DiscoverThis Week in Hospitality
This Week in Hospitality
Claim Ownership

This Week in Hospitality

Author: thisweekinhospitality

Subscribed: 4Played: 37
Share

Description

Every Friday morning, This Week in Hospitality brings you the most important stories, insights, and innovations shaping the global hospitality industry — distilled and discussed by people who actually build within it.


Hosted by Ben Wolff, Scott Eddy, Edwin Kramer, and Zach Busekrus, this weekly conversation is crafted for the founders, operators, and dreamers creating the next generation of hospitality brands.


You’ll get more than just headlines — you’ll get perspective. Each episode breaks down the week’s most compelling hospitality stories and explores what they really mean for independent hotel owners, boutique brands, and experiential travel entrepreneurs. From brand strategy and design trends to tech disruption and capital markets, This Week in Hospitality keeps you informed, inspired, and ready for what’s next.


So grab your morning coffee, and catch up on the stories that matter — before your guests check in.


New episodes every Friday morning.


Ben Wolff
Ben Wolff is the visionary founder behind Onera, a trailblazing landscape hotel brand in the Texas Hill Country, and Oasi, a next-generation management company pioneering experiential hospitality. Known for pushing the boundaries of design, wellness, and guest immersion, Ben has become a leading voice in the evolution of high-end, nature-driven travel experiences. His work sits at the intersection of architecture, emotion, and environment — redefining what modern luxury feels like in the wild.


Scott Eddy
Scott Eddy is one of the world’s most recognized hospitality voices — a global keynote speaker, digital strategist, and content creator who has partnered with hundreds of luxury hotel brands, tourism boards, and travel startups. Named among the top travel influencers worldwide, Scott brings a rare blend of brand storytelling expertise, social strategy, and on-the-ground hospitality experience, offering a panoramic view of how digital connection drives modern guest loyalty.


Edwin Kramer
A hospitality executive with a pedigree forged at the world’s leading luxury hotels, Edwin has held senior leadership roles with brands like Four Seasons, EDITION, Campbell, Gray, Hyatt, and NOBU Hotels across multiple continents. Known for operational excellence and cultural leadership, Edwin has built and managed five-star teams that deliver some of the most lauded guest experiences in the industry. Today, he brings that global lens to the conversations shaping hospitality’s future — where service, innovation, and storytelling converge.


Zach Busekrus
Zach is on the founding team of Journey, a next-generation loyalty and storytelling platform empowering independent hotels and vacation rental brands to compete globally without losing their soul. He’s also the creator and host of Behind the Stays, one of the fastest-growing podcasts in hospitality, where he’s interviewed the visionaries behind some of the world’s most creative stays. With a decade in growth strategy and marketing, Zach brings a founder’s curiosity and contagious optimism to every conversation — always championing the builders shaping the future of independent hospitality.

