Podcasts about miami beach

This week we are joined by Chris Lowder, co-founder of Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality, two-time Tales of the Cocktail nominee for Best Global Bar Mentor, and one of Drinks International's 100 Most Influential Figures in the Global Bar Industry. After leading World's 50 Best-recognized bars across China, Chris co-founded LTH, now a team of 18 spanning New York, Miami, and Bangkok, with his latest work on display at Miami Beach's Shelborne by Proper. So tune in as we discuss why sustainable operations and financial literacy beat chasing accolades, his years bartending in Korea and China, and the hidden challenges of hotel F&B development. Get your free samples:  https:perfectpuree.com/bal ____________________________________ Join us every Monday as acclaimed bartender, Erick Castro, interviews some of the bar industry's top talents from around the world, including bartenders, distillers & authors. If you love cocktails & spirits then this award-winning podcast is just for you. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: Get early access to episodes, exclusive bonus episodes, special content and more: https://www.patreon.com/BartenderAtLarge WATCH OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: Erick Castro: www.instagram.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.instagram.com/BartenderAtLarge FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: Erick Castro: https://www.tiktok.com/@hungrybartender Bartender at Large: https://www.tiktok.com/@bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: Erick Castro: www.twitter.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.twitter.com/BartendAtLarge  

This week we are joined by Chris Lowder, co-founder of Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality, two-time Tales of the Cocktail nominee for Best Global Bar Mentor, and one of Drinks International's 100 Most Influential Figures in the Global Bar Industry. After leading World's 50 Best-recognized bars across China, Chris co-founded LTH, now a team of 18 spanning New York, Miami, and Bangkok, with his latest work on display at Miami Beach's Shelborne by Proper. So tune in as we discuss why sustainable operations and financial literacy beat chasing accolades, his years bartending in Korea and China, and the hidden challenges of hotel F&B development. Get your free samples:  https:perfectpuree.com/bal ____________________________________ Join us every Monday as acclaimed bartender, Erick Castro, interviews some of the bar industry's top talents from around the world, including bartenders, distillers & authors. If you love cocktails & spirits then this award-winning podcast is just for you. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: Get early access to episodes, exclusive bonus episodes, special content and more: https://www.patreon.com/BartenderAtLarge WATCH OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: Erick Castro: www.instagram.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.instagram.com/BartenderAtLarge FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: Erick Castro: https://www.tiktok.com/@hungrybartender Bartender at Large: https://www.tiktok.com/@bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: Erick Castro: www.twitter.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.twitter.com/BartendAtLarge  

This week we are joined by Chris Lowder, co-founder of Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality, two-time Tales of the Cocktail nominee for Best Global Bar Mentor, and one of Drinks International's 100 Most Influential Figures in the Global Bar Industry. After leading World's 50 Best-recognized bars across China, Chris co-founded LTH, now a team of 18 spanning New York, Miami, and Bangkok, with his latest work on display at Miami Beach's Shelborne by Proper. So tune in as we discuss why sustainable operations and financial literacy beat chasing accolades, his years bartending in Korea and China, and the hidden challenges of hotel F&B development. Get your free samples:  https:perfectpuree.com/bal ____________________________________ Join us every Monday as acclaimed bartender, Erick Castro, interviews some of the bar industry's top talents from around the world, including bartenders, distillers & authors. If you love cocktails & spirits then this award-winning podcast is just for you. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: Get early access to episodes, exclusive bonus episodes, special content and more: https://www.patreon.com/BartenderAtLarge WATCH OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: Erick Castro: www.instagram.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.instagram.com/BartenderAtLarge FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: Erick Castro: https://www.tiktok.com/@hungrybartender Bartender at Large: https://www.tiktok.com/@bartenderatlarge FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: Erick Castro: www.twitter.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.twitter.com/BartendAtLarge  

The assassination of Gianni Versace on the 15th of July 1997 was the shocking end of one of the deadliest killing sprees in modern American history. On that summer morning, the world-famous Italian fashion designer walked home from a café to his Miami Beach mansion, Casa Casuarina, and was shot dead on his own front steps by a 27-year-old man named Andrew Cunanan. But Gianni Versace was not Andrew Cunanan's first victim. He was his fifth. Over the previous three months, Cunanan had murdered four other people across four American states: Jeffrey Trail, a decorated Navy veteran; David Madson, an interior designer and Cunanan's former boyfriend; Lee Miglin, a 72-year-old Chicago real estate tycoon; and William Reese, a New Jersey cemetery caretaker killed for nothing more than his pickup truck. By the time Cunanan killed Versace, he had already been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for over a month, and he had been hiding in plain sight in Miami Beach, just four miles from the designer's mansion. In this episode of Crime at Bedtime, we tell the complete story of the Versace murder and the Andrew Cunanan spree: the five victims, the nationwide manhunt, the funeral in Milan attended by Princess Diana and Elton John, the houseboat where the manhunt finally ended eight days later, and the questions about Cunanan's motive that have never been answered. This episode honours all five of the people who died, not only the most famous of them. Settle in, get comfortable, and let us tell you the story of the steps of Casa Casuarina.Become a Patreon or Apple + subscriber now for ealry and ad free access from as little as $1.69 a week. All the details hereSubscribe to Crime at Bedtimes Youtube channel HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Beyond Limits, Liv sits down with Brooke Robbins, former startup operator turned founder of The Well Path, a movement for people who want to think for themselves and stop second-guessing their decisions. Through her podcast, Substack, and social platforms, Brooke writes and speaks on self-trust, identity, and the psychology behind how we make decisions.Brooke holds a B.A. from Columbia University and is a Fulbright alumna. She has lived in the US, France, Taiwan, and the UAE, and is currently based in Miami Beach.Together, Liv and Brooke explore what it really takes to trust yourself, why self-trust is built through the small decisions you make every day, and how getting comfortable with discomfort can change the way you move through life. They also dive into the difference between internal confidence and external validation, the fear of being seen or misunderstood, and why you don't need to have every next step figured out before making a decision you know is right for you. Inside this episode:

A massive new review pooling 113 clinical trials and almost 8,000 people just weighed in on whether collagen supplements actually work, and Chalene Johnson breaks down what the research really found for skin, joints, and muscle, tied to the estrogen drop behind midlife skin changes. Then, the TikTok story making people inspect their own kitchens: a Ninja CREAMi owner found maggots breeding inside her machine's lid, and Chalene explains why the appliance is so hard to clean (and how to keep yours safe). Plus, an update on the legal fight over nonstop jackhammer noise at her Miami Beach penthouse. Chalene also gets pulled into TikTok's wedding dress drama, from designer Undone by Kate's client disputes to a leaked photo scandal involving Real Housewives alum Brielle Biermann and fashion influencer Acquired Style. She closes with a warning about sites like Consumer Reports blocking AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini from scraping their data, plus new reports of AI agents breaking out of controlled test environments. Topics discussed: collagen study, Science Daily, estrogen, Ninja CREAMi, Undone by Kate, Brielle Biermann, Kim Zolciak, Don't Be Tardy for the Party, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Acquired Style, Shay Sullivan, Consumer Reports, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Clancy murders. Join Chalene on Patreon her private podcast to hear all the details on the Penthouse Drama

