bb0b6829   Your Host: Zach Busekrus - Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/   What does the stuff inside a vacation rental tell you about where the industry is headed? Jeff Iloulian is back on Behind the Stays. Before launching HostGPO, Jeff left a career in law and built a property management portfolio of about 150 homes in Southern California. The two questions he kept running into - what should I actually buy, and how do I get it for less - became the foundation for HostGPO, the members-only buying group for vacation rental and boutique hospitality operators that just won Supplier of the Year at VRMA. In this episode, Jeff shares what he can see from his seat: why operators are done replacing the same cheap coffee table every year, why standardizing linens and furniture has become a brand decision, and how granular market data - down to how many homes within five miles of you have a sauna - is deciding what gets built. We also get into the mood at VRMA, where private equity and consolidation dominated the conversation, and why Jeff reads it as excitement with a proceed-with-caution asterisk. Plus: the amenity wars, why a five-star sheet on Amazon is not a hospitality-grade sheet, new partners from Lowe's to Schlage, and why he'd rather stay in his lane than chase more of your wallet. And then there's AI. HostGPO members are already connecting their AI agents to do the buying. If you've wondered what the AI discovery era means for how this industry spends money, Jeff has a concrete answer.

Modbeans Coffee Code for 15% off: BTS15 https://modbeans.co/bts https://roompricegenie.com/ Checkout code for 25% off: WISH26   This Week’s Guest:  Jenn Parks, Vice President of Development, North America, WorldHotels (part of BWH Hotels) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferfigariparks/ Explore WorldHotels: https://www.worldhotels.com/en-us   Your Host: Zach Busekrus LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/   Zach talks with Jenn Parks, Vice President of Development for North America at WorldHotels (part of BWH Hotels), about where independent hotel development is heading. Recorded live at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami, Jenn names two big growth areas: branded residences, including WorldHotels' first in Vietnam, and elevated outdoor hospitality through the new WorldHotels Backdrop brand, including Zion Wildflower Resort and a property in Asheville. She explains why owners pick WorldHotels over soft brands like Autograph or Curio: flexibility with no stringent brand standards, shorter agreements and lower fees, a brand-storytelling workshop at onboarding, and the commercial power of BWH's roughly 70-million-member loyalty program. Jenn also highlights an underrated benefit: the community of independent hoteliers who swap best practices at an annual conference. On demand, she sees residences leading in APAC and the Middle East, and true boutique, outdoor and lifestyle resort product leading in North America. Many owners she meets are leaving a big brand and are wary of going fully independent. And her hot take: curated, place-specific retail is an underused part of the hotel experience. It's why she still thinks about a Grand Cayman resort every time she puts on a shirt she bought there.

Modbeans Coffee Code for 15% off: BTS15 https://modbeans.co/bts Special guest: Andrew Humphries — Bridge Hospitality Partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-humphries-66a1918/ Are the biggest hotel brands still in the business of running great hotels, or are distribution and fee streams becoming the real product? This week, Zach Busekrus, Ben Wolff, Edwin Kramer and Scott Eddy are joined by Andrew Humphries, partner and co-founder of Bridge Hospitality Partners. After decades in luxury hospitality, Andrew brings an operator's perspective to the hotel investment conversation, fresh from the GIOHIS conference. We start with the Middle East: resilient demand, the growing role of regional travelers, Asian investment, branded residences and emerging co-living concepts. Andrew explains why Saudi Arabia's hotel ambitions may take longer to deliver without disappearing, and why the Maldives and Seychelles remain part of the investment conversation. We also get into interim general managers, brand proliferation and where AI can help hotel operations without replacing the human side of luxury. Then it's the week's headlines. What does the Amex-Airbnb partnership mean for luxury hotels, distribution and the relationship with the guest? And does BWH's move to the WorldHotels name change anything meaningful for travelers, or is the real audience the hotel owner? In Spice of the Week, Scott asks whether an AI assistant could become hospitality's most powerful gatekeeper. Ben weighs the brands' identity crisis and Hilton's tech ambitions. Zach shares a lesson from his Pendry conversation about scaling a distinctive hotel brand. Edwin wants owners to sleep in their own rooms. Andrew makes the case against over-amenitization: get the core experience right before adding more. Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/  

PriceLabs https://hello.pricelabs.co/dynamic-pricing/?utm_source=amb-youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nov26_amb_bts_podcast_ep2 Code: BTS15 30-day free trial plus 15 percent off Dynamic Pricing for the first 3 months. PriceLabs Global Property Manager Report 2026: https://hello.pricelabs.co/global-property-manager-report/?utm_source=partner-social&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=behindthestays_podcast Modbeans Coffee Code for 15% off: BTS15 https://modbeans.co/bts   This Week’s Guest: Noelle Homsy, Co-Founder, ENVI Lodges Website: envilodges.com (live-checked October 26) LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/noelle-homsy Email: [email protected]   Your Host: Zach Busekrus - Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/   Noelle Homsy's friends still aren't sure how she ended up in hotels. She studied architecture, and at 24 found herself the one left in charge of a construction site with four hundred workers. Then came years in dispute resolution, managing egos, reading the fine print, planning for the worst, before an MBA at INSEAD, weekend trips through Southeast Asia's locally run eco-lodges, and a hotel operator job in Dubai eventually led her to co-found ENVI Lodges with Chris Nader in 2021. ENVI is an asset-light brand and operator of luxury eco-lodges: long-term management agreements, villas-only, low-density properties designed to disappear into their environment. The first lodge, ENVI Paje in Zanzibar (22 keys), opened this summer as proof the model works. Guests choose community excursions over the tourist menu, pack donations for local schools through the Pack for Paje program, and leave, as Noelle puts it, a little kinder than they arrived. We get into why she believes sustainability is the byproduct of experiences that make people happy, not the goal; why taking care of the local community creates more impact than protecting a single plot; how ENVI wins owners away from the big brands; and what it takes for a lodge to earn the ENVI name. Plus: two lodges coming to Saudi Arabia, one on the shores of Oman, and where the brand goes next.