No Vacancy with Glenn Haussman

What happens when you build a hotel around elves, orcs, fairies and leprechauns — and commit fully to the idea? Ancient Lore Village has just 14 rooms, yet some of its social videos draw millions of views, including one that topped 25 million. Now CEO Melissa Blattner is taking the concept much further. I spoke with Melissa about why immersive storytelling connects so strongly with guests and what separates a real experience from something a hotel simply calls an "experience." Plenty of hotels deliver perfectly good stays. Far fewer create something guests remember, talk about and share. That's what Ancient Lore Village is trying to do every day. See how Melissa builds those experiences and why she thinks the idea can grow far beyond 14 rooms. Thanks to our friends at Actabl for supporting No Vacancy. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

What if the biggest problem at your hotel isn't what you're missing? Heidi Stone knows that trap well. She took over Mountain Lake Lodge — the Virginia resort made famous by Dirty Dancing — when the lake had dried up and the property had plenty working against it. Her answer wasn't to obsess over everything that was wrong. That mindset changed the property, and it shapes how she looks at independent hotels today. If you own or operate a hotel, there's a very good chance you're spending time and money fixing the wrong things. Heidi explains where she'd look first — and why some of the most valuable changes may cost far less than you think. Thanks to our friends at Actabl for supporting No Vacancy. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.  

Some of the biggest hotel construction opportunities in the world right now are taking shape across Asia Pacific — and India is accelerating fast. I spoke with Lodging Econometrics' Bruce Ford about where hotel companies are placing their bets next. India's hotel pipeline nearly tripled over the past three years, and Bruce expects a construction wave there for the next five to seven years. China brings a different story, with huge numbers of rooms opening, major renovation activity and development patterns that look very different from what we typically see in the U.S. If you want to understand where global hotel growth is heading next, see which Asia Pacific markets Bruce thinks deserve the closest attention now. Thanks to our friends at Actabl for supporting No Vacancy. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

What if the SBA's $5 million hotel loan limit doesn't actually limit you to $5 million? At LendingCon, SBA Regional Administrator Tyler Teresa explained how hotel owners now use the 7(a) and 504 programs together for as much as $10 million in total financing. Congress never raised the $5 million limit. The SBA found another route. Then Tyler dropped another number every hotel buyer should hear: 15%. Under the 504 program, hotel buyers contribute 15% toward the deal. Tyler also took me through an $8 million hotel acquisition and showed exactly where the 7(a) and 504 pieces fit. I spend plenty of time talking with hotel owners about the struggle to find capital that makes deals pencil. This conversation gave me a financing strategy I didn't know about, and I suspect plenty of hotel owners don't know about it either. If hotel acquisitions factor into your plans, Tyler's explanation deserves five minutes of your attention. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Waiting for "uncertainty" to disappear before making your next hotel deal? Dan Lesser has a technical term for that: a cop-out. I caught up with the LW Hospitality Advisors president and CEO at LendingCon 2026, and Dan sees considerably more activity in the hotel market than all the hand-wringing might suggest. He says the first half of the year has been phenomenal, people continue to travel, substantial hotel transactions are getting done and there's money available for acquisitions, refinancing and construction when the economics work. Then we got into what could drive even more deals. Owners who financed three, five or seven years ago now face debt maturities at significantly higher interest rates, while brands are also pushing properties that postponed renovations to get the work done. Some owners will refinance. Some will renovate. Others are going to decide they've had enough and sell. That's when things get interesting for everyone else. Dan explains why he doesn't believe the money ever really disappeared to the sidelines, where he's seeing hotels repriced and why his business currently spans everything from proposed new developments to distressed and bankruptcy-related assets. There's a lot happening underneath all that "uncertainty." Thanks to my friends at Actabl for supporting #NoVacancyNews. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Staypineapple Hotels President Dina Belon joined us for Friday Night Audit, and within minutes we were talking about underground printer-paper markets, retired Peabody ducks and why her early Google results once featured photos from the Playboy Club. So, pretty much a standard Friday Night Audit. Craig Sullivan and Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera were along for the ride, while I broadcast from EPCOT, questioned ducks about their employment history and went five-for-five on a Phish quiz. After more than 200 shows, I would've been embarrassed if I missed one. Dina also had plenty to say about what Staypineapple is doing with AI, guest experience, technology and those famous pineapple chunks.