With just a little over a month away from the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami taking place, special guest and President of Staypineapple Hotels Inc., Dina Belon, joins the Suite Spot to discuss the Stayepineapple brand, the independent hotel industry, and what she is looking forward to from IHS Miami 2026! 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. Back for another edition of season two of our independent hotel show series, where we are getting geared up and ready for that annual tradition down in Miami Beach at the Independent Hotel Show. We cannot wait. We’re gonna talk a little bit about it with our guests. We actually met for the first time in person last year at this event. We’re able to spend some time with her. Dina Belon, president at Staypineapple Hotels. Dina, thank you so much for joining me back on The Suite Spot. Dina Belon: Oh, thank you so much for inviting me, Ryan. This is amazing. I’m so excited. We had such a good time in Miami last year, it was a blast and, uh, talking to you felt like I was talking to a friend. Ryan Embree: Well, I appreciate it. I feel the same. Just honored to be speaking with you here. And I can’t believe we’re here. It’s we’re just months away from the Independent Hotel Show. It’s gonna be bigger, better than ever. We’re excited about it. We’re gonna talk about it. But we did have you on for the first time, so we had the opportunity. Usually, I start these episodes by a little bit of a background and kind of an introduction, but I’m gonna start a little unorthodox today. There was a post that I saw on LinkedIn, which by the way, for our Suite Spot listeners, make sure you say, uh, you follow Staypineapple Hotels and Dina. Great follows on LinkedIn. But there’s an, an article called Everything Staypineapple Hotels Dina Belon Does in a Day. And I thought that was such a cool and creative idea and concept. Talk to us a little bit about how that idea originated and give us a day in life. What is it like to be Dina Belon? Dina Belon: Well, I tried to be very honest. Hopefully it was fun too. I, there’s a lot of humor in my day, and so hopefully that came across. Um, the magazine, uh, that’s a local magazine here in, uh, east, the east side of Seattle and Bellevue and Kirkland area of Washington does those highlights of leaders in the area, um, on a regular basis. So it was fun, uh, a little stressful because you had to, like, take photographs and, you know, kind of just walk through your day. Um, I loved, though, really integrating my pets, because they’re a big part of my life. And so it started off with Molly waking me up at 5:45, which is actually what she does every morning. About 15 minutes before my alarm goes off, my little kitty cat starts yelling at me about wanting water. Um, so yeah, all the way until, you know, 8:00 at night and a lovely glass of wine with my husband. And all the shenanigans in the middle. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And I think it’s so cool because I think it, you know, we obviously work in the people business, right? In hospitality. Uh, we host people from all over the world, all different walks of life. Um, but to see, you know, sometimes, uh, I think right now, especially right now, right, when there’s all this talk of AI and technology and stuff like that, it’s really refreshing to see our industry leaders. And I get that. I have the, the privilege of getting that, interviewing some of the industry leaders when they talk to me about their, you know, beginnings and, and how maybe they started as a bellman or a front desk agent or fell into the industry. And I think the more that we can kind of humanize and show that these are people that really have a true passion for serving other people. Um, and then on the other side of the front desk, the guests that come into our lobbies, they are people too, whether they’re on a work trip, where they’re trying to escape. You know, sometimes it, it’s refreshing to take, take a beat and think about that. And that’s exactly what this article did for me because it is, you know, even though we’re hospitality, we’re in it, the hustle bustle, 365, twenty four seven. We’re still people, right? Yeah. We’re still people with our pets and, and, and our, uh, you know, what we like to do. Um, so it was a really cool, I think, uh, refreshing look. I wa – I definitely wanted to bring that in. Br – um, and, and your love of pets, it goes right along with your brand, uh, Staypineapples Hotel. And, you know, I’ve come to know and love through your content, your keynotes at the Independent Hotel Show, uh, following you on LinkedIn. For those audience members that might not be as familiar, uh, share with us, uh, a little bit about what makes Staypineapple Hotels so unique and one of a kind. Dina Belon: Yeah. So we are the opposite of corporate uniformity, uniformity. Uh, we’re really about, you know, a boutique sp – hotel experience with a lot of personality. Um, so one of the things that we’re well known for is the naked experience, um, which is, uh, a little eye-opening to a lot of people, but all it really is, is a fun, cheeky, which we like to do, uh, marketing way to talk about our bed and our bedding and our linen and our terry is so comfy, cozy and amazing, you’ll wanna sleep naked. Um, so it, and we give you an, a big cuddly robe so that you don’t come to the door naked. Ryan Embree: There you go. Dina Belon: Um, so that, that’s, that’s very indicative of the Staypineapple personality. Um, we’re also, um, not just pet friendly, we’re dog obsessed. Um, so we, uh, really go over the top with our pet program. We have a partnership with Soundz, S-O-U-N-D-Z, uh, that is, um, uh, sounds, uh, in music – Sure. That, um, pets like and that calm them when they feel nervous, um, that is available for guests, uh, at no cost, a 14-day, uh, free trial. And then, um, we have a partnership with, uh, an emergency veterinary, uh, service called Veg. Um, of course, you get beds and bowls and treats and, um, water bottles and poop bags and all kinds of stuff when you bring, uh, your furry friend. Although we’re dog obsessed, we also love kitty cats too. I have two kitty cats and two dogs. So, um, we, yeah, we’re, we’re pretty over the top with the pet thing. And then we have a, we have a number of the properties that have, uh, hotel dogs as well. Um, so one of the management staff ha – brings their dog to work every day and has really become a, a core team member. Um, you wouldn’t believe how many reviews we get, uh, with our, our furry, uh, friends being, uh, listed as their favorite part of the hotel. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I’ve seen them at trade show nows at industry trade shows. Yeah. You’ll have, like, a puppy break. Uh, brilliant. Brilliant. Dina Belon: It’s my favorite thing. Ryan Embree: Yeah. It just gets people in, in, in a happy mood. People love it. So, uh, and, and the focus of, of the dog obs – dog obsessed, um, i- i- is, is so smart. I mean, p – you know, people. We always think about how stressful travel is, obviously, from a logistics and s – and people standpoint, but obviously on our pets too. They’re in a place that they’ve never been before. Um, they don’t know that they’re heading across the country or even down the road. They’re in somewhere unnatural. So that’s really, really cool that you can kind of make them feel at ease there. And, and I’m sure the guest feedback, uh, from that has been really, really great to see. Um, now, you talked about, um, Staypineapple being a, a very unique boutique brand. Um, I noticed one word you didn’t mention in there, which is, uh, independent or non-branded. Uh, you prefer the term unchained. And I wanna explore that a little bit. I don’t wanna give you too much, uh, of a question. I, I’d like, like you to kinda run with that. Why do you prefer unchained to maybe independent segment or non-branded? Dina Belon: So to me, independent, non-branded, um, you know, indicates that we’re small or we’re isolated or, um. And, and I think it’s, um, diminishing to 30% of the hotel sector, which is truly unchained in both term, both ways that that term can be used. One, we are not attached to a chain in literal terms, but we’re also unchained from a limitation perspective. I think what is so amazing about the independent or the in – the unchained sector of the market to the guest is the founders, the visionaries, the leadership teams, the hotel teams at these hotels put their lifeblood and their passion and their vision and their belief in hospitality into these properties and into the experiences guests are gonna get. It is not a corporate ownership that is managed by a brand that has 5,000 other w – hotels just like it. And, you know, the onsite hotel team has reams of binders to tell them how to do their job. Um, we believe very much in no SOPs. Um, we have, uh, ultimate SOP. It’s do the next right thing. That’s the SOP for Staypineapple. It’s that simple. Just do the next right thing. We help the team understand that a little bit with kind of some guidelines, which is what is the best thing for you and your colleagues? What is the best thing for the guests? And what is the best thing for the business? And if you frame that question, those questions under do the next right thing, anybody can make the right decision at any moment, at every level of the organization. When we talk about empowerment, it isn’t, you know, we’ve given you a toolkit. I always loved this, because I worked in, in the brands. Um, and we always had a toolkit. You had a toolbox full of things that you could use to solve a problem. Well, I don’t need to give you a toolbox. You are a grown person that is a professional in the hospitality industry and you’ve entered this industry with a passion for people. Why would I tell you how to do your job, um, in every aspect with books of SOPs? Instead, I should get out of your way and let you be who you are in an authentic way. Because that connects with people. If, uh, you know, we put, we put people in our industry in a blazer, a Navy blazer, and a name tag, and tell them, “This is how you answer the phone. This is how you greet somebody. This is how you do this.” Basically, you’re a representation of the brand, so you need to fit in this box. Well, I believe in a different hospitality, in a hospitality that is, um, grounded in, um, real people and real human beings and, and mistakes even, and quirkiness, and stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily, uh, engage in or experience in your normal life. That’s why you’re traveling. You wanna experience different things and new things. You’re going to a new place. And so we don’t have, um, dress. We don’t have uniforms for our front of house team members. We do for back of house simply because we don’t want the back of house team to have to ruin their own clothes because the engineers get their clothes snagged and the housekeepers get their clothes dirty and, you know, so it’s more just to take care of our team. But, um, the front of house team doesn’t have uniforms. They get to wear their own clothes to work. That’s another idea. It’s like, I want you to be you, but wear this black polo shirt that makes you look like everybody else. Or Navy Blazer that makes you look everybody, right? Like the entire concept of what we think is normal and standard in our industry is the antithesis of what we’re trying to create as an experience for a guest. Um, so it’s really important to us, you know, you can have colored hair and ear piercings and tattoos. And I remember early in my career, it was always, um, I love to tell this story. Um, the, the dress code, because I was a manager, so I was allowed to wear my own clothes, but the dress code was, had to have, um, pants or a skirt, uh, a, a jacket, had to have a blazer, and it had to be of solid color. So what I’ve got on today would not have applied. Um, my shoes could not have open toes and an open heel, one or the other. And I had to have pantyhose on. So I lived in Florida. I remember I stopped wearing pantyhose at some point because they were hot. And so I, I actually had an HR person, uh, come up to me and say, “By the way, um, we’ve, we’ve noticed that you’re not meeting the dress code.” And I just turned around and looked at her and I was like, “Those things make me sweat. I have to be out by the pool sometimes. I have to be outside. It’s too hot. I’m not wearing them. Fire me.” Ryan Embree: Yeah. Yeah. Dina Belon: That was the end of pantyhose in our dress code. I was like, “Good luck with that.” Ryan Embree: Right. And I’m sure the person on the other side, you know, it, it, they were just obviously following the guidelines – Right. And the standards of what was put before them. And you’re absolutely right, Dina. You know, the, the one thing that we talk about all the time, and you talk to. Uh, I’ve talked to industry leaders about is, you know, what makes your management company brand property so great? Usually the first thing they say is they’re people. Yet, when you’re putting those people in a box, how great can they actually be, right? Every property is so different because of the individuals that make up that property. Um, so, you know, that thought process is, is so brilliant to, to think of the individualism and the passion can kind of shine through because it’s those stories that you talked about in the unchained or the independent sector that, that reason why I, this is one of my favorite series, because I get to sit and talk to independent hoteliers and, and hear their stories, their struggles, their challenges, but also their successes, their passions, where they built this, this property that has been, you know, where they’ve had these struggles, but they’ve gotten over the hump and they just love it so much and you can just see it come out in that, that, uh, conversation. It’s, and sometimes very different. Nothing to knock the brands, but sometimes very different when you’re talking to a GM of a branded hotel. Um, and it’s m- maybe just a stop on, on their way to the career. So it is one piece of advice I hear all the time is if you’re a hospitality professional out there, you know, maybe explore the independent hotel down the road. You know, get some good experience there. It’ll, you’re definitely gonna learn a lot, that’s for sure. Yeah. Um, you’re gonna get a lot of – Well, it depends on – Yeah. Dina Belon: Yeah, what you like, right? And I agree with you. One isn’t right or wrong. I spent the vast majority of my career in the, in the branded hotel space. Um, and I just found my happy place in – Sure. In the independent space, right? I, because I was always bucking the rules when I worked in the brands. And I didn’t, I didn’t even know what boutique and. I, I though boutique hotels were just little. Like, I literally, when I started at Staypineapple, I love the story too. ‘Cause when I started, I was like, “I’m gonna come in and show them how to write SOPs and, and brand standards, and we’re gonna standardize this, and we’re gonna scale it, and it’s gonna be, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” I had, I told, because I had spent my whole career in that space. Um, I believed passionately in brand standards when I started at Staypineapple. And I remember, um, our CFO telling me, “Do not say the word brand standard. You will send Michelle off the deep end.” Michelle is our founder. Yeah. And I was like, “What? I don’t understand.” Yeah. “How could you not have brand standards? How do you even operate this place without brand standards?” Right? Right. Um, and, and it took me a couple of years to really internalize what the difference in the business model is. Again, one is not right or wrong. They both have their strengths. But if you’re, uh, a free spirit, if you’re somebody. Like we hire for three things. Authenticity. Like your. First of all, people underestimate the willingness to be authentic. If you have been trained to put on a mask when you go to work and, and almost be an actor and play a part at the hotel, it’s very difficult to take that mask off and, and allow the vulnerability of being yourself. ‘Cause if somebody rejects you when you’re being yourself, it hurts a lot more than if a guest rejects you and yells at you when you have a mask on. That’s a Ryan Embree: Great point. Dina Belon: You’re being somebody else, right? Yeah. So it’s a harder position for our team members, I think, to be their authentic selves. Um, the next is really critical thinking. The ability to problem solve and, and, and be creative and figure out ways to, um. We know to say yes. That’s one of our sayings. We notice. We know how to say yes. Yes is not always a direct yes. Sometimes you have to go around to get to yes, but we know how to do that. And that’s all about creativity and critical thinking. And then really, the last one, um, I think is underserved in our industry, which is emotional intelligence. Um, that ability to read people. And, and it connects to that critical thinking, right? If I can, if I can, uh, connect with you on an emotional level and understand you better, understand your psychographics as a person, which is much deeper than that you like Diet Coke, right? I want to know things deeper than that about you. Then I can use that emotional intelligence to be creative and create, create hyper-personalized experiences for you. That is something that I think isn’t. It. The industry in general, particularly on the branded side, does not foster in our industry. If those things are interesting to you, then go check out the independent or unchained space, because I think you’ll be a lot happier coming from a recovering brand employee. Ryan Embree: Ryan Embree: Yeah. I, I love that. I love everything about that. I mean, those skills are. I mean, it’s, it’s at the core of hospitality, um, especially the emotional intelligence. And I think y- you’re absolutely right. It’s a skill needed now more than ever, by the way. Um, and it’s gonna get trickier to navigate. So we’ll be those, those younger, um, hospitality professionals and, you know, at, at, at any age, really, that invest that time and effort into honing in that skill that are gonna, that are gonna see successes there. Um, I wanna, I wanna take, uh, a step back, Dina, and kinda look at the hospitality landscape right now for independent and, or unchained, uh, uh, hotels. Where do you see opportunity in today’s landscape? And then maybe where are some of the bigger challenges that, that they’re coming up against? Dina Belon: Sure. So I think one of our biggest opportunities I just mentioned, which is hyper-personalization, um, we really look at this, i- if you kinda start at the beginning of the process of how you do hyperpersonalization. Um, it really starts with zero-party data for us. Uh, every brand or every group or every, you know, independent hotel is different, um, in their philosophy on this. I’ve certainly, um, experienced and, um, met with people that do research on their guests online. They look up your Facebook page. They check you out and see what you might be talking about. Um, we have decided to take the approach that we only wanna use data that you have freely and willingly given us. Um, so we communicate with our guests a lot, um, when we can. So there’s a little bit of a differentiator here when we talk about this. Um, if you’re coming in as an Expedia or a Booking.com guest, probably not getting this experience because we don’t have, we don’t have much information about you, and those OTAs don’t like to share. So, but if, uh, you’ve stayed with us before or it’s a direct booking, then we have communicated with you, um, in a way that is fun and cheeky and kinda starts to get you. Um, w- we like to, we like to encourage kind of a pre-arrival experience that is, um, engaging and, and, and gets you kind of primed for what Staypineapple is gonna be like. So you’re not, like, smacked in the fa – you know, you’re expecting a Marriott courtyard and you’re smacked in the face with Staypineapple. Ryan Embree: Right. You got a dog running up to you and yeah. Um, Dina Belon: So one of the things we do is ask a very open-ended question, um, in a pre-arrival email to all of our, uh, direct booking guests. And it says, um, basically in a cheeky way, I don’t remember exactly how it’s phrased, but it’s why you come in to stay with us. And you would be shocked at the amount of information that people share with us and, like, get into deep personal things and tell us all kinds of stuff. That is a trevor – treasure trove of information. Again, that’s stuff that matters. Not whether Jack Daniels is your favorite, you know, liquor. Uh, like, I wanna know that you’re. What, what do you volunteer for? What, what are you passionate about? What do you care about? Are you married? Do you have kids? You know, like, the things that, that you really, really make you who you are, right? That’s, that’s what we really look at for hyper-personalization and allows our team to use their creativity. So that’s just step one, right? Gotta have the information. And then two, you have to have a culture of people that are encouraged and inspired to be creative, to do fun, interesting things, not just deliver a bottle of wine to your room. What? Ryan Embree: Yeah. Dina Belon: Right? Um, like, do something that’s about me, not about you. It, like, that’s what I always say. To me, the bottle of wine in the room is about you buying my loyalty. It’s about you as a hotel. It’s not about me as an individual. So everything should be about the individual and about what makes them excited or happy or feel welcome or feel like they belong, um, there. How many times have you walked into a hotel and you felt like there was a cool club and you didn’t belong? Ryan Embree: Mm. Yeah. Dina Belon: So awful. It is the worst thing about hotels, I think. One of the other things that I just find, um, disheartening about our, our industry is that many people that are not related to the hotel business think you can’t go in a hotel if you’re not a guest. That’s so sad to me, right? Like, there’s, there’s this perception of a barrier, and it’s the opposite of what we should be. Like, we believe our hotels are very much a community hub. And so we encourage the community to come into the hotel. And we don’t even, we don’t have a lot of food and beverage. And some of our properties don’t have any. Some have just limited. We have a few full-service restaurants, but it’s not about us wanting to make money in our restaurants. It’s about us wanting to create an atmosphere in the hotel that is engaging and activating for the guests that are coming. ‘Cause the guests wanna interact with locals. They don’t want to interact with somebody from New York – Right. When they’re in Seattle. They wanna hang out with Seattle people, right? Yeah. So it’s, it’s a real win-win model, but you have to turn, you have to turn that barrier so many people think exists. Ryan Embree: Well, you touched on two things there, Dina, that at the core of this independent hotel show series, it really comes back to, which is loyalty, you know, just fierce, fierce loyalty for inde – I mean, the type of loyalty that I hear from guests talking about independent hotels is very different from the other points or nights that I’m, that I’m hearing in, on the other side of it. And, and it’s a depth that will be word of mouth. I mean, when you talk about word of mouth, like, that is the ultimate s – what marketing can’t buy, right? That storytelling that they’re going to be able to provide you champions of your brand and advocates for your hotel. Uh, the second thing is local community engagement and getting the community on board with what you do. I see it no greater place than Miami when we’re at, at the independent hotel show. And they talk about trying to just infuse that Miami culture into their own properties. And it does attracts a lot of locals. And, and you’re absolutely right. It’s, there’s a parallel where probably somewhere where you, where we talk a lot about reputation and people being scared of those one-star, two-star, or