53 Episodes
Reverse
This Week's Guest: Alex Cabañas Executive Chairman, Pyramid Global Hospitality Founder and CEO of Astound Ventures https://astound-ventures.com/   What happens when the hotel front desk disappears, but hospitality gets more personal? This week, Zach Busekrus, Ben Wolff and Edwin Kramer are joined by Alex Cabañas, executive chairman of Pyramid Global Hospitality and founder and CEO of Astound Ventures, for a conversation about the changes that could actually improve hotel margins. Alex explains why he's investing in hospitality's own problems, from energy management and distributed power to the workflows that keep hotel teams buried in admin. His test for innovation isn't whether it sounds impressive. It's whether it helps owners make money and frontline staff do their jobs better. They explore a future with lobby hosts instead of agents stuck behind screens, AI tools that put repair answers in an engineer's hand, and automation that connects sales contracts with banquet operations. They also ask what hotels should build themselves, what they should buy, and who has time to sort through the endless startup pitches. Then the conversation turns to Expedia's rate-parity lawsuit. Ben explains why his direct guests generate higher average daily rates without a lower direct price, while Alex challenges the parity model and considers what AI-driven recommendations could mean for intermediaries. Finally, Minor Hotels' Life Longevity concept sparks a debate about wellness beyond the stay. Should hotels collect guests' health data, connect with their wearables, or leave diagnostics alone? Alex closes with a different vision of personalization: guests control their data and share it when they want a better experience.   Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
This Week’s Guest: Shawn Cioto - Vice President of Operations, Dovetail + Co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-cioto-914264b/ Your Host: Zach Busekrus - Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Shawn Cioto, VP of Operations at Dovetail + Co, explains why the owner of seven hotels is taking management in-house: large management companies often miss the small, on-brand details that make independent lifestyle hotels special, from coffee sleeves and key cards to scent, lighting and music. He describes how Dovetail decides between growing its Wayfinder brand (Waikiki, Newport and Bishop) and launching new concepts like its high-design pod hotel, and the whirlwind three-to-four-week takeover of Collective Retreats in New York. With guest acquisition costs climbing through OTA commissions, accelerators and paid media, Shawn's focus is monetizing guests once they're on property. One example is adding a casual second restaurant concept at a remote hotel so guests stay the second night instead of leaving for dinner. He talks about leaning on specialist marketing partners, a creative director and a brand lead, a viral video with their Catskills pizza chef, and surprise-and-delight touches for kids like Tiny the Turtle. With co-host Ben, he digs into balancing brand standards with fun content: standardize back-of-house processes, never the soul of the hotel.
On this week’s This Week in Hospitality, Zach Busekrus, Ben Wolff, and Edwin Kramer dig into hospitality’s search for consistency, growth, and better economics. Scott Eddy is away in Italy, so the trio gets straight to the news. Airbnb appears ready to bring back a Luxe tier as it adds hotels and services to its platform. The hosts debate whether a badge and inspections can restore trust and deliver reliable stays, or whether the variety of vacation rentals makes consistency hard to guarantee. They turn to hotel leaders’ claims that AI should help employees rather than replace them. Wyndham’s voice agent reportedly answers calls that often went unanswered, while the group asks which tasks should be automated, what work will shift, and where human judgment still matters. Ben argues that, for consistency today, AI may outperform people; Edwin raises questions about how fast-changing systems could affect guests and staff. Next, Travel + Leisure and Wyndham’s Sports Illustrated Resorts partnership gets a developer’s-eye test: can loyalty and a famous name overcome a complicated ownership and operating model? The discussion then weighs Hilton’s Undergraduate brand and its ambition to reach 500 hotels against the limits of college-town demand and the risk of cannibalizing existing brands. In Spicyville, the crew tees up allegations that Expedia’s terms may constrain hotels’ room rates elsewhere. Zach closes with ResortPass and the case for day guests: could pool and spa visitors deliver better economics than overnight stays? Plus, a call for owners considering a brand switch to get in touch.   Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/ Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/ Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
This Week’s Guest: Dina Belon-Sayre - President, Staypineapple Hotels LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinabelon/ Explore Staypineapple Hotels: https://www.staypineapple.com/ Your Host: Zach Busekrus - Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/ Dina Belon-Sayre, President of Staypineapple Hotels, opens with a story from a Portland snowstorm when she waited tables herself, fed a stranded hotel and received a thank-you check from a guest. Her point: any Staypineapple employee is empowered to make the same call. She traces her unusual path from theater, psychology and criminal justice studies through hotel design, construction and a decade in sustainability consulting, to spotting a five-story painted pineapple from her Seattle office window and joining the company ten years ago. She rose from director of real estate to president. Dina explains the upside of a playful, edgy brand (the "Naked Experience," no navy blazers or scripts) and the occasional offended guest, and why it's fine not to be for everyone. She describes hiring for emotional intelligence, critical thinking and a willingness to be authentic. On growth, she notes owners are risk-averse, Staypineapple hasn't franchised without management because service is the brand's through-line, and the company may package tools for other independents. Her soapbox: AI and LLM booking could run over independents within 18 months, and collections may need to become their AI intermediary at a fair cost.
Scott is in Sicily, so Zach, Ben Wolff and Edwin Kramer take the docket. Edwin checks in from a new boutique hotel on Spain's Costa Blanca, and Ben is fresh from the glamping show. The first story: Hilton's CIO says AI assistants have put online travel agencies under real threat, yet he expects personal AI agents to become commissionable channels too. The crew asks what "direct" even means when an agent that never sleeps keeps rate-shopping after the booking is made. Edwin says post-booking shopping could be a bigger disruption than the booking itself. Then Booking.com tightens how much guest data, including phone numbers, it passes to hotels. Next, Lola, the new AI travel assistant from Kayak's co-founders, wholly owned by Booking Holdings. It has a free tier, a $5 a month membership and a $25 a month VIP plan, and both paid plans need a 12-month commitment. Edwin thinks it could make the OTA stronger. Ben is highly skeptical that anyone will pay up front for perks. Then Choice Hotels buys RV club Harvest Hosts for a reported $130 million. The crew talks about farm hospitality, RVers who eventually want a real bed, and what IHG and Wyndham do next. The closer: Europe's new anti-greenwashing rules took effect September 27. Edwin explains why they are hard to police and why hotels may go quiet about sustainability instead. Plus spice of the week: a hot September in southern Europe, and why this is the moment to experiment.   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/
loading
Comments