During LendingCon 2026, Glenn Haussman asks Red Roof's Lina Patel why conversions now account for roughly 80% of the company's hotels this year. Lina also explains how Red Roof's RIDE initiative has helped 40 people become hotel owners and why the company sees more room to grow that number. Watch the conversation to hear what Red Roof sees happening in the hotel deal market right now. #NoVacancyNews #RedRoof #LendingCon Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

LivAway Suites made a bold choice: give long-term guests more room and still protect the economics behind the hotel. The company builds rooms about 20% larger than typical economy extended-stay rooms, places the kitchen at the center of the space and adds features that matter when someone lives in a hotel for weeks at a time. Fast Wi-Fi, better sound control, package lockers, useful storage and stronger ventilation all play a role. I spoke with LivAway Suites CEO Mike Nielson with Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera about how LivAway makes that model work. Mike explains how the company controls construction costs, improves housekeeping efficiency and builds an independent brand around the way extended-stay guests actually live. LivAway now operates 14 hotels and plans many more across the country, but the most interesting part of the story comes from the math behind the room. Click through and watch my latest #NoVacancyNews video to hear how LivAway gives guests more space without giving up the margins that make the model work. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

A Michelin-recommended restaurant on top of an Embassy Suites changes the conversation pretty quickly. I spoke with Bonnie Campagnolo, Global Head of Embassy Suites, from the rooftop of the brand's Asheville hotel, where the restaurant draws customers seven nights a week. The property combines two-room suites, breakfast and the evening reception with meeting space, serious food and beverage, and a rooftop experience befitting the Asheville market. Bonnie explains how Embassy Suites gives developers more flexibility to shape each hotel around local demand while protecting the elements that keep guests choosing the brand. That approach lets owners add restaurants, bars, meeting space and other revenue drivers without turning every Embassy Suites into the same building. Click through and watch my latest #NoVacancyNews video to see how this Asheville property pushes the brand in a new direction and hear where Bonnie plans to take Embassy Suites next. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Curator Hotel & Resort Collection brings together some seriously cool independent hotels without sanding away the qualities that make them interesting. New Waterloo offers a great example. The company creates distinctive hotels inside historic buildings, connecting each property to its surrounding community. Curator gives the team greater buying power, stronger vendor relationships, broader marketing support and tools that help each hotel compete—while New Waterloo protects the identity and guest experience. I spoke with Jennifer Barnwell, President of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, and Sarah Swenson, Corporate Director of Marketing at New Waterloo, about how that partnership works in practice. Sarah explains why independent hoteliers need strong partners, and Jennifer shares how Curator supports those hotels without forcing them to follow a brand playbook. That balance creates the real story: independent hotels gain the reach and resources of a larger collection while protecting the personality that gives travelers a reason to choose them. Click through and watch my latest #NoVacancyNews video to see how Curator and New Waterloo make that partnership work—and get a look at some of the standout hotels inside the collection. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Anthony Klok keeps 80% of his hotel staff for more than 20 years, and he doesn't credit software, surveys or another employee engagement program. I visited Anthony, Principal of Rebel Hospitality, at the Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace in Chicago while he cooked for his staff and handed out appreciation bonuses. He explained why people stay, why so many hotel companies still get this wrong and how owners directly shape the culture inside their properties. Anthony also connects that loyalty to stronger guest service and better business performance. His hotel just recorded its best summer in four or five years after a $1.5 million renovation, but the most interesting part of our #NoVacancyNews conversation had nothing to do with the building. It came down to what owners do every day and what employees notice long before any customer does. Click through and watch the video to hear Anthony explain what keeps his team in place for decades and why more hotel owners should pay attention. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Every hotel brand makes a promise on a slide deck somewhere. There's a real gap between what a hotel brand promises and what actually happens at the front desk. I got brand strategist Philipp Mirow, CEO of Meridian Thinking, on the show with Dr. Producer Suzanne to figure out exactly where that promise falls apart. Philipp ran the Radisson brand while at Choice Hotels, then founded Meridian Thinking, the consultancy behind brand work for Hilton, Starwood, and 1 Hotels, among others. He's also got an unusual detour on his resume that shapes how he thinks about all of it. This conversation gets into: The unlikely operational job on his resume that still shapes how he builds brand strategy today Why a 500-page brand standards document rarely survives contact with an actual front desk A guest-recognition problem he says airlines solved years ago that most #hotels still haven't touched How a brand nobody was excited about turned pure nostalgia into a real growth strategy Where he thinks AI genuinely belongs in guest service, and where handing it to guests backfires A special thanks to our advertiser Actabl. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit them at Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Picture 100% occupancy on your busiest weekend of the year — then picture running out of towels. Rooms sit unsellable, guests grow furious, and the hotel writes refunds and credits just to get through the night. Bart Begley built Integrity Laundry Services so no hotel has to live through that scenario, and I went to Destin, Florida to see how. Under Bart's model, hotels don't own a single towel or sheet anymore — Integrity owns every piece of linen outright and delivers a fresh set the night before a hotel even needs it. His proprietary system pulls reservation data straight from a property's own systems to know exactly what a property needs and when. This tour covers: The Mardi Gras scramble that leaves guests without a room and hotels writing refunds and credits Why hotels no longer own their linens at all under this model, and what that eliminates from their budget How a proprietary system reads a hotel's reservations and restocks linen before anyone calls The water and utility numbers behind linen that arrives spotless and hospital-clean What happened across an entire holiday weekend at 100% occupancy — and how not one room came up short Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