even negative feedback in any sense of it, embracing that and saying, “I don’t want one-star reviews, but I wanna see the negative feedback so that I can fix it, right? I want those, I want those locals to come into my hotel. Um, I don’t wanna put that barrier up because I wanna be that community hub. I love that. So what about any challenges you think right now? Dina Belon: Yeah, I think, um, the, there’s, there’s a number of challenges. I mean, I can, I can talk about the obvious, the headwinds on inflation, the cost of human and financial capital, maintaining service quality while we’re trying to maximize profit. Yeah. I like all of the blah, blah, blah. All of the, Ryan Embree: Yeah. All those talking points. Dina Belon: Yeah. They’re not very fun topics though. Um, honestly, I think the most interesting topic right now is really AI. And I do think it’s our biggest risk, particularly in our, our world of this unchained or independent hotel space. It’s the biggest risk we have, and it’s also the biggest opportunity. And it could go either way. And I think it will probably go hard one way or the other. It won’t be somewhere in the middle. And the reality is, is AI, AI search, which is kind of where we’re at right now, not, we’re not really to the point of bookings starting a little tiny bit. But, um, AI search is focused on very deep, complex, broad data about a hotel. So a, a person, and it really starts with the search parameters. You’re going from keyword search, like, I’m going to Seattle and I wanna be near Pioneer Square, to, I’m interested in a boutique hotel with a cool vibe that has a restaurant and provides a great sleep experience. Those two searches are completely different and is where the threat and the opportunity comes from. The opportunity is, as the hotel owner, operator, you have the best opportunity to create very deep content that is searchable by an AI. Compared to Booking.com and Expedia and all the others, their scale just does not allow them to create that kind of deep content for every hotel on their site, right? So you can create a higher value for the AI search to go to your website over somewhere else that it can go find your hotel. You might still find your hotel, but you’d rather get the booking. Um, direct and get the AI sending the guests to your website to check out the hotel than to booking.com ‘s website to check out. So that’s where the opportunity is. Threat is very real that the big brands and the OTAs have the pocketbooks, bandwidth, the resources to win at this fight and come in and put themselves between us and our guests. And so I think both at a legislative level, all the way down to individual property advocacy and elevating your voice online and everything in between, every hoteler, hotelier needs to be paying attention to. Because in the next five years, you could lose, you could lose the connection to your guests prior to arriving. And that, for us, that would ruin a huge part of our experience. Like we have pre-arrival concierge that helps you curate and plan your experience for your whole trip, not just your hotel stay. All of that would be for naught if I can’t communicate with my guests. Ryan Embree: 100%. Yeah. Uh, seismic shift happening, technologics pl – like shifting beneath us. Uh, I think you’re absolutely where it’s gonna impact everyone from the big brands all the way down to the small independent hotel who, who thinks, “Oh, this is, this isn’t coming for me. It’s gonna have wide ranging effects. It’ll be very, very interesting to see.” But share your concern, but also hopefully that little bit of hope there too, that it, it does go that right way and hospitality stays in, in somewhere where we come to know and, and love our industry. I wanna shift gears. Another thing I’ve, uh, learned about you over the years following your content and your career is your work, uh, inspiring, empowering the next generation of female hospitality professionals. Dina, I’ve seen you on stage at, at multiple panels, uh, a- a- around this subject. Tell us a little bit about the work you do behind the scenes and any tips you would share for up and coming Suite Spot female listeners or just the listeners in general here. Dina Belon: Yeah, I do. I love this topic. I, I love to empower women. Um, I think, uh, uh, we’re, we’re a force in this industry, um, and our voice should be heard. Um, so I, I like to support other women by a couple of things. Um, you’ll, you’ll, you’ll start to notice, I like to simplify things down to like one, two, three points at most. Yeah, I like it. Um, because I think it’s the way the human brain works. Sure. And the best way we can kind of, uh, create change – Yeah. Is by having a very focused, uh, approach to it. I really like self-advocacy, um, and encouraging women to self-advocate, because I think in general, this is a generalization because it’s not all women, but in general, we’re not great at it. Um, men are much better at self-advocacy than women. There’s been all kinds of study and research done on that. Um, and it’s a huge part of why women are paid less, why women are promoted less, because they just don’t ask. They don’t raise their hand. Um, and so I. And then the, the second point kind of ties in, which is leading by example. And so I think I love to tell stories about my career when self-advocacy was a benefit to me and how I got to where I am. And I’m afraid of it too. Let me tell all the female listeners I am not great at self-advocacy. Um, I’ve learned to do it over the years while I’m kind of gritting my teeth in the back of my mouth. Um, but I, there’s been a number of times when, you know, the really, the places where my career really took off, um, I stood up for myself and I raised my hand and I said, “I can do that.” Or, “I can even do more than what you asked me for.” So I’ll give you an example. Um, when I was at Wyndham, um, we, we acquired another company that did the same thing as we did. Um, and we were looking at how to create efficiency and blah, blah, blah. One was in Seattle and one was in Florida. And I was in the Florida office and I was asked, and we were the acquirer, so we acquired the company in Seattle. And so I was asked to fly out to Seattle and check out how my division, which we did all the renovation work and capital improvements and stuff like that, how my division would work with the group in Seattle. And so off I went on a plane and met with them and talked to them and figured out how they did things and figured out how we did things. Um, and so the ask was like, how do we merge the two and how do we create some efficiency? And I came back with a combined team that had me at the top of it with a promotion to vice president. It was really hard for me to do. It was a little bit easier because I gotta do it in writing and send it in and I didn’t have to say it out loud. Um, but it worked. And it was the first VP role I ever had. I was one of the youngest vice presidents at Wyndham. I remember the first time I went to the all leadership meeting, which was, happened once a year at Wyndham. There was 500 people there. This is vice presidents and above. Um, that’s how large the organization is. Um, that’s less than 5% of the employment base of the company. Um, and I was one of the youngest and I was one of the few women that were in the room. And I was blown away by that factor. And I went, “I, I need to work at do- doing something about this. I need to help other women.” ‘Cause particularly 20 years ago probably, um, there was a little bit more sharp elbows among women. There were so few seats in leadership that we were competing for them. And I think women weren’t as good as we are today at lifting everybody up instead of competing with each other. Adding more chairs at the table instead of competing for the one that a woman is gonna fail, fill. Um, so those, I think, are really my biggest things that I recommend younger women focus on is be an example to other women around you, above you, below you, beside you, I don’t care. Advocate for yourself. Advocate for other women and support each other. Um, don’t compete with each other. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I love that. I love that story. And I think we, you know, it’s inspiring to hear those, right? Because it, it can be scary sometimes. Um, but to hear those, those stories, those real life, um, you know, personal, uh, examples in front of you, those are the things that maybe get you that extra bit of confidence there. And it’s, it’s very, very cool to see. So, uh, appreciate your work there. And, um, you know, ex- excited to, to share that with those tips for the audience. Definitely wanted to, to, um, go into that topic a little bit. Um, but this is the Independent Hotel Show series. We might change your episode to say Unchained Hotel Series. But, uh, we’ll, we’re gonna. This is. We’re talking today about the Independent Hotel Show happening this year, September 16th and 17th. Uh, Miami Beach. Remember, listeners, uh, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26. That’s for a complimentary, uh, registration. Dina, you’re on the advisory board. You’ve been a long time supporter of this show. What inspired you? Take me back to when you were first kind of asked to get involved with the show. Uh, what inspired you to get in, like, first involved with it? And how do you see it supporting independent hoteliers? Dina Belon: Yeah. I was, uh, introduced to it before the very first one and asked to be on the advisory board. And it was an immediate yes, and yes, what can I, what can I do to help? Because I knew that there was a gap in our industry in the independent space for a place for independents to get together and have real conversations and real opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other. We’re so isolated, um, in, in many ways. Like, we don’t have a mothership to create all of the stuff, the, you know, programs or education or philosophy or how do you do this? Or what do you do with that? Or, you know, how do you get mustard stains out of the towels? You know, like, anything. Like, we don’t have a mothership that helps us, that hands us a bunch of stuff and tells us how to do it. Each of us are creating all of this on our own. And that’s part of what makes our sector of the industry so unique and great, is that you get a different experience at every property because they’re all created through a visionary process. But there’s also a lot that we could share best practices and adapt what somebody else is doing to what we’re doing. I, like, I love to talk to, um, suppliers and vendors and tech companies, um, that reach out to me all the time because I learn from them. I learn what they’re doing, um, how one of their customers is doing something. You know, like, we constantly have a need for new knowledge and collaboration in our space that didn’t exist. And so this show is one of the only things that are really in our space focused on us and give us the opportunity to do that. It is an incredibly good show. It’s so well curated from, uh, an educational perspective, from the sessions. There’s multiple stages. Um, everything is in one room, which I love. Um, you can, you know, you can be listening to a panel discussion that’s really energizing, and then you’ve got a 10-minute break and you can run over and see a vendor that you wanted to talk to because you’ve only got 10 minutes. And then you get, you know, it’s not spread out. It’s not like the big shows where, you know, you’re gonna have to walk 10 miles to get to something. And the people that are there care and are focused on the independent space. So you’re also not gonna get the eye rolls and the you’re too small and we don’t care about you, and oh, you’re not part of Marriott, uh, you know, conversation, whether with vendors or with anybody, right? The, the people that are here are passionate about this part of the industry and are ready and willing to help anybody that comes to the show improve what they’re doing. Uh, like, I love helping other independent hoteliers, uh, in any way I can. In any context, talking about distribution, talking about guest service, talking about, you know, any, any part, because there are enough customers out there for all of us. I know we’re competitors, but, um, helping, helping everybody lift is a much better strategy than trying to elbow somebody out. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. We’re all in it together. 100% agree. And it’s funny, you know, you were mentioning at the, at the top of the answer about, you know, how independent hotels don’t have some of these resources that the big brands do. Uh, you know, one of the, one of the common things that big brands do is have an annual conference, right? And they get everybody together and, and share ideas and challenges. This is like the annual conference for independent hotel shows. So it’s a sense of belonging. Um, it’s a different energy. It’s a different. It’s, it’s a different type of, uh, uh, of event. Um, it. So real quick, first, uh, tip for any first time attendees that, uh, might be going. Dina Belon: Yeah. Um, I think two. Again, I love my, my two or three points. Um, be curious. So show up curious, um, and, and open and willing to share. Um, because that’s what your, your analogy to a brand conference is perfect because, um, that’s what we’re there to do is help each other. Um, and being curious will help you just be a sponge and take things in. Um, use, use AI in this scenario, um, and help have an AI assistant help you, an electronic one in your pocket, help you remember all the stuff that is gonna come at you because it’s gonna come like a fire hose and it’s gonna be really hard to remember it all when you get home. Um, I use Pocket for anybody who cares. It’s a little tiny device that I literally keep in my pocket. And I push it anytime I have an idea, I can just talk into it. Or I can push it if I’m having an interesting conversation with somebody and it’ll record that conversation. Of course, I ask the person before I do it. Um, but right? So that it, so that you’re, you’re capturing all of that interesting, cool ideas and, um, vendors and sup – you know, people that can support you. Um, it, walk away from an interaction with somebody and they’ve handed you their business card. Take your little device. It can be your phone too, but however you wanna do it and say, “I just met Ryan with Suite Spot and I really wanna be on his podcast. I need to reach out to him after when I get back.” And then your little AI will give you a to-do when you get back, uh, home. So that’s, that’s my number one tech tip. Um, and then I think the other, the opposite of that, which is a little challenging sometimes, is set the technology down and be present and be aware and pay attention. And don’t be on your phone answering emails from your staff back at your hotel. Like, I know it’s super hard to disconnect and, and be present while you’re at the conference, but you’ll gain a lot more if you’re there and you’re listening and you’re talking. Like, if you go to some of the educational sessions, raise your hand, ask questions. Make a point. Don’t even ask a question. If you’ve got an idea that the panel needs to hear, raise your hand and say it. Um, because it’s a, it’s a dialogue. This isn’t a. There’s, you know, we don’t have the president of Marriott and the president of Wyndham sitting on a panel telling us all how to do things. We’re all collaborators that are telling how we’re doing things and wanting to hear how you’re doing it and figuring out how we can share, share those ideas. So be present. Ryan Embree: That, that’s a great. Yeah, that’s a great mindset to, to enter this show into. My tip is gonna be make sure you see Dina Bellin on stage, uh, because she’s gonna be there once again. You’re gonna be moderating a powerhouse panel. Hospitality is not a department. Um, give us a sneak preview, if you can, of what that discussion might unpack and maybe your thoughts on the topic. Dina Belon: Yeah. It’s really gonna be, you know, about how hospitality is a culture. It’s not a silo. It’s, um, it’s really formed over time through behavior and modeling. Um, it’s not training manuals. It’s not a poster on the wall. It’s values. Um, it’s about, um, really taking everybody in your organization, whether it’s ops, which always seems obvious, but the finance departments, you know, HR, uh, the marketing team. Like, is everybody aligned to your mission and values as an organization? And you as a leader, are you practicing, as a lifestyle, the culture of your organization? So hospitality is not about the ops department. It is about the entire organization following a. Identifying first, have you identified? Right? So, like, our mission at Staypineapple is where stays become stories. Um, it’s a cute, cute way to say it, but it is in very real terms. We want your stay to be so impactful and so memorable that it becomes a lifetime story for you and your family. That kind of connection, that kind of sense of belonging, that kind of emotional feeling, um, is what we’re after, and that’s our mission. And so, if I’m not living that lifestyle every day as the leader of the organization, and our CFO, and our accountant, and our HR, uh, manager aren’t living that lifestyle, how can we ask the hotel teams to live it? Ryan Embree: Yeah. Great point. Yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s hospitality, right? And what we’re always trying to, to try to accomplish, uh, at the end of a guest day is to really, uh, not just, not just feel, feel the, the hospitality, feel the s – the, uh, uh, the, the service that we were providing them. Uh, not just feeling like they, they stayed in, you know, four rooms in a, four rooms in a box, right? That’s, that’s what – Yeah. The old saying. Dina Belon: How many hotels have you forgotten – Ryan Embree: Right. That’s a wonderful point. Wonderful point. And a great segue into our next, because I think you’ve got an unforgettable, um, uh, portfolio over there. So we’re gonna do some rapid fire here, Dina, to get to know you and your, uh, portfolio a little better at Staypineapple Hotel. So, uh, we always like to start with our favorite view from one of your hotels. Dina Belon: Definitely Chicago. So we’re in the loop and we look right at the Chicago Theater sign. And then three blocks down the other way, you can see the edge of the bean. And then there’s this amazing jazz mural, uh, from the corner rooms of the building. The, the incredible view. And we’re an urban city center, so views are not generally our vibe. Um, right? It’s usually another building next door. Um, but that one, that is really incredible. Ryan Embree: That makes for a good one. Uh, favorite fun fact about one of your properties? Dina Belon: Oh, uh, this is personal. Uh, uh, Fetch, which is our recycling program, is, um, all built around our dog obsessed culture. Uh, again, we like to be, you know, funny and cheeky. Um, so Dash, who’s our, um, our mascot, um, the pineapple pup. Um, he helps with waste reduction education, the Fetch program. Get it? Fetch, dog. Ryan Embree: Oh, I love it. Yeah. There you go. Uh, favorite signature dish, um, or amenity? Dina Belon: Hmm. Um, there’s a couple. Oh, goodness. These, this is hard. This is really hard. I, I mentioned the naked experience already, so I’ll let that one go, though that is one of my favorites. Again, personal. So you might start to see, I have a little bit of slant towards sustainability. Um, I am. It’s a, it’s a personal topic that I’m very passionate about. Um, our water bottles. Um, it was a huge lift for us to figure out. So, uh, what, I don’t know, five years ago, we used to have, um, unlimited water bottles available to our guests. Um, it’s part of our health and wellness program. We believe that, you know, hydration is a big part of health and wellness, particularly in en – urban environments when you’re walking a lot, you need to stay hydrated. It gave me a lot of heartburn. We were, we were, we were selling, or not selling, giving away a half a million water bottles, plastic water bottles a year. And it just, it hurt my heart. Um, so we were able to partner, um, with Path Water to do a custom 20-ounce aluminum water bottle pre-filled. Um, and we leave that in the guest room complimentary for every guest. And we put a water bar in our lobbies, um, for, to refill those bottles. Um, and that replaced all the plastic water bottles. And so, so now you see really fun, cute, steak pineapple aluminum water bottles all over the airport all the time in our city. Ryan Embree: Hey, there you go. Great marketing goes along with it. Uh, favorite guest experience? Dina Belon: Um, definitely Surprise and Delight, which is our, uh, strategy around that creative, uh, you know, hyper-personalization for guests. Uh, really creating those moments that create memories and stories. Ryan Embree: And then last favorite piece of art. Ryan Embree: That’s funny. Um, we, we happen to have our owner, our founder, Michelle, is a huge art collector. So that is really hard. We have a lot of original art in our hotels that’s from her personal collection. She regularly emails me and says, “Hey, I just bought a new piece, and can you find a place to put it in one of the hotels?” And I’m always like, “Oh my God, I’m running out of walls, Michelle.” But I think my favorite that she has, um, bought for every single hotel is, um, a Martin Goldstein original dog sculpture. Um, he is famous for creating these whimsical, limited edition bronze dogs that are known as Harvey Dogs. Um, and they’re just super cute. Um, and you can find one at every hotel. It’s, it’s one of those, like, Disney where you have to find the Mickey Mouse and Everything. Ryan Embree: Yeah, like a little Easter egg, yeah. Dina Belon: Exactly. An Easter egg hunt at any Staypineapple is go find the Marty Goldstein, uh, Harvey dog. Ryan Embree: All right. Well, there it, there it is. Challenge, um, put out there for our Suite Spot listeners, uh, visiting Staypineapple Hotels. Well, Dina, thank you. You’ve spent, um, quite, uh, some time with us. Um, thank you so much for sitting down. As we wrap up today, we do like to look into kind of our hospitality crystal ball. Uh, try to predict the future, which is becoming more difficult to do every single day, uh, now with every, the technology and AI. But, you know, as president of Staypineapple Hotels, what’s your vision for the future of, uh, the brand? Dina Belon: Yeah. You know, I think we’re gonna continue to expand on our ability to connect with guests and make them feel like they belong when they’re at Staypineapple, that they’re part of the family. And I know that sounds kitschy, but it’s, it’s a very real emotional, uh, mission for us. And, and in the broader context, what we believe the hospitality’s, hospitality industry’s role and responsibility in society is, and will become even more important as robots take over the world. That human connection that a hospitality industry can create, um, becomes an imperative for us to stay connected as a society. Ryan Embree: I agree. Yeah, that was just gonna echo that same sentiment. I think it’s gonna become more and more im- important. So we need, uh, brands like Staypineapple Hotels to, to keep true to that hospitality mission statement. So Dina, thank you again, uh, for taking the time to join us here on The Suite Spot. Any final thoughts before we wrap up? Dina Belon: Just go out there and be you, you know? Uh, don’t be afraid to, uh, come play in the independent space and definitely come to the Independent Hotel Show in Miami and, uh, let’s have a cocktail. Ryan Embree: Let’s do it. Uh, both Dina and I will have the privilege of being down there in Miami. We hope to see you in person. Dina, thank you so much for joining us here on The Suite Spot, and we hope to see you at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami. Thank you. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next time here on The Suite Spot. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you enjoyed your stay.  

By age 24, Anabella Bergero had won some of Argentina's biggest fashion competitions and was selling collections in Buenos Aires. She was named Emerging Designer of the Year by Harper's Bazaar Argentina and shortlisted for La Nación's 35 Under 35. So what do you do when you've achieved that level of success at such a young age?In this episode, Anabella traces her life and career from Argentina to Mexico, back to Argentina, then Copenhagen, London, New York, and Miami...each place influencing how she saw herself and her creative expression.She talks about the pressure that came with early recognition and accolades, and why she walked away from an established fashion brand to pursue art in different forms. That path led to Constructing Identities, her first installation in the U.S., exploring identity, womanhood, and quinceañera culture through a Latina lens - work that would ultimately come full circle with Heart of Community, a large-scale installation commissioned by Faena Art and recognized by the City of Miami Beach for its social and cultural impact, and one that continues to evolve today through new mediums and collaborations.Throughout our conversation we also talk about her unexpected return to Catholic faith, a reminder that sometimes the most unexpected parts of our journey are what lead us home.Anabella is currently based in Sarasota, FL where she serves as Visiting Faculty at Ringling College of Art and Design, continuing to impact the next generation of creative entrepreneurs.

What does it take to turn a family burger concept into a growing restaurant brand? For Sammy Mounayyer, Co-Founder of Redhead Burger (at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas), the journey began long before the first burger was served. In this episode of “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Sammy shares the remarkable story of his family's journey from Israel to America—including learning English on the flight to the United States while his mother taught him the ABCs—to building a successful burger business in Miami Beach and now expanding to Las Vegas. Sammy explains how location, foot traffic and quality helped shape Redhead Burger, why the family chose a name inspired by their own red hair, and what separates their burgers from the competition. He talks about the importance of fresh, elevated ingredients, cooking technique and consistency—including the specially designed smasher that helps ensure every burger is prepared the right way. We also talk about the family dynamics behind the business, the division of responsibilities, the importance of being present and why customers appreciate seeing the owner behind the counter. Sammy discusses the popularity of Redhead's chicken tenders, his brother Christian's role in operating the two Florida locations, and why Las Vegas represents the perfect next chapter for Redhead Burger. It's a story about family, entrepreneurship, hospitality, perseverance and the pursuit of the perfect burger—with a distinctly Las Vegas ending. (Also Watch Full Podcast Video)

On the opening day of Florida's lobster mini-season, a heated dispute over a diving location near Fisher Island escalated when a man allegedly swam over and deliberately shut off a surface-supplied air system while an 18-year-old diver was underwater. The captain of the victim's boat pulled the gasping, disoriented teenager to the surface after the air was cut. Miami Beach resident Michael Joseph Simpson now faces an attempted murder charge in a case that highlights how quickly territorial arguments on the water can turn life-threatening.

 Hesped given in Kerestir Bais Medrash, Miami Beach, Fl, 26 Av, 5753, for the Satmar Rav's Yohrtzeit. For video:

Longevity expert Dr Florence Comite joins me to explain why testosterone, not estrogen, drives body composition and ageing in midlife women. Decline isn't inevitable - it's programmable. She unpacks why testosterone (which women carry in larger amounts than estrogen) drives muscle, visceral fat and brain fog from your 30s on, why only a third of us should fast, and the five biomarkers - fasting glucose, HbA1c, fasting insulin, cholesterol risk ratio and free testosterone - that predict where your healthspan is headed and how to change it. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why women carry more circulating testosterone than estrogen, and what its decline does to muscle, visceral fat and cognition from your 30s What "I don't feel like myself anymore" is actually signalling beneath the surface How cortisol quietly drives the anxiety-out-of-nowhere, the 2am wake-ups and the stubborn weight around your middle Why only a third of women should fast, and the 3-hour glucose test that tells you which third you're in What the five non-negotiable biomarkers reveal about where your healthspan is headed TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro: Why You Don't Feel Like Yourself After 35 - Peak Health, Testosterone Decline & the 30s Shift 05:52 - Perimenopause, Cortisol & Anxiety Out of Nowhere: Belly Fat, Sleep and the Caregiver Load 13:28 - Wearables, CGM & the Fasting Third/Third/Third: Measuring How Your Body Really Ages 20:11 - Who Should Actually Fast: The 3-Hour Glucose Test, Protein at Every Meal & the Oatmeal Trap 27:00 - Testosterone for Body Composition & Energy: UK Access, the 2024 Study & Protein for Muscle 33:46 - The 5 Biomarkers That Predict How You Age - Plus the 7 Patterns of Health Decline 39:37 - Decade by Decade for Women vs Men: Bone Loss, Osteoporosis, Andropause & Owning Your Healthspan VALUABLE RESOURCES - Invincible (Dr Comite's new book): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/475986/invincible-by-comite-florence/9781529977066  - Dr Florence Comite's website: https://www.comitemd.com/  - Follow Dr Comite on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drflorencecomite/  AlgaeCal Plus*‡: Science-backed supplements designed to support healthy aging

Send us Fan MailFrom the Inside Out: Color, Confidence, and God-Given Design with Rivky DuchmanIn this episode of From The Inside Out Podcast with Rivkah Krinsky and Eda Schottenstein, we introduce guest Rivky Duchman, a Miami Beach color analyst and image consultant who blends aesthetics with Torah and Chassidus. Rivky explains her work uses the face as an “aesthetic blueprint” (skin tone, eyes, hair, contrast, texture, lines, and energy) to identify harmonious colors and styles, helping women develop signature style, reduce insecurity, and avoid trend-driven noise. She outlines seasonal color analysis origins and nuanced subtypes, shares how outside comments can disconnect people from their design, and discusses aesthetics as communication, first impressions, modesty, and dignity, citing stories about Rabbi Ishmael. Rivky supports enhancement tools like makeup or hair color while warning against “distortion,” critiques status-driven trend chasing, and emphasizes that true worth comes from being a part of Hashem and expressing inner beauty outward.EPISODE SPONSORSSwimplyRent a private pool by the hour, right in your own city — no crowds, no chaos, just your family or friends in your own space, with over 15,000 pools across the US, Canada, and Australia.Download the app or visit Swimply.com — code INSIDEOUT10 for 10% off your next booking!Shefa LivingWomen carry so much — marriage, kids, running a home, all while staying connected to Hashem and themselves. Nesheema sits at the heart of Mountain View, the new frum community by Shefa Living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina: a mikvah, spa, gym, daycare, café, and shared workspace, built around kedusha. Mountain View is already 358 acres of kehillah, with the shul built and first families moving in this summer.Learn more: https://go.jcn.io/SLIOOkClarity.ComFinding the right therapist or coach can be one of the most challenging parts of seeking help — even with a great referral, the person isn't always the right fit. That's where OkClarity comes in. OkClarity is an online platform featuring hundreds of Jewish therapists, psychiatrists, coaches, nutritionists, and support groups, where you actually get to meet the person through videos and introductions before deciding whether to move forward with a first session. More than 10,000 people have already benefited from OkClarity, and it's not just a directory for those seeking help — if you're a mental health practitioner, therapist, or coach, you can list yourself on the platform too, so the people who need you can find you. Visit OKclarity.com: https://go.jcn.io/OtfUxl  to find the right fit for you.AtzmiAtzmi runs evidence-based, Torah-grounded programs — including My Best Self — helping girls build real confidence and measure their worth by who they are, not the world's standards. Active in 80+ schools. Save the date for their ambassador's evening with Bracha Jaffe, August 30th.Learn more & register: https://go.jcn.io/AtzmiIOGUEST BIOSRivky Duchman is a color analyst and image consultant based in Miami Beach. She helps clients discover their God-given design — the colors, textures, and styles that align with who they truly are — blending seasonal color analysis with the wisdom of Torah and Chassidus. Find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/rivky.color/ COMMUNITYJoin the Community! Connect with us on socials to discuss Episode 135, share insights, and continue the conversation:

In this “random show” episode of The Hospitality Mentor Podcast, Steve Turk shares a multi-generational Miami Beach staycation at the Marriott Stanton South Beach, highlighting the South of Fifth location, Michelin star-winning The Den inside Azabu, and strong beach service and guest acknowledgment as a key hospitality lesson. He also recommends the Loews Miami Beach Hotel's Sushi Bar inside Bar Collins, praising Chef Khaleel Ali and the value of standout culinary “hidden gems” in big hotels. The family then takes the Brightline train from Miami to Orlando for a Disney trip, emphasizing assigned seating, onboard amenities, and the productivity and low-stress benefits versus driving. In Orlando, he reviews the Signia by Hilton (connected to Waldorf Astoria) as a strong value with great rooms, pool, restaurants, and fireworks views, noting slower bus transport to the parks, and shares a Disney day tip: book an air-conditioned sit-down meal like the Brown Derby. He announces the launch of staybaya.com for Baya, his upscale resort on a tropical fruit farm in Miami's Redland area targeting a mid-year opening next summer with a $50 VIP program offering 40% discounts, and he confirms plans for a Hospitality Power Breakfast series, with the first eight-person event hosted at The Moor in the Design District.Thank you to this episode's sponsor, Lodgify. Make sure to use promo code THM60 for 60% off. 00:00 Welcome and Topics00:39 Sponsor Lodgify 01:25 Miami Beach Staycation02:37 South Beach Service Lesson03:54 Loews Sushi Find05:28 Brightline to Orlando07:31 Signia Hotel Review09:41 Disney Dining Tip11:05 Train Back and Florida Travel12:08 Baya Resort Announcement13:31 Hospitality Power Breakfast14:14 Wrap Up and Subscribe

In this episode: A billionaire hedge fund executive gave $10 million last week to Byron Donalds, the Republican Congressman from Naples who is the favorite to win the GOP nomination for Florida governor in next month's primary elections. His gift came after a billionaire TikTok investor gave Donalds at least $7.5 million. Other billionaires are pouring money into the Donalds campaign, too. Their cash comes with strings. Plus: Attorney General James Uthmeier helps the billionaire-owned Fontainebleau Hotel steamroll residents of Miami Beach who are fighting a proposed expansion project; the companies that sell electricity to AI data centers love Florida's new data center law; and a key provision in the state constitution is, it turns out, meaningless. Show notesTo make a donation in support of Seeking Rents, click here.To reserve a ticket to our discussion about data centers in Venice with Alice Herman and Christian Casale of Suncoast Searchlight and Emily Mahoney of the Tampa Bay Times, click here.Stories discussed in today's show:The DeSantis decisions: Quiet wins for homebuilders and car dealersBillionaire Ken Griffin pours money into Byron Donalds' campaign for governorMeet the billionaire pushing taxpayer-funded school vouchersThe billionaire trying to reinvent Florida schools has a $7.5 million bet on Byron DonaldsThe Scale of Billionaires' Campaign Donations is Overwhelming U.S. PoliticsLobbyist for a billionaire-run hedge fund wrote a bill allowing longer non-competes, records showLobbyists for a billionaire and a charter network pushed Florida lawmakers to expand a school privatization program, records showA billionaire-backed think tank keeps sabotaging Florida workers. More attacks are coming.Untraceable: Who sends all those political mailers?Fewer Florida residents are receiving federal food benefitsThe Fontainebleau wanted another favor from the Florida LegislatureNew law has Florida ‘open for business' for AI data centers, utility execs sayFlorida judge refuses to boot Fishback from the ballot, won't ‘decide the race'Bills discussed in today's show:Senate Bill 686 – Agricultural EnclavesSenate Bill 484 – Data CentersHouse Bill 399 – Land Use and Development RegulationsQuestions or comments? Send ‘em to Garcia.JasonR@gmail.comListen to the show: Apple | SpotifyWatch the show: YouTube Get full access to Seeking Rents at jasongarcia.substack.com/subscribe