The hotel business apparently didn't get the memo that everything is supposed to be terrible. Consumers feel squeezed. Credit-card debt keeps climbing. Business travel remains soft. Hotel construction faces the same cost and financing challenges we've discussed for years. Yet hotels keep performing, people keep traveling and owners keep making deals. So what's actually holding this market together? I asked Bruce Ford, SVP at Lodging Econometrics, to help me make sense of it. We talked about why event travel continues to deliver, how hotels can offer deals without destroying their rates and why the biggest opportunity ahead may have less to do with building new hotels. One number caught my attention: Bruce expects the industry to renovate or convert between 325,000 and 375,000 rooms during each of the next couple of years. That could create a very different hotel investment market than many people expect, with major implications for owners, brands, management companies and industry suppliers. Watch my latest #NoVacancyNews conversation with Bruce to hear where he sees the hotel market heading next. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Jamie Caraher was recently recognized as one of Utah's CEOs of the Year. She runs Lodging Dynamics. Owners trust her with their #hotels. And she told me, on camera, that the moment she got the call, her first thought was: do I even deserve this? If you've ever sat in a leadership role and quietly waited for someone to figure out you don't belong there, this conversation is going to hit different. Jamie grew up in a family that couldn't afford to stay in the hotels she now runs, and she built her way up through jobs most people never think twice about. That climb left a mark on her that success hasn't erased, and she talks about it more openly than most CEOs ever would. Some of what pulled me in: The gut-check moment she had the second she found out she'd made the CEO of the Year list A decision she made to walk away from a company she swore she'd retire with A theory she has about trust that treats every owner relationship like a bank account you can overdraw Why growth, to her, has almost nothing to do with getting bigger What she's building inside her own company to make sure women in hospitality don't hit the ceiling she once saw A special thanks to our advertiser Actabl. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit them at Actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Hotels keep sending me golf deals. I don't play golf. I've never played golf. Dana Cariss, SVP of Revenue Strategy at CoralTree Hospitality, showed me exactly how close the industry now stands to fixing that problem. Disconnected systems used to trap hotel data in silos that couldn't talk to each other — point of sale here, property management there, sales and catering somewhere else entirely. Dana's team spent the last couple of years pulling all of it into one place, and the result changes what a hotel can actually know about you. This conversation covers: The specific systems that once trapped guest data in silos and blocked real personalization How data landing in one warehouse from every department changed what his team could see Why AI does more than speed up #personalization — it makes sense of data this dense in the first place CoralTree's 2026 reporting upgrade that answers plain questions instead of forcing a report The mindset Dana pushes his team to keep so comfort doesn't kill innovation Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Derek Pacqué drove three hours from Manhattan to The Haussman Resort, Pool Club and Smokehouse on Long Island for Friday Night Audit. In LIE traffic, you know it's bad when the cars start passing you, then a horse and buggy passes you, then an elderly woman with a walker passes you. That's Friday in the summer on Long Island. Derek made it anyway.   He runs Chexology, the bag and valet check company you'll find at 1,200+ venues — the Mets, MoMA, Barclays Center, TD Garden, the O2 in London. It started as a coat check hustle in Indiana college bars, because drunk people are bad at holding onto tickets. Then he went on Shark Tank ABC and turned down the investors.   Somewhere in there, my cat made a break for the front door. Breaking news, as we called it on air.   His colleague Neil Upadhyay joined from #Vegas with the best line of the night: after a rival's bag-check system fell apart so badly staff walked off and police started holding people's Birkin bags, Chexology got the call. Nothing sells a hospitality product like "the last guys lost custody of designer handbags to the LVPD."   We closed, as one does, with me cannonballing into the pool and someone threatening to throw the laptop in after me.   #FridayNightAudit. Happy hour, hospitality news, zero dignity.   Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts just knocked Marriott International out of the #1 spot in U.S. News & World Report's 2026 hotel rewards rankings — and the reason comes down to something travelers are clearly reacting to: devaluation. I talked with senior travel editor Elizabeth Von Tersch about this year's rewards rankings, plus a brand new list for road warriors. A few numbers worth knowing: Wyndham held onto its category-based point system while Marriott's dynamic pricing model saw a 20% devaluation. Plus, Sonesta International Hotels cracked the top five for the first time — and it earns guests free nights almost twice as fast as some of the bigger names. On the business travel side, Marriott and Hilton go head to head for the top two spots, and the deciding factor isn't the one you'd expect. We also dig into why hotel loyalty programs are starting to look a lot more like airline programs — and what that means for how you earn your next free night. Full rankings and methodology here: https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/travel-rewards/?src=usn_pr Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Morris Tiedemann, General Manager at AYANA Midplaza Jakarta, joined Glenn and Suzanne from halfway across the world to explain how a hotel competes in a market flooded with luxury. Morris took a job in Urumqi in 2003 when he had to buy a book to figure out where it was. Twenty-two years in China taught him to move fast. Then AYANA came calling, and he had to slow down. Indonesia rewards patience. That tension is where his story gets interesting. The property sits in downtown Jakarta but feels like a beach destination — a pool, a tennis court, and gardens taking up real estate that most operators would have built on. The differentiator isn't the amenities. It's Indonesian hospitality baked into every touchpoint, backed by AYANA's larger story in Bali and Komodo. Also covered: how a new GM earns trust when he doesn't speak the language yet, why culture drives everything in a general manager's job, and the discipline of not "repainting the shop" in your first week. Visit ayana.com/jakarta. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Hotel technology shouldn't just look impressive. It should help guests enjoy their stay and help hotels make more money. The Hotel Communication Network Inc. CEO Kevin Bidner showed me how the company combines in-room tablets with AI to create a much more useful guest experience. Guests can request extra towels, explore room-service options, discover hotel amenities, research local restaurants and make reservations through one simple conversation. Kevin says hotels with room service can increase orders by 25% when guests use the tablet. Hotels can also promote restaurants, bars, spas, activities and other experiences that guests may never hear about at the front desk. The Hotel Communication Network provides the tablets without requiring hotels to buy them. The company also shares revenue from on-screen promotions and experiential marketing with participating hotels. The technology helps guests find what they want, encourages them to spend more across the property and gives hotels another revenue-generating tool. Watch the video and see the AI concierge in action. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Lauren Bennett McGinty, Executive Director of Explore Minnesota, sat down with Glenn to explain how a state agency generates $25 billion in economic impact and what hoteliers can learn from it. The state welcomed 81 million visitors in 2024 and generated nearly $15 billion in visitor spending. Lauren breaks down how Explore Minnesota subdivides 5 major regions into 11 micro-regions to distribute visitors beyond the major cities, why campaigns filmed from the visitor's perspective outperform anything AI can generate, and how a state DMO supports independent operators — from family-owned resorts passed down for a century to boutique hotels in small towns. She also explains why tourism delivers immediate ROI in ways other economic development can't. Long-range business attraction takes years. Tourism marketing shows results within months. For hotel operators wondering how DMOs can actually help their business, this is the framework. Visit exploreminnesota.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Bonnie Campagnuolo, Global Brand Head at Embassy Suites by Hilton, sat down with Glenn on the rooftop of the Asheville property to explain how the brand is winning in the all-suites category — and why developers keep choosing it. The brand's "kit of parts" approach gives developers real flexibility. Build 150 keys in a small market or 500 keys in Nashville. Beach resort or urban downtown. Every property adapts to local demand while preserving the elements that made Embassy Suites Embassy Suites: two-room suites, breakfast omelets, evening reception. The Asheville rooftop, which is Michelin-recommended and busy seven nights a week, is one example of what the kit of parts makes possible. Where the brand is really evolving: food and beverage. Once an amenity, now a profitability engine. Rooftop restaurants, elevated meetings and events catering, and full-service dining give developers a first step into full-service without full-service complexity. That's why the pipeline is holding in a difficult development environment — with new properties opening across the U.S. and internationally in Africa, Doha, Dubai, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. And when Glenn asked what makes it all work? Not the buildings. Not the corporate strategy. The general managers. Visit embassysuites.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