The boss from Loews Miami Beach Hotel joined us for a preview of what we can expect today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rabbi Mendy Katz grew up in Miami Beach as part of what was then a very small Chabad community and lives today in Surfside where he works as a director of programs at The Aleph Institute.In this episode, we discuss his growing up in Miami Beach and leaving in the mid 1980s to study in yeshiva in Los Angeles and then Crown Heights.We discuss the euphoric atmosphere in Crown Heights in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the devastating impact of the events that followed.____Support this podcast at: https://www.hflpodcast.com/donateIf you would like to sponsor an episode or advertise on the podcast please reach out to: bentzi@yuvlamedia.com____Homesick for Lubavitch is a project of Yuvla Media, a boutique video production company that helps organizations around the country share their story through video.If you are looking to make a video for a milestone dinner, online fundraiser or building campaign, please reach out to schedule a fifteen minute call at: hello@yuvlamedia.com____This week's episode is brought to you by "This World Is A Garden," a new film and live concert production by Yuvla Media based on the Rebbe's first talk, Bosi Lgani.Combining beautiful cinematography with a live performance by a string quartet, this production is a meditation on hope and holding on to a vision even as time passes by.Now you can bring this groundbreaking experience of Bosi Lgani to your community.For more info please visit: ⁠https://www.yuvlamedia.com/thisworldisagarden

The clearest way to understand an adult is to meet the people who made them. For Episode 50, we bring on my dad, Pop Walnuts, and the result is equal parts heartfelt, hilarious, and unexpectedly deep.We start with his South Florida origin story: born in Vero Beach in 1960, family ties stretching from Miami Beach to the Northeast, and the kind of childhood freedom that feels impossible now. Pop takes us onto the boat with the whole crew, out to empty little islands and Keys weekends, then straight into the soundtrack of his life. We talk Frank Sinatra Sundays, the Beatles changing the world, learning guitar by ear, classic rock on vinyl, and why a single song can time-travel you back to being 13 years old in an instant.Then we get to the stories people always ask for the “where did you learn this?” moments. Getting hit in the head with an arrow right before First Communion. Setting a neighborhood garbage-can jump record until gravity checks the ego. A streaking dare that ends with friends stealing the clothes and a brutal walk home. Even skipping school for a stack of discounted records and getting caught in the most ridiculous way possible.We also zoom out into bigger questions about American politics, media bias, term limits, negative campaign ads, and how schools can teach honest history while keeping conversations age-appropriate and inclusive. If you love funny family storytelling, classic rock talk, and real-life perspectives on culture and politics, this one's for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

From world-famous beaches and vibrant neighbourhoods to incredible food, arts and outdoor adventures, Miami offers so much more than sunshine. In this episode of the Click&Go Holidays Travel Podcast, we're joined by Joe and Dan from the Miami Tourist Board to explore everything Greater Miami & Miami Beach has to offer. Tune in as they share insider tips on must-see attractions, hidden gems, Miami's diverse culture, exciting new developments, the buzz surrounding the FIFA World Cup, and why Miami continues to be one of the world's most welcoming destinations for every type of traveller.

Most people assume the holidays are the deadliest time to drive. The data says otherwise. In this episode of Risk InSight, host Anya Grondalski talks with Professor Michael French, PhD (University of Miami), and Gulchin Gomez, PhD (Florida Atlantic University) about their new study on traffic crashes during spring break across the entire state of Florida, not just the hotspot counties. Using 12 years of crash-level data, they compare spring break to the Thanksgiving-to-New Year's stretch and find spring break comes out more dangerous for non-fatal injuries, and alcohol isn't the main driver. The conversation covers why out-of-state drivers, young drivers, and pedestrians face sharply elevated risk and the role road density and construction zones play. French and Gomez also share what's actually working on the ground in Miami Beach, from staggered university calendars to parking rate hikes, and where they'd take this research next if better data on distracted driving existed. Listen Now!

Le 15 juillet 1997, à Miami Beach, le couturier italien Gianni Versace revient à pied du News Café, où il est allé acheter ses journaux. Au moment où il ouvre le portail de sa demeure, un homme s'approche et tire à bout portant. Deux balles l'atteignent à la tête. Versace meurt sur le coup. L'enquête démasque rapidement le coupable. Il s'agit d'Andrew Cunanan, un Américain de 27 ans en cavale, déjà recherché pour une série de meurtres perpétrés à travers le pays. Andrew Cunanan se trouvait à Miami depuis plusieurs semaines et avait vraisemblablement étudié les habitudes de Versace avant de passer à l'acte. Le mobile exact de ce crime n'a jamais été établi avec certitude car le meurtrier s'est suicidé sans laisser la moindre explication. Cependant, au vu de l'enquête, l'hypothèse la plus solide est celle d'un meurtre prémédité visant à marquer les esprits. Selon Donatella Versace, la sœur de Gianni, le meurtrier cherchait la célébrité. La police a d'ailleurs découvert une liste de célébrités parmi les affaires de Cunanan. Malgré ces éléments, les autorités n'ont jamais pu déterminer avec certitude pourquoi Versace avait été précisément ciblé.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Everyone in Miami has a commute horror story. Omar sits down with Alice Bravo, the engineer who literally wrote Miami-Dade's SMART Plan, to find out why a fully mapped transit expansion has been sitting on a shelf since the 1980s. Alice spent 25+ years building South Florida's biggest infrastructure projects, the Port of Miami Tunnel, the 95 Express Lanes, and as Director of Miami-Dade's Department of Transportation and Public Works, she created the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan: six corridors designed to finally give Miami a real transit network. In this episode, she breaks down exactly what's built, what's funded but stalled, and why a half-penny sales tax voters approved back in 2002 still hasn't delivered the big-ticket corridors people voted for. Chapters: 0:00 – The 2.5-hour commute nobody talks about 0:31 – Welcome to the show + meet Alice Bravo 1:12 – Alice's 25-year path to writing the SMART Plan 4:03 – State of Miami transit: what's working, what's not 6:58 – Inside the new South Dade Bus Rapid Transit launch 10:49 – The SMART Plan, unpacked: 6 corridors that could change everything 15:29 – The half-penny sales tax: where the money actually goes 19:08 – Why these corridors keep stalling out after 40 years 20:03 – North, Northeast, East-West, Kendall, Beach: every corridor explained 23:59 – Realistic timeline: what could happen in the next 5 years 27:44 – The property tax debate now competing for transit funding 32:53 – The Miami Beach connection: what killed the monorail plan 36:19 – What it takes for Miami to become a true global city 38:52 – How residents can actually make their voice heard 40:00 – Final thoughts: autonomous vehicles and what's next  

Tune in the latest Suite Spot episode as special guests, Dave Jacoby, Founder/Owner of Hotel Lucine and Kaleigh Wiese, Founder and CEO of Ode Places, take a moment to discuss the independent and boutique hotel landscape and the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami in this episode for the Suite Spot Independent Hotel Show Series. 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 podcast. This is your host, Ryan Embree, here with another episode of our Independent Hotel Show series. This is season two. We’ve done quite a number of these independent hotel show series episodes, but this is the first one where we’ve got multiple guests. So I’m excited to bring them both in today. First with me, Dave Jacoby, founder and owner of Hotel Lucine, and Kaleigh Weise, founder and CEO of Ode Places. Dave, Kaleigh, thank you so much for being with me today. Dave Jacoby: So excited. Thanks for having us. Kaleigh Weise: What a way to kick off the independent hotel show. Dave and I got to share the stage last year. Dave Jacoby: We did. Kaleigh Weise: And I feel like we could have talked for a million more hours. And we’re friends, but also we’ve worked together, so I feel like I’m excited to be on together. Ryan Embree: Alright, well this is awesome. I’m excited. We’ll, we won’t be able to speak for a million hours, but we’ll definitely have some time today. And I’m excited, but as tradition here in the Suite Spot, one of the wonderful things about our industry and hospitality is people come from all different walks of life to get into our industry. Sometimes you fall into it with a summer job, sometimes you start as a bellman. Like myself, we love to hear these stories. We live and breathe these stories in hospitality and share them with others. So let’s start by just a proper introduction and maybe your hospitality journeys that led you to your respective positions. Kaleigh, let’s start with you. Kaleigh Weise: Yeah. Well, there’s a lot to unpack here. So if you see me at the show, come find me. I have been self-employed by whole entire career, and I have always been obsessed with the form and function of business. Like, how do you have a brand that really resonates despite, you know, I see your brand is like a lighthouse, right? Like, how are you attracting the right people? But also at the end of the day, like that business has to be incredibly healthy. And then you layer on a hotel, which is a 24/7 breathing company. And so how do you make sure that you have the longevity with systems and processes and you have a brand that continues to resonate as the years develop. And so I got my start serving in essentially helping brand and position and help with coaching for hospitality and service-based businesses. And then that naturally led into places where people slept, right? So I actually was working with event venues for a long time and when we got into the lodging conversation, I was like, now this is fascinating, a one time event versus like, keeping this up 24/7, what does that look like? And so we, I started out places essentially in 2018 after being in Northern California in the Santa Cruz Redwoods, we got to support a property out there. And I was like, the resonance that I got to feel to plant seeds of purpose into the land there of those 80 acres and understanding the choices we made would affect short-term and long-term generations really put me on a trajectory where that’s where I’ve committed my work so far. Ryan Embree: Really cool origin story there. And a lot of parallels from the event industry to hospitality and lodging. So, Dave, what about you? Dave Jacoby: Yeah, thanks. So I’m born and raised in Philadelphia, but somehow I ended up in Galveston, Texas, so I did not have that on my bingo card growing up. But here I am, out of college, worked in some finance and kind of hotel development related positions. First in New York City, then went to graduate school, then moved to Las Vegas and actually was in the casino space. But throughout that whole kind of portion of my journey was developing projects that were other people’s ideas and kind of on behalf of others, even though, you know, in Vegas, for example, I led development and opening up a resort there, moved to Galveston, where my wife is from. And my family’s now based in 2016. And just felt like I fell in love with Galveston, but felt like Galveston needed a slightly different hospitality experience here. Something with a little more soul that matched the soul that this whole town has. But the hospitality offerings that I didn’t feel like harnessed that soul really well, yet found an old kind of out of favor motel on the beach and figured out a way to acquire it and came up with a brand and a design and a team that we put together. And it’s been a labor of love and, you know, blood, sweat and tears sometimes, but a lot of smiles and happiness too. And we’re going on three years open, so, okay, that’s kind of how I got here. Ryan Embree: That’s like the America, the hotel American dream, what you’re doing right now. And listen, I went to school for hospitality and I think just this conversation already between the event management, hospitality, the gaming that you’ve included. I mean, this is like hospitality management 101 through the experiences, but certainly a familiar one where you’re bouncing around. But it sounds like you found your home there in Galveston. I was really excited about this conversation because it’s very rare I get to talk to two guests that have kind of built their brands from the ground up, right? And I think this is a challenge and a task that especially independent hoteliers have to kind of face and building their story and building a brand that resonates with travelers, especially today. So how important is branding and storytelling to connect with guests? Because I think that is what independent hotels strive to do is create this connection that might be missing right now and, you know, really hopefully leads to loyalty in the future. And what maybe advice would you share from your own personal kind of branding journeys? Dave, we’ll start with you and then go to Kaleigh. Dave Jacoby: The brand is so central to what we’re doing. We sort of started with that brand identity, and I use the term identity not as like a business jargon term, but it really is an identity. We personified our brand and there are still decisions that we’ll make where we have this fictitious Aunt Lucine that we will use as a muse for decisions we make around property. And it’s sort of a guiding light for us. But, I think the concept of kind of personifying your brand really helps make it make sense, at least for me. So, I look at how do we connect with our guests? I really look at how we connect with our local community and use that as the window in to our guests with the kind of overriding assumption that if our whole town and local surrounding population considers us part of the fabric of that neighborhood, that the outsiders will, that authenticity will come through. Outsiders will see that that’s where they’ll want to stay. So then, back to the personification of it, just like in your personal life, if you are friends with a group of people, you need to add something to that group and you need to then take something back from that group. So I sort of look at Galveston as the environment here is like a play. And instead of us coming in and saying, well, what is everyone else doing, we’ll do that too. So that we fit in saying, well, how do we add a new main character to the cast here? And I sort of look at it that way. And so what are we adding that’s different, but how does it fit into and, and be complimentary with everything around it? And that’s, that’s kind of how we, we looked at how we fit in and what we offer to our guests both, as, you know, overnight hotel guests and local community that might eat, drink, hang out with us. Ryan Embree: Kaleigh? Kaleigh Weise: Well, I wanna also compliment Dave and Keith have done such a phenomenal job at Hotel Lucine that they have a brand bible, if you will. And I think that it is a testament to how the vision casting of Aunt Lucine infiltrates, the purchases that they make for design, the plants, the employees, the uniforms, how they want them to talk and walk, and all of that alignment I think resonates really well with attracting the right talent, but also attracting the right guests. And so I think having intentionality, I always say, your brand is what other people say it is. So we have to remember that we have control over how we position our brands and what we want. So I think intentionality is first, which I think Hotel Stein does. On the flip side of that, I think we have to be realistic about who is traveling and who is coming to the hotel or who is also the consumer. Obviously on the B2B side, I usually like to pick three to five different personas, and I think that that helps shape making decisions. We have a property we’re working with right now that is on 12 acres. There’s 43 cabins. It’s primarily outside, right? It’s like, okay, who is the ideal person who’s looking for a property like this? And I think the clearer that you can get with that, it helps you understand where your revenue programming is gonna come for, like, come from. It helps you understand like where you should put costs. Like do they care about the amenities? Do they care about the soap? Do they want a robe in the room? And I think sometimes we make decisions that are too close to maybe how we would like to travel or what we think is best, and we forget what our guests might be looking for, which then leads to greater revenue opportunities and better residents that leads to people wanting to come back because they feel like they belong there, right? Like that was created for them. So that’s kind of the flip side of I think knowing who you are, but knowing who your guest is is equally as important. Ryan Embree: Yeah, a hundred percent. And there’s, I mean, guests are leaving us clues constantly on who they are based on online feedback, social media posts, reviews, there’s so many things. Even just a day-to-day conversations, you would be surprised, a tip that everyone gets, you know, you wanna know, you wanna learn about what guests think about you, just hang out in your lobby for a couple minutes during breakfast and just hear the conversations about what people are saying about their stay. But Dave, I loved your point there about talking about being embedded in the local community because you think about people that really prioritize a unique experience in the independent hotel space, which they’re independent hotels are so positioned to do, if you don’t become a part of your community, they’re looking for that unique kind of experience that only an independent hotel can provide them. If you’re really embracing your local community and sharing those same kind of aspects of it’s gonna hopefully resonate with that traveler. And then hopefully they amplify that story a little bit in some of the ways that I was talking about. But one of the things we’re gonna talk about the independent hotel show in a second in September, very excited about that. But one of the things that I love about that show is sometimes as independent hotels, you might feel a little bit like you’re on an island because you don’t have that big brand behind you, right? So getting a bunch of independent hoteliers together, you hear about some of the challenges that are going on right now. And unfortunately right now there’s a lot of noise in our industry. Economic shift, geopolitical factors, rising operational costs and margins are very thin, can be challenging for independent hoteliers. Where do you guys see opportunity right now? Because independent hotels are always looking for that little bit of edge. Where do you see opportunity right now in the state of this industry and maybe where do you see some shared challenges that we have to kind of battle as an industry for independent hotelilers? Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then maybe Dave you could zoom in maybe a little bit more on your property and market. Kaleigh Weise: I think the biggest thing that I’m seeing is, I talk about all these revenue drivers as like little dials. We get to tweak and twist, right? And I think that through some of the impacts that we’re having that are things that are outside of our control, right? There’s only so much we can do with some of these things. There are a few things that you actually can kind of take control over. And I think that investing more in the community and finding opportunities to drive revenue with the people who are in your local area who maybe aren’t traveling for the summer or fall or Christmas or whatever that might be through that event programming, it is not uncommon for us to go into a independent hotel and they haven’t really ever thought about events, especially if they’re under, let’s say 60 keys. Even 20 to 40 or 80 is a great number because you have an opportunity to having a full buyout, or you can have 40th birthday parties or a wedding or something like that. And that can be a huge revenue driver. And so I think as we look at shifts that are happening with, you know, the average event or wedding right now is booking a hundred or event is booking 120 days out. I think the average wedding is booking somewhere between nine and and 14 months out. You can start forecasting revenue a little bit more in control and then focusing on your rooms and your distribution in shorter term pickup opportunities. And so I think understanding where are all of your revenue drivers? What do you have control over? What do you not have control over? And where are, maybe there are opportunities that will be very low lift to you to be able to fill dates and have revenue coming in ways that haven’t been the pickup that you anticipated. Ryan Embree: yeah, and food and beverage, huge opportunity and doesn’t, you’re absolutely right, Kaleigh. It doesn’t necessarily need to be travelers from outside of your market all the time. The hotel restaurant, I feel like has got a bad rap for the last decade or so, but it is turning around, right? And it’s a place where people want to be. It’s a social setting where when people come, you might be hosting people and for the holidays or what have you, and you might find yourself at a hotel restaurant even if they’re not staying there. So it’s certainly a shift in what’s happening right now, but especially for independent hotels. Dave, what about you? What have you kind of seen in your market and maybe any creative solutions for some of these challenges right now? Dave Jacoby: I mean, I’ll sort of piggyback off of what Kaleigh said a little bit there, but it’s events and Kaleigh has sort of focused on booking events from, you know, outside groups. I’ll sort of look at it more as your internal event programming I think is also really important. And, and that’s, and it’s our kind of best way that we use to connect with our local community. And what that event programming is can be so many different things. It sort of depends who you are, who is in your community, and how do you fit into your community, what do you offer? So kind of when I talked about earlier, need to offer something back to your community that you’re in, for us that means a lot of live music. We’re very plugged into the local live music scene and we have a great curated music program every weekend night, all year long. And then in the summer we have a series called Sunset and Sounds, which is sort of larger bands that are touring. Some are touring the U.S. Some are based in Austin or elsewhere in Texas, and they come down to hotel scene and we put on free shows for hotel guests, the community, whoever wants to go. We do wellness events and that might be cold plunges or sound baths. We’ll partner with local organizations that wanna do fundraisers or other events. And it’s just a way to activate the space. It’s a way for people that are not from your town to have a experience where they feel like they’re integrated into what’s happening in that community. It’s a little more interesting for them as a visitor. And if you’re staying at a large chain hotel down the street or in another market, they just can’t deliver that. They don’t have the people, enough people with decision making power that are in the community that are focused on that. It’s just not the way they’re built. So that’s really the advantage I think independents do have over the larger chain hotels. We might not have the distribution systems and some of the other marketing spend, but we do have the ability to deliver on a day-to-day basis and experience that’s just different than what those larger hotels can. Kaleigh Weise: And I would like to comment that, you know, we’re seeing data around three hour drives being really hot, right? So I think sometimes you think you’re marketing to the next nearest city or, you know, looking for that destination destination visitor. I think really thinking about who are those markets that are within a three hour drive that are easy pickup for you once they know that you exist and you’ve again pointed your lighthouse of your marketing and branding in their direction, I think that’s a wonderful way to pick up opportunities for guests and community and events and things like that. Ryan Embree: Hey, I am the father of a 5 and a 3-year-old. And let me tell you, I’m a huge proponent of the three hour trip because that’s about as far as I can get before all of us go a little crazy. So you, you can bet I’m definitely looking for those opportunities to get out there and have that type of experience that Dave, you know, it’s around this time of year when we’re I’m talking to independent hotels that I get so inspired because the freedom of having an independent hotel and the activations and programming that you can put on, I think sometimes independent hotels, because they see some of these big branded hotels not doing some of this programming. They think should I be doing it? And it’s maybe because they have so much red tape in their branding, they have to get approval from, legal or their brand to actually run these things that they’re just not doing it. So it’s such an opportunity, and again, I get so inspired to kind of see that because the way the ingenuity that these independent hoteliers have is just, it’s second to none in our industry. It’s really creating a very cool experience, which is now being showcased and highlighted easier than ever via social media and reviews. So as we talk about industry trends, I wanna see, Kaleigh, you were talking about the three hour trip, right? Wellness is a big one, f &b, what are some of these maybe traveler trends that you’re starting to see bubble up and emerge right now? And how can independent hotels capitalize on these trends and over maybe branded competitors? Dave, you want to start maybe any trends that you’re noticing in your market in Galveston? Dave Jacoby: I’d say one might be the, and to use a buzzword here, the bleisure trends or the business leisure trends. So we will find, sometimes we’ll get small groups, maybe it’s a board or a small creative agency or something like that, that will come and have an offsite with us. And it’s partially meant to be used as a brainstorming session or some obvious business function to their meeting. But it’s also a time to hang out. Some of these groups might bring spouses with them or there might be a business component and then they’ll stay for the weekend and then it’s a little more freeform or social at that point. Or I’ll sort of see this bleisure happen from the other direction where someone will say, Hey, I want to come for a weekend and be at the beach, but why not come on Wednesday night and I’ll stay and I’ll just, I work from home anyway. That’s become so much more acceptable for all or part of the week for so many people. What does it matter if I work from home, from home home or from a hotel or a hotel lobby where I’ve got coffee? And it can be tended to. So we sort of see leisure trips happen in both those directions where the, the work kind of lends a little more leisure and the leisure lends a little more work. Kaleigh Weise: We also have a great living room for people to work and hang out and stay and enjoy beachside. Dave Jacoby: We do, we do. I sit in there often and you’re, and you’re right that it is when I overhear what people are saying about the hotel, I do my work, but I also eave drop and pop in on people and help out with things. Ryan Embree: It’s funny ’cause you know, modern day design for hotels now are accommodating for that. They know that the flexible workspace and they’re building lobby common areas a little bit larger or maybe even not so siloed so that people can mingle, interact, but also have some spaces to work from. So certainly a trend there. Kaylee, what are you seeing maybe from, as you zoom out? Kaleigh Weise: I mean I think experiences and add-ons are something that I continue to be surprised by. So if I’m the North American Ambassador for Muse, so I of course love Muse, but also cloud beds and stay in touch and all of, like, they all offer these add-on options where a guest during checkout or pre-arrival, they can add that early check-in. I’m blown away by the amount of people who opt into that $35 pre-check in or wanna add a bottle of wine to the room. Like those little details, it’s so helpful when they’re coming to have that reminder that we can make this a more customized stay for you. And so I think the sweet spot is no more than seven upsell opportunities. But I think that that even bleeds into, I know when we were helping with Hotel Lucine I’d ideate on some of these things, it’s like they ended up doing pop-up dinners on the balconies of their rooms and adding, I forget, a couple hundred dollars right? Or picnic baskets that people could take offsite. And I think people are hungry for having that almost like travel agent like experience where if the property can customize an itinerary for them or enhancements for their stay, I think they’re very excited and eager to be able to take advantage of that. So I think that’s a trend that’s happening and desirable, but something that I see a lot of independent hoteliers are stuck in the day to day and maybe not adding the attention that they could that will see the revenue that really is low hanging fruit out there. Dave Jacoby: Kaleigh’s so good at that. I mean she helped us with that as she mentioned, but she’s got this ability to kind of come in and just see what’s going on every day and she’s not seeing anything you don’t see immediately. But then she also sees these other opportunities of ways to personalize the guest experience in a way that you’re happy to do and isn’t a heavy lift for you and the guest is happy to pay for. And it’s just such a win-win. It’s almost like you get the surprise and delight moment right outta the gates and the guest pays for it too. It’s a great, it’s a great combo. Kaleigh Weise: Just a matter of training the staff and getting in on the website. Ryan Embree: That’s right. Very important. Get the buy-in from the staff. But you mentioned that word personalized. I mean that’s what we’ve been striving for in this industry for a long time. Personalization and with the rise of technology and AI like I put here, it’s not a podcast in 2026 if we don’t use those words. I don’t think I anybody would listen if we don’t talk about that or that buzzword. But I do wanna talk about it because I think especially with independent hotels, they might be more excited than most because it could figure out a way they could use AI and technology to maybe shrink the difference or find that edge against a branded competitor and maybe not feel so, you know, just David versus Goliath in that sense. So Kaleigh, have you kind of seen any competitive or creative uses of technology and AI in the industry, especially with independent hotels? And then maybe Dave you could share a little bit of your thoughts as well. Kaleigh Weise: I definitely see us being in a bit of a purgatory and as I’m talking about this, I’m thinking fast forward a year from now and I think agentic agents are at our fingertips for having access to supportive administrative help. And I see what Muse is working on behind the scenes and it’s like we’re gonna be living in a very different operational world. In I think all the best ways. And when I think about the future of an org chart at a small independent property where you have to get stuck in the day-to-day right now planning and preparing for guests and double checking things like being able to be synced in when Uber’s about to when Uber’s about to drop off your guest. And being able to be prepared with that timing. I think we’re gonna see our front desk admin become hosts for the first time and really have the time and empowerment to be able to greet them with the level of detail and customization. I also think the automations, I think we’re gonna snap that into being just such a helpful tool to ask the right questions or personalize the spaces. So I think currently it’s very challenging, let’s say for an independent hotel to offer a pillow menu, if you will, for the right pillows that that guest is gonna want. But I think in the future we’re gonna be able to have the opportunity for putting a time and attention into creating experiences that guest deserves that’s customized based on various preferences or interactions. And so I think it’s a really exciting time for actually hospitality to take back the spotlight. And that’s why people join this industry, right? Is they love hosting people and giving people experiences. And I think sometimes the admin takes away from that, you know? And I think that it’s gonna allow us to be more competitive when it comes to distribution. All of us didn’t go to school to be revenue managers, right? And I think that is a, that is a calculated game that to be able to have tools that can help support us and making sure that we’re optimizing the proper ADR and and pickup cost to be able to book our occupancy moving forward. I think it’s a really exciting time. I think we’re just in the purgatory of it right now. It’s like at our fingertips, but we’re not quite there. But I think about a year from now, things are gonna feel like it’s restabilizing in a really exciting way. Ryan Embree: So Dave, from an owner’s per perspective, you’ve, you just talked about how carefully you’ve kind of curated and built this incredible experience at Hotel Lucine. What is your thoughts on when you think about implementing technology or, or some sort of new AI initiative into the guest experience and how you make sure that doesn’t impact your brand too much? Dave Jacoby: I like the term Kaleigh used about purgatory. I don’t think we’re quite there yet. If you look at the amount of, certainly in the independent space, useful applications of AI in the day-to-day life versus the amount of words in print publications about AI, it’s a massive imbalance there. To me, the right ways that AI can be implemented are ways that are invisible to the guests. So the example Kaleigh was using is one that we’re, I’m rolling out actually now in kind of bits and pieces is how do you use AI to improve your day-to-day workflow? And for me, if it’s, I can unleash it on my Google drive and have it pull a bunch of information and synthesize it and put report together for that I can then give to our team. We’ve got better data and that would’ve taken me three hours, but I let it run in the background for 10 minutes and it’s done. You know, things like that to get better insights on your business, that can be done. Now, to the extent we can use AI to free up front desk agents, I’m working through a specific protocol on that now, just to get all the, what’s your pet policy, what time is check? And we just get so many emails that are repetitive in nature to answer. And the front desk agent isn’t always on top of it. Sometimes they’re doing other things, and I’d rather they be eyeball to eyeball with a guest acting as a host or hostess to the people that come in and providing person to person hospitality and not in the computer. We can free that up. You can do that now. So it’s a matter of just setting the systems up and taking the time to do it. And you can set it up with as much automation or oversight as you want to do, but it’s a matter of taking the time to actually do it so that you can free up those personal interactions. Because that’s where we as independent hotels, I think are, that’s what we people come to us for, is for that personalized touch and feeling like they’re having a human interaction and they’re not at a big corporate commoditized hotel. So we wanna give them that as much as we can. Kaleigh Weise: And I mean, I think human-centric is so important. I think we can, we can still remain to have a human-centric business with these tools. I hear all the time people feel like they’re so behind with using AI. And I guess even for those listeners today, I think you can relinquish the shame because the speed in which AI is gonna continue to grow is gonna continue to grow. And I think the application of that, depending on what market you’re in, what tools you’re using, I think if you can focus on one implementation thing that’s gonna actually help you serve your guests better, you’re not behind. It’s really just pacing that is right for your team, for your guests, and what’s gonna be right for you. But also don’t be afraid of it. Like, I think that there’s a lot of exciting things and tools that are only gonna be able to support us as an industry. Ryan Embree: My big bold prediction is that I think the GM of the next couple years is actually gonna look a lot more like maybe the GM of 20, 30 years ago before all of that kind of work that what we traditionally thought a GM had to do with reports and all of these things that actually some of those desk jockeying kind of tasks, AI can, agentic AI could potentially take care of for you. And then you get back to kind of doing what both of you described as, you know, that face-to-face human interaction. So what I’m hoping is that, you know, a lot of this technology actually kind of causes more of our service driven people and hospitality professionals to kind of rise to the top and create some really cool, memorable experiences and maybe just get that service back to where it was. Because it just feels like there’s some aspects of it in some hotels where it just, we completely missed the mark. So that’s my, maybe that’s me being a litte too, but that’s, that’s my 2 cents and what I hope happens. Dave Jacoby: No, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. And I thought of one other great application for independent hoteliers for AI. We don’t have an in-house IT guy. We don’t have an in-house like maintenance tech. We’re just not big enough to carry those positions. But you can go to your, claude, chatGPT, whatever it is, and say, why did my TV turn on three times in the middle of the night by itself in room 212 last night? True story, this happened and the guest was upset. And then I explained what my systems are and how they work and what they can, you give it a little bit of input information, it’ll help you diagnose. I haven’t yet tried the recommendation ’cause I’m on here talking to you guys. But there are all kinds of solutions you can ask for help for and they might not be right, but before you’re spending money to call out an HVAC technician, find somebody who can handle whatever this one specific system you have is and can service that you can troubleshoot a lot of these things and 60, 70% of these things you can fix on your own because it’ll walk you through it. It’s really a helpful way to save money. And that also helps guests experience, right? Because now if that TV’s not turning on three times middle of the night for that guest tomorrow night, she’ll be happy. Ryan Embree: Love it. Yeah. There we go. Just claude gonna be employee of the, of the week over there at Hotel Lucine every week If we get that figured out. But I do wanna shift our attention to the reason we, you know, started this series, the Independent Hotel Show this year happening September 16th and 17th in Miami Beach. We could not be more excited. And for our Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Dave, you’re on the advisory board and Kaleigh, you’re a brand ambassador like myself. We were on a call talking about the show just the other day. I wanna get your thoughts on what inspired you to get involved with this event and maybe some of your personal favorite aspects of the show. So Kaleigh, let’s start with you and then Dave, you can answer. Kaleigh Weise: I have been an active conference goer my whole career, right? Like a little bit of hustling, a little bit of gorilla marketing. And when I look back at the growth and success in my career, it really comes down to the thin threads and the people that I meet. And I think to have an opportunity to pull up a seat at the table for independent hoteliers who do feel very isolated most of the time, right? They don’t have any other friends who have independent hotels to call. They feel like they’re stuck in the day to day. This will be the fourth year. And I’ve been able to be a part all four years. And I think it’s really exciting to even meet back up every year and hear about the growth that each person is experiencing, but also what’s working in their market and not, and just because you’re in Boston or you’re in Galveston or you’re in Monterey, California, you’re gonna find that you have more the same than different when it comes to the day-to-day challenges of operating a business or being able to get in front of the right guests that you know that you deserve, that are paying the price point that you want. And so to have an opportunity to hear what’s relevant in terms of content, but also talk with other people is just invaluable. And so I continue to be really excited about the niche of, you know, the subsegment. The industry is so large in lodging and we really haven’t had a place until the Independent Hotel Show that gathers this segment of people who are doing it. Owner operated and small with a passion. Ryan Embree: Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. Passion is is a word we hear a lot at that show. Because you can just see, I mean these are, you guys are both founders like I mentioned before. I mean the passion behind your brand, the storytelling makes such a huge difference. And to have that much energy and a place Miami Beach of all places, right? One of the independent hotel capital of the world, to see and hear all of that is a truly a memorable experience. Dave what about yourself? Dave Jacoby: Yeah, so unlike Kaleigh, I do not go to a lot of conferences. It’s not generally my thing, but I’ve been into this show and really loved it. I loved how we mentioned earlier how a lot of independent hoteliers haven’t really had a lot of places to congregate and kind of coalesce their thoughts together. I found the panels awesome, even the ones that I was like, well that’s doesn’t really touch what I do in my day to day, but I’m here so I’ll listen. All of them. I found really interesting. More than that, it was just the people that were there, these other independent hotel helped hoteliers who had done gone on their own journeys to get wherever they got. And they had all figured it out. Ghere was not a lot of resources in front of them telling them how to do what they needed to do. They just, they needed to pay their mortgage, they just did the next right thing and got there. So hearing the stories of how people solved whatever the issues were that were in front of them and sharing my own stories and finding the commonalities of maybe the setting was different or the problem was different, but really the approach was very the same. Or getting inspiration from people who have figured out things I hadn’t figured out yet and learning from them. So I really like just the being able to learn so much kind of one-on-one from people and in and in some of the sessions. Kaleigh Weise: I also think they do a great job of pulling together vendors and resources. It is not uncommon for an independent hotelier to go to Costco for some of their… Or order on, you know, Walmart.com or Amazon. And I feel like there really are great resources out there that are made for independent hoteliers and to bring them into the room to have a conversation around cost savings or ability to be able to elevate the amenities that they have on site. I’m really excited ’cause I think of the show floor this year is gonna be bigger and better than ever from what we were hearing in preparation. And so I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that people should allow time to walk the floor in addition to hearing the sessions because those vendors can really change their bottom line quite significantly with implementation. Ryan Embree: Yeah, absolutely. And it’s so cool to see the eclecticness of the independent hoteliers there from, Dave, you’re a great example coming from Galveston, Texas. You could be coast to coast anywhere from like a little five room air bnb rather to a giant independent hotel in a major market. So just everything in between, all different shapes and sizes when it comes to independent hotels, independent hotels. That’s why we love them so much. That’s why we like hearing the stories and why it’s such a unique space and hospitality. And to be able to spend those couple days putting the spotlight on sometimes, this really, really unique segment, it’s such a privilege. We’ve had the opportunity to cover the show for four years as well. So we’re very excited and hope our Suite Spot listeners will join us in Miami Beach this September. So as we wrap up, I do like to just kind of give the opportunity for any final thoughts as we wrap up today. I want to thank both of you for taking the time to join me today. Kaleigh, any final thoughts before we wrap up? Kaleigh Weise: Yeah, I feel like the, the topic I wanna touch on is a lot of hoteliers in the making are interested in the show and I feel like there’s a little bit of intimidation showing up, not really having background or knowledge or even knowing what they’re getting themselves into. And so I guess from an affirmation perspective, this is a wonderful show if this is an industry that you’re curious about or you wanna learn more about or you wanna have the conversations around. And so we look forward to hopefully welcoming you in September. Dave Jacoby: Yeah, I will echo that. And kind of say there are a lot of people at this show that are interested in the space and maybe are there to learn and they’ll find that people are there like myself or other people who have kind of gone through the process and developed their hotel. I would just say to all of them here, what I’ll say to you at the show is, I didn’t know what I was doing either when I started and a lot of us don’t. And there’s no playbook. There’s not gonna be a playbook. You’re not gonna find one that’s gonna tell you what to do at all steps. You just surround yourself with smart people. You need to know what you can and cannot do and where your limits are and kind of take the plunge and figure it out as you go. And your decision making in the moment is really gonna be what’s gonna drive the process. And if you’re always waiting to have the full roadmap, you’re never gonna have that roadmap. Ryan Embree: Maybe that’ll be our next endeavor as the independent hoteliers playbook and we can publish that as a couple authors. Dave Jacoby: Yeah, a long book. Ryan Embree: Yes. Take a lot I’m sure. Kaleigh Weise: Variation A, B, C, D. Ryan Embree: Exactly. Ryan Embree: Well, Kaleigh, Dave, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time, sharing your stories today. We cannot wait for September at the Independent Hotel Show. And thank you all for listening to the Suite Spot. We will talk to you next time. To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