James Hansen showed up with a Paloma. Sarah Becherer poured a digestif. Craig Sullivan had his beer. Glenn was doing whatever Glenn does. This is how you open a conversation about parking. They're from Ocra, which turns empty hotel parking lots into cash. We got there eventually. First we had to sort out Chicago cocktail pricing, why Sarah wants to launch a podcast about parallel parking, and the moral crimes of putting ketchup on a hot dog. Pour something. Press play. Visit getocra.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Liza Amlani, The Chief Merchant, spent 20 years as a merchant at Ralph Lauren. She now studies what retail can teach hospitality. The parallels are closer than you think. Both industries live and die by customer experience. Both rely on frontline workers whose voices too often get ignored. Both are trying to figure out how to bridge strategy from the corporate office to what actually happens on the floor. Liza translates retail's playbook for hoteliers who want a fresh perspective on customer experience, employee voice, and what the future of guest engagement actually looks like. Visit retailstrategygroup.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Julie Kee, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Belize Collection, just revealed why her hotels are winning. It's not what you'd expect. The Belize Collection owns real estate. Spans jungle to reef to private island. Partners with local communities in ways that feel authentic because they are. And that's become their competitive advantage. But how do you actually turn that into a business model that works? That's the conversation worth watching. Visit thebelizecollection.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Your guests are done waiting in line at check-in. Wallet key technology just made that line disappear.