A shiur delivered by R' Mordche Gottlieb in Miami Beach, FL, as we enter Rosh Chodesh Av and the Nine Days.Why did the Eibershter create galus at all? Wouldn't a world of pure geulah have been a better plan? Rebbe Nachman of Breslov gives an original answer: the purpose of galus is not just to escape it — the galus itself becomes part of your geulah.R' Gottlieb explains: the world is filled with countless powers, energies, and wisdoms that seem to run by themselves — money, success, strength, intelligence, and today even AI. A person can live an entire life enjoying these powers while completely disconnected from their Source. But that's exactly the point: when a person looks at a world that could be seen as disconnected and declares Hashem Echad — he gives the Eibershter true malchus, because אין מלך בלא עם, and there's no real kingship without free choice.Topics covered:• What we're really saying in Shema Yisrael — recognizing Achdus HaBorei in a fragmented world• Why Hashem created bechirah — a robot's recognition means nothing• אל יתהלל חכם בחכמתו — the chacham, gibbor and oshir: don't erase your strengths, reconnect them• Kaas is fire, gaava is greatness — how middos ra'os become fuel for avodas Hashem• True anava: not being a nebech, but knowing where your strength comes from• What nechama really means — and what we'll understand looking back at our hardships when Mashiach comes (הזורעים בדמעה ברינה יקצורו)• How to use the Nine Days: don't run from the pain — recognize the galus and demand a geulah• Divrei chizuk on Eretz Yisrael today: the open nissim of the war, the pain of machlokes among Yidden, and why davening for Klal Yisrael's geulah brings your ownR' Gottlieb also introduces Letayel B'Toraso (לטייל בתורתו) — a worldwide project where thousands of Yidden, from all communities, learn the same Torah in Likutey Moharan together, b'iyun, over months. Learning Rebbe Nachman's Torah the way Rebbe Nachman himself instructed makes this "deep sefer" accessible to everyone. To join the program in America, contact R' Nachman Fried.#RebbeNachman #Breslov #LikuteyMoharan #Galus #Geulah #NineDays #TishaBAv #Emunah #Chizuk #Nechama