We had a guest cancel at the last minute, so Craig, Suzanne, and I opened drinks and talked about my absolute disaster of a travel day. I'm not giving away the whole thing, but yesterday involved delayed flights, a plane too hot to board, a jammed wheelchair, Atlanta airspace doing Atlanta airspace things, a sick flight attendant, a Popeyes dream that died quickly, a late-night LIRR miracle, and the crushing realization that I wasn't getting Taco Bell at the end of it. Suzanne somehow turned our text thread into a blues song, Craig did Craig things, and I tried to explain the whole mess without reliving too much trauma. We also got to the important business:

Jonathan Tisch helped shape Loews Hotels for 45 years, built some of the company's most important projects, and still talks about hospitality as a people business before anything else. Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera cohosts this conversation with Jonathan Tisch, retired executive chairman of Loews Hotels, and we get into the decisions behind Loews Miami Beach, the long relationship with Universal Orlando, the Arlington growth story, and why hotel people still need to fight for more respect. Jonathan also shares one line from his first sales boss that stuck with him through every chapter of his career: Never start a paragraph with "I." That idea runs through the whole conversation. Jonathan keeps coming back to the guest, the team, the community, and the responsibility hotel leaders carry.

We drove through the Las Vegas Loop in a Tesla with Cami Christensen, President/GM of Westgate Las Vegas, and she's got 25 years of stories to tell from inside one of Vegas's most connected properties.

Your mid-market property is about to get a neighbor it didn't expect. Bruce Ford, SVP of Lodging Econometrics, explains why 158 luxury conversions are coming — and what that means for everyone else. Luxury used to be exclusive. Expensive to build. Hard to convert. Not anymore. Brands are loosening their grip. Third-party operators are moving in. Mid-market properties are being stripped down and rebuilt as five-star, with new tech and new standards. And they're happening fast. Here's what worries operators: once a guest stays at the converted property next door with all the new tech, better itinerary management, and total customer value strategy, they're not coming back to yours. Bruce talks through the pipeline — where the money is actually flowing and why your market might be next. China has 3 to 3.5 times more rooms under construction than every other country combined. The Middle East is accelerating. And New Orleans just went from one luxury hotel to seven on one street. This isn't coming. It's already here. From Lodging Econometrics. Visit lodging econometrics.com/global insights. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866. Your mid-market property is about to get a neighbor it didn't expect. Bruce Ford, SVP of Lodging Econometrics, explains why 158 luxury conversions are coming — and what that means for everyone else. Luxury used to be exclusive. Expensive to build. Hard to convert. Not anymore. Brands are loosening their grip. Third-party operators are moving in. Mid-market properties are being stripped down and rebuilt as five-star, with new tech and new standards. And they're happening fast. Here's what worries operators: once a guest stays at the converted property next door with all the new tech, better itinerary management, and total customer value strategy, they're not coming back to yours. Bruce talks through the pipeline — where the money is actually flowing and why your market might be next. China has 3 to 3.5 times more rooms under construction than every other country combined. The Middle East is accelerating. And New Orleans just went from one luxury hotel to seven on one street. This isn't coming. It's already here. From Lodging Econometrics. Visit lodging econometrics.com/global insights. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Your owners are making decisions blind. PM Hotel Group just fixed that. Steve Marino, VP of IT and Hotel Systems at PM Hotel Group, explained at HITEC how they're using AI as their competitive differentiator — not to replace anyone, but to move owners from reactive to proactive. Most owners aren't hoteliers — they're investor-class people who don't know how to navigate systems or run reports. So they wait. They ask. They get frustrated. PM turned that into natural language: "Give me my cost per occupied room across these hotels for the last three weeks." Instant answers. No friction. On the BD side, AI is now helping them identify which assets and which owners actually fit their model, so they're not taking every deal that walks through the door. They're qualifying for the right fit. From HITEC. Visit pmhotelgroup.com or find them on LinkedIn. Unifocus, Workforce Management Redefined. Visit unifocus.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Here's obvious: Hotel energy prices aren't coming down. Rick West, CEO at Commercial Green Solutions, and Kenny Weston, VP at Commercial Green Solutions, explained why hoteliers need to stop treating utility costs as fixed. ⚡ The "double whammy" is real: your kWh costs are up AND your demand charges are through the roof. But there's $50 billion in rebates sitting in utility programs that most hotels don't even know exist.

Kartik Yellepeddi, Chief Product Officer at Duetto, says AI in pricing is stuck at level one: algorithms that recommend prices. That's the problem. Building three levels is the solution.