Being that the 2026 Independent Hotel Show Miami is only a couple of months away, this special IHS Series episode features the VP of Development, U.S. & Canada at Minor Hotels, Genna Panagopoulos!  Genna joins the Suite Spot podcast to discuss: The Minor Hotels Brand & Special Announcements The Independent & Lifestyle Hotel Landscape The 2026 Independent Hotel Show Creating Unique Experiences for Travelers 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, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree. We are here for the second season of our Independent Hotel Show series. That means we are gearing up, if you can believe it, for the Independent Hotel Show here in September and Miami Beach. I am so excited and equally excited to bring in a familiar voice. We had her on the podcast just a couple months ago in New York City, Genna Panagopoulos, VP of Development North America at Minor Hotels. Genna, welcome back to the Suite Spot. Genna Panagopoulos: Hey, thanks for having me again. Ryan Embree: Yeah, excited to have you. We were talking off camera. Typically, I usually do the virtual interview before meeting you in person, so this is a little bit more comfortable here, virtually back in, in, I think you’re in Atlanta. I’m here in our TMG headquarters in Orlando, but second time on the Suite Spot. We really didn’t get to get into your hospitality background, kind of a tradition here. Wanna introduce you to our audience a little bit more, intimately and in depth. Talk to us a little bit about your background in hospitality and the journey that led you to Minor Hotels. Genna Panagopoulos: Well, it starts a long time ago because I grew up in the hospitality industry. Typical greek immigrant story. My father came here with just a few dollars in his pocket and ended up building a pretty successful restaurant business in Detroit. So if you ever are in Detroit, if you say Jimmy, the Greek people will know him. But I went to, I obviously grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State, really, and started studying hospitality with the intent of taking over the restaurant business. And then I did an internship for my father and realized I did not love it as much as he did. And so I ended up falling into the hotel space and specifically hotel investment, real estate development, and have just fallen in love ever since I started my career at Davidson Hotels and Resorts back when they were in Memphis, actually on their business development team. And then they moved to Atlanta, ironically, next to IHGs headquarters. So I was with Davidson for a few years, hopped in over to IHG, where I was for 10 years, did everything from feasibility to business development to even brand, which is a little bit unique. And I don’t wanna undermine that because I had a lot of people say at the time, why would a developer ever go to brand? Like, that’s, you’re where you wanna be. But for me, it was so critical to kind of unlocking new opportunities in the future because the skills I gained in a year and a half on the team work just the role that I’m in now is super helpful because it’s, it’s kind of like wearing two different hats, right? A creative versus a mathematician. So anyways, I was there at IHD for 10 years, and then this opportunity at Minor came up last summer. I was so ready and excited to take on like a new challenge and I thought that it’d be a really fun and exciting new endeavor for me with this combination of my background. So, it’s exciting. Minor’s been super supportive and it’s a little weird to go from working in an office with thousands of colleagues to being the one of one in an entire continent, but it’s been great so far. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And what a unique opportunity. We’re gonna talk about that here in a moment because I think it’s absolutely fascinating. But your story is very familiar. I mean that we hear all the time from our guests, a lot of them start in that f&b kind of space and then transition over to the hospitality side, but super comprehensive skillset, which I’m sure has set you up for success in your role at Minor Hotels. Now, we met face to face at NYU IHIF, where just a couple weeks removed. I call this kind of takeaway season where everybody’s on LinkedIn, kind of frantically typing their takeaways and what they felt about the state of the industry right now, what we’re looking back on New York City, maybe you could start kind of zoomed in version of how that event for you and then maybe back up with an industry lens on some of the biggest takeaways from your time at New York City. Genna Panagopoulos: So from a Minor perspective, we had a really successful conference. So we had tons of meetings while we were there. Really good ones too, on some deals that were hopefully perpetuating. And then we’ll be announcing maybe by the Independent Boutique Hotel Show, but it was, the energy was very live, the excitement for Minor Hotels, was very visceral people, I think, you know, hoteliers are really looking for brands that understand their position. And because Minor is, you know, I always describe it as an owner first, then an operator, now a brand, right? And we still own an owner lease a vast majority of our portfolio. So we know what it’s like to be in their shoes, quite honestly. So it was a successful, like I said, the energy was there. It’s very validating to know that a lot of our marketing is working and all of the, the word of mouth and the fact that we’re out there, iI’m having to educate people less and less with every conference about who we are. So that’s great. Zooming out on an industry lens, you know, I think, you know, even just looking at beginning of the year to NYU IHIF, this sentiment is very different, right? You know, at the beginning of the year there was so much excitement over the World Cup. You and I spoke about that at NYU and it’s, it’s obviously been tempered quite a bit, and the K economy is still happening. We’re seeing luxury, the rates of the projects that I’m working on, I’m just shocked at how high they are and, how well the competitors are doing in the upper luxury space. It’s really fascinating. So I’m definitely seeing that as well. But the sentiment, and appetite to grow is definitely there. People are still looking to place equity, not ton, not huge amounts, but we’re, we’re seeing that there are still gaps on that front. Ryan Embree: The resiliency of our industry, I think, continues, right? It just, the momentum there, every single time we see a headwind, we continue to push through, which is really, really cool to see that owner. And, and from a development, I mean, new brands, new projects being announced, this is the space that we’d love to see, you know, more and more because there’s more and more demand growing travelers continue to prioritize travel and the experience economy, which is great for us hoteliers. So we just need some more rooms here, which is obviously what you’re tasked with, right, Jenna? So, but I wanna talk about Minor Hotels. I know you talked about needing a little less education now, but educate us here on the Suite Spot. I mean, Minor Hotels, brand spanning from select service all the way up to that ultra luxury segment ton of brands. They don’t have time for all of them today, but maybe you could share some of your personal favorites and within the hotel, Minor Hotels portfolio, what makes those brands unique? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, sure. So yeah, like you said, we now have 12 different brands, four of which were launched last year right before I joined the company. But we have these two lineages, I think within Minor Hotels history, right? We have our roots, which come from Thailand, and Anantara and Avani are great examples of that. And then we have our European roots from acquisitions over the years. So we’ve got brands like…that came from Portugal, NH, which is a very established brand out of Madrid. The four that we launched last year, offer really unique things that we never had before in our portfolio. So as we were looking to grow, we knew that that was something we’d have to have to kind of have on our menu of options for potential hotels, because some of these brands don’t work in every asset type and not every market, though most of our brands have a lot of flexibility to be able to grow into different asset types. But I guess my favorite, and I’m really excited about the Wolseley hotel brand we launched last year. So Minor International owns, which of course, Banner Hotels Resorts is a part of, owns Wolseley Hospitality Group out of London. And there’s a really beautiful institutional restaurant called the Wolseley that’s very famous. If you ask anybody from London, they definitely know the Wolseley. In fact, most people I know that just traveled to London know the Wolseley. So we own, we own that company and decided to take that brand into the hotel space, which is interesting because it’s a restaurant moving into the hotel world. And our first one will open in New York next year, but it’s been really fast. I think it’s really fascinating. There’s a lot of membership club opportunities with that one. And so that’s kind of an new trend we’re starting to see in the luxury space. Ryan Embree: It’s gotta be great to be able to have that breadth and spectrum of property or investment type for an owner to come in and say, this is maybe the market that I’m interested in pursuing, and then figuring out and kind of curating and tailoring what asset, what brand is gonna fit best there. And we talked about this a little at NYU, but I think, again, your job is so fascinating. You have this well-established, extremely popular worldwide brand, and here you are tasked with bringing it into the North American market, right? I’m sure there’s a lot of envious developers out there, what has been kind of, and really you only get to launch a brand like this into a new market only once. So what has been kind of your approach, Jen? I’d love to get kind of the background on what’s been your approach and what kind of feedback you’ve been initially hearing. Have owners been kind of waiting for this, you know, to arrive here and, and what are you hearing from owners right now? Genna Panagopoulos: It’s a tale of two stories as they say, right? So in the luxury space, there’s so much excitement. We are very established, people in that space know us, and wanna be the first to help us develop here. So that’s where we’ve seen the vast majority of our interest. Now, when you shift to looking at some of the upper upscale through the select service brands that we now also offer franchise, which I don’t know the stat off the top of my head, but it is a large component of those properties, those segments are operated by third parties and franchised. So being that we’re newer into that space, that’s where the challenge has been. So, but yeah, in terms of the hardest thing and I have to tackle every day is where do I spend my time? Because there’s constantly deals coming my way. We have to, we have to be quite strategic and mindful about what has the most likelihood of being the best representation of our brand in our target markets. So early on, when I started, I think the first four weeks of me taking the role, I had developed a pretty cohesive development strategy of where we wanted to spend that time. And where that is really any of the top, let’s call it 20 markets in the US that have international demand. So we have top markets that don’t have as much international demand, and we’ll look at those, but we just think that our value is gonna come from driving international business into these hotels. And then totally opposite from that, with Anantara, our, you know, wellness, upper luxury experiential brand. We are really excited about finding deals in kind of everywhere else except for those urban markets, right? So hard to get to places. Last week I was driving through Utah and Colorado, six hours in between each of them. So just to give you a little flavor, we were looking at a couple different opportunities in those states. You know, Hudson Valley is somewhere we wanna be Montana, Wyoming. So, you know, it’s a little bifurcated our approach to our various brands. But we’re trying to be very diligent and strategic about it. So we don’t get distracted by things that aren’t going to help us grow here. Because once we have good examples, we really believe the first few have to be really good. Once we have those, we’ll be able to drive further, further growth at a more quick pace. Ryan Embree: Yeah, no, absolutely. And what you were talking about how best to spend your time, I think that’s a, a challenge that hoteliers have had since the dawn of this industry. But it’s very exciting and very cool to hear those different approaches because, you know, you have the privilege of having that background, of having that history and, and culture already built over an in another market, bringing that here. But you also have the exciting new flavor of providing something new, maybe in some, some very experiential markets right now, which experiential travel is just absolutely exploding another traveler trend right now. And you already have some several success stories we touched on at NYU. Let’s dive a little deeper into some of those projects, Genna. Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, so we’ve got, I guess our next one that I’ve already kinda spilled the beans on it, but the releases are already out there, but the first Wolseley in the world will be opening next year in New York in the former Lambs Club property. And I think it’s just such a fantastic market to open the first Wolseley hotel. You know, theoretically it could have been in London and hopefully we do have one in London soon, but it’s a very special cherished brand and it’s not the one thing I also just wanna spend a moment on, even though it’s luxury and it’s this very quintessential British kind of formal service style, it’s egalitarian at its roots, it’s really meant for everybody. So you could walk into the, into the Wolseley in London and see celebrities next to politicians and you’re Joe Schmo walking in off the street, you don’t need a reservation. And so I think it’s a really beautiful evolution of the, of the history of that brand. And I’m so excited for it to land in New York. Ryan Embree: So we can announce right now in 2027. The Suite Spot will be on site. We can do nice little episode up there hopefully. Genna Panagopoulos: Next, next conference in New York. We’ll be able to do it there. Ryan Embree: Alright. Genna Panagopoulos: Yes. And then a little, actually, I guess the next one that’ll open in 2029 is Anantara Turks and Caicos, which is a 100% residential hotel, really, really beautiful resort heavy wellness, you’ll find with Anantara. We really lean into the wellness, longevity space. And so, we pride ourselves on always being at the forefront of the latest wellness, the direction wellness is going. And so longevity, for example, right now is very important to us. And we’re seeing that bleed into the residential space. So, you know, just the way that’s getting threaded into the residential experience, into the hotel guest experiences is very fascinating to watch. And then in 2030, we’ll also have another Anantara in Miami, very close to design district. It’s kind of at the epicenter of where design district, Edgewater and Midtown all meet the views from the hotel will be incredible. There’ll be a helipad, a 30,000 square foot spa. And then a mix of hotel rooms, residences that people are living in, and then also residences that can get rented out to hotel guests as well. So we are super excited, I think, you know, having these three hotels in these three markets, right? We’ve covered New York where we already have a hotel, by the way, the NH collection, Madison Avenue, we’ve had there for a few years, which we actually own. And then, you know, Miami, which is a key market, obviously very heavy international demand, but just if you had to tell me to pick one plate, one urban market to put it an Anantara, that would be it. And then Turks and Caicos is such a important market for U.S. leisure travel. So these couldn’t have been better, better markets for us to be entering and launching region. Ryan Embree: Congratulations. What a strong pipeline and really cool projects you’re working on, excited to kind of see those and the announcements as they start to roll in and the pictures, those views that you’re talking about. But I think, you know, the Turks and Caicos property is something we’ve been talking about on the podcast. That CALA region is also booming right now. So, you know, it’s not just, I think sometimes when we say, you know, obviously bringing into the North American market, we tend to go a little bit more domestic, but to expand that into CALA I think is gonna be absolutely critical. ’cause you’re right, so much of that US domestic travel is now spending, you know, time and money in those areas, and looking a little bit more towards that for their experiences. So exciting all around. And of course we love, you know, we’re based here in Florida, so we’d love a new project. We’ll, we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on that Miami project that you have. But this is speaking of Miami, this is our independent hotel show series. Talk to us, you know, why you feel some of the Minor Hotel brands fit within this independent and lifestyle category. And what advantages do you see independent hotels or even experiential brands and lifestyle brands have in today’s hospitality landscape? Genna Panagopoulos: I’ll answer that last question first. If you don’t have that experiential, that’s table stakes today. So, we’re, I believe we’re only gonna see that become more and more important as the years go on. Because if you look at the consumer data of what the younger demographic, where they’re spending their money, it’s not experiences. It’s not, it’s no longer on goods. So having these really cool, unique experiences that they can travel and and receive is gonna be critical in terms of what we have to offer for independent hoteliers, keep in mind this is our roots, right? We started our, our company was founded by Bill Heineke, who, fun fact, and I can’t remember if I’ve already told you this, but the reason we’re called Minor is that he went to go start his business at a very young age of 17. And when he was getting his his business license, they said, sorry, but you need an adult to sign with you ’cause you’re a minor. So he’s really one of those serial entrepreneurs, wicked smart, wicked great at launching businesses, but he was an independent hotelier. That’s how he got his start. So he’s still driving a lot of the vision of the company. And I could tell you coming from a larger brand company into this environment, it is incredibly entrepreneurial. And because we also own hotels, but also operate for a lot of our owners, we truly believe we have this, like this hotelier mindset. We’re more of an operator than we are a brand at this moment. And so I think that could help lend itself to independent owners who are looking for a little bit of support. And we’re here to lean in as much as they want and as little as they want, but there’s benefits to it, right? We can help save on OTA costs, we can help save on purchasing. We’ve got great technology to help with forecasting and revenue management and and so on. So there’s definitely places to tap in. And I think particularly now more than ever with our two collection brands that we launched last year, so I started telling you this, but I didn’t finish telling you the brands that we launched, but two of them that we launched last year are collections. One is minor reserve collection, which is in the luxury space. And then Colbert collection, which is more upper upscale, maybe entry luxury. And those are just such, they’re primed for independent hotels, right? That’s why they were launched. To be able to keep the heritage and the name of an independent hotel play off of it, but then get all the back support, all the things behind the scenes that consumers will really never see, but it’ll help make operations much more efficient and smooth. And so we think that’s where there’s a lot of opportunity and we’re, you know, we’re priding ourselves on that. We’re here to be a partner and not a brand that’s telling you have to do it this way. So that’s where we’re really thinking this is the opportunity for us in that space. Ryan Embree: Well, it says, it says a lot that, to have two collection brands dedicated to that space really shows the investment in the future of these kind of independently run or branded properties and see the opportunity there because again, looking, you mentioned the lens and view challenges about independent hotelier and brand is very different from those big brands that have the scale to kind of combat those challenges a little bit more efficiently. So, you know, independent hotels, we always talk about on this series specifically are looking for any edge or opportunity to differentiate themselves to the traveler because they are really first in line to present a one of a kind experience. If you think about it, one of those places is f&b, a trend that obviously Minor Hotels has taken and ran with, especially with converting a f&b brand to hospitality brand. How have you leveraged the f&b theme with potential owners and when you’re having these conversations with investors, as you look to bring Minor Hotels to North America? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, so, well first we have a, when I was doing my onboarding in Madrid and Amsterdam, I toured our Anantara in Amsterdam and they had just, maybe they, a couple months before they had just concluded a chef series where they brought I believe 20 or 30 Michelin rated chefs under their roof and had a food festival, which I had never seen that. Like how amazing to bring. I didn’t know that, that that many Michelin chefs would be side by side cooking for each other, right? But it’s a really special thing. And I think that shows you that Minor is very credible in this super experiential high end f&b space separate to that. And so we have the talent in-house. Separate from that, when you look at our brands and the way our Colbert brand, for example, our Colbert, I don’t even wanna call it a brand ’cause it’s a collection. It’s not really a brand the way we thread food and beverage into the guest experience, right? So each hotel is completely unique within the collection. We don’t want any two to really look alike, to be honest with you. But as part of the one ritual that you can, that you can count on as a guest at every Colbert is a food and beverage driven experience. So whether that’s a bespoke cocktail that’s mixed for you, right as you enter the door, or maybe, after you’ve checked in and you’re in your room, a bell cart is a food and beverage bell cart of sorts is delivering a special experience to your door something that ties back to the identity that the hotel has, but is very curated and special, right? Not something that’s like a here’s the, the chocolate chip cookies we made today. No. Right? We want something really beautiful, thoughtful, creative, and that shows the craft in it that either ties to the experience or the identity of the hotel. So I think that’s really important and those little things go a very long way. Ryan Embree: A hundred percent. And those are the little things that add up in the independent hoteliers world that can, you can have the edge, right? And I mean there’s a whole now space with food tourism. I mean, it’s got a name for it now. That’s how large this trend is. And hoteliers are looking at F&B very, very differently than they did five, 10 years ago. It was a first a place where they started to look and say, where can we cut costs? Where can we make efficiencies? Now the brands that I think are doing it right are leaning into it. They’re seeing it as a part of their guest experience and also a huge opportunity for their local markets too. I think people, you know, in locally have looked at through a different lens at what a hotel F&B experience can be. And when someone comes to town, they might not be going to that restaurant. They might be going to a hotel or