Hotels are asking the wrong question at check-in — and Alliants just proved it.

Matthew Bright, SVP and Head of IT at Davidson Hospitality, made a promise not to talk about AI. He broke it 54 seconds in.

Deena Baikowitz is a cat whisperer, networking extraordinaire, and the funnest, loudest (the good kind) person you'll ever meet. She joins Friday Night Audit alongside myself, Craig Sullivan and Suzanne Bagnera, PhD, CHA, CED from Toronto (where she's "in exile" from New York) and the crew immediately put her to work on the pet peeves hotel tournament.

Brent Hayhurst, VP at Curator Hotel and Resort Collection, won't look at a new technology until he knows what KPI it's supposed to move.

Steven Moore, CEO at Actabl, says you shouldn't need to log in to answer your owner's question.

Keryn McNamara, CIO at Aimbridge, told me AI fails the moment it replaces a human instead of freeing one up.

Denise Walker, CIO at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, started her career on a TRS-80. Thirty years later, she told me AI is the first technology she's never had to explain to anyone — people already see why it matters.

At HITEC, I talked with Michael Grove of HotStats, which is now part of Duetto, about why hotel performance has to move beyond rooms revenue. Michael came with actual numbers on profitability, but the conversation went quickly into how owners and operators should read the business. Demand and rate only tell part of the story. Profit depends on where revenue comes from, what it costs to capture it, and which parts of the operation deserve more attention. We got into U.S. profitability, global travel shifts, food and beverage pressure, wellness, golf, ancillary revenue, and why Michael likes the phrase "performance engineering." I like that phrase because it gets closer to how owners and operators actually need to think. Revenue is one piece. Profitability tells a much fuller story. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Hotel operators don't lack AI options. They lack a clear way to evaluate them. At HITEC, I talked with Shannon McCallum, VP of Operations at Resorts World Las Vegas, about the HFTP AI Collective and how operators can make smarter decisions around AI tools, robotics, chatbots, reporting, and vendor partners.

During HITEC in San Antonio yesterdayn, I talked with Robert Matsuoka of Duetto about Duetto Labs and how AI could change the daily work of hotel revenue teams. Revenue managers already spend too much time pulling data from different systems, building reports, checking forecasts, and trying to figure out what needs attention first. Robert's view is that AI should cut through that noise so smart people spend more time making decisions and less time fighting spreadsheets. We also talked about forecasting, pricing, profit data, and how Duetto is thinking about the next phase of revenue management technology. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

I'm at HITEC in San Antonio today and tomorrow, and I talked with Stephen Katsirubas, CIO of Pursuit Collection, about AI that's already doing real work for guests and operators. Pursuit has a lot more going on than rooms and room nights. They're dealing with lodging, attractions, retail, boating, gondolas, sky trams, and all the guest questions that come with those experiences. Stephen isn't talking about AI in some vague "future of hospitality" way. He's talking about using it now so guests get faster answers and teams spend less time buried in the same basic questions. One example got my attention: Pursuit cut call volume by more than 30% in one area by helping guests get answers about hours, parking, pet rules, and other basics before they need a person. Thanks to Unifocus. Workforce management redefined. Visit unifocus.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

I talked with Harry Javer, Founder and Producer of The Lodging Conference, and Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera about why this event keeps pulling people back year after year. I've been going for about 25 years. Suzanne's coming for the first time. That gave us two very different ways into the same conversation. The Lodging Conference brings the industry conversations people need right now: finance, construction, development, AI, adaptive reuse, conversions, residential hotels, and the dealmaking that shapes what comes next. I'll also be back on the main stage hosting one of the general session panels, so I wanted to hear directly from Harry about what's shaping this year's event. But the event also has the thing most conferences can't manufacture: people actually relax. The lazy river race helps. The duck race definitely helps. So do the morning activities, the evening events, and the way the property takeover keeps people running into each other all week. That's what makes the conversations different. People still talk deals, capital, brands, development, and strategy. They just do it in an environment where everyone feels a little more human. Harry also shared what first-timers should know, why the event keeps selling out, and why registering before June 30 matters. And yes, I fully intend to defend my title as king of the lazy river race. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

On No Vacancy, I talked with Charif Zahrane, Managing Partner at M7 Services, about the hotel technology mess sitting underneath the AI conversation. Everybody wants to talk about AI. Charif wants hotel operators to look at what sits below it first. Data. Infrastructure. Security. System connections. The unsexy stuff that decides whether the shiny new tool actually works or turns into another headache. That's where this conversation gets useful. Hotel operators can't just throw AI on top of messy systems and expect magic. They need a cleaner foundation, a better understanding of what they're connecting, and partners who understand how hospitality actually runs. Charif also gets into why the old "break-fix" IT model doesn't match where hotels are headed. This one's for anyone trying to figure out what hotel tech should look like before AI makes the whole thing even more complicated. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Today we answer the most important question of all, what Arnie missed. Arnie Garfinkle tosses back some cocktails with Glenn, Craig and Producer Suzanne for this week's Friday Night Audit. Bets are open to how late Arnie shows up for his guest spot.

At last week's NYU IHIF, I talked with David Duncan, President and CEO of First Hospitality, about where hotel investment still works when new construction rarely pencils. That's the part of the market I keep hearing more about: not shiny new projects, but existing hotels where the right capital, brand strategy, operating discipline, or management change can unlock something better. David has a useful view on that because First Hospitality now plays on both sides of the equation: investment and operations. In this conversation, we got into why more opportunities may come from assets that need work, why development still feels difficult, and how First Hospitality thinks about growth when every deal has to earn its way forward. We also talked about new markets, talent, culture, and why entering a city as an operator takes a lot more than running the numbers from a spreadsheet. Thanks to Actabl. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Most hotel AI conversations stay too abstract. Rob Smith, CEO and President of Stonebridge, brought it back to the work operators deal with every day: financials, trip reports, sales data, STR reports, and property-level decisions. I recorded this conversation during last week's NYU IHIF conference, where Rob shared how Stonebridge uses AI inside hotel operations right now. Stonebridge uses Claude, ChatGPT, and Copilot at the corporate level, and the company has rolled out hashtag#Copilot across its hotels. Rob talked about using hashtag#AI for faster answers, better property context, and fewer wasted steps before a team has to chase another call, email, or report.

At last week's NYU IHIF, Glenn Haussman talks with John Schultzel, Chief Growth Officer at Olympia Hospitality, about drive-to demand, shrinking booking windows, rate discipline, destination marketing, and how hotels can stay close to guests without losing the human side of hospitality. Olympia operates across New England, up and down the East Coast, and as far west as Colorado, giving John a clear look at different market patterns. He sees continued opportunity in drive-to leisure markets, even when broader economic stress makes travelers more cautious. Drive-to demand can hold up when travelers still want a getaway but rethink distance or transportation Short booking windows make pricing discipline harder when hotels watch pace late in the week Creative packages beat panic discounting when travelers make last-minute decisions Hotels need stronger destination marketing because guests often choose the place before they choose the property Weather should change the message, not kill the opportunity AI can help marketing teams move faster while still keeping the human side of hospitality intact Thanks to Actabl. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

During last week's NYU IHIF, I talked with Ryan Bosch of Arriba Capital because hotel transactions have picked up, but closing deals still takes a lot more creativity than people may realize. Ryan sees a growing performance gap between hotels where owners continually invested in their properties during the last six years and hotels where owners delayed CapEx. Now that gap is showing up in value, refinancing pressure, and whether some owners decide they're better off selling. Deferred CapEx has split hotel performance inside the same markets Owners who continually invested in their properties now have stronger assets Some owners now face refinance pressure and larger cash-in requirements More sellers need a transaction, not another round of market testing Buyers still want "meat on the bone" so they have room for value creation after closing Creative capital stacks and alternative financing help more hotel deals close Thanks to Actabl. Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed? Text HOTEL to 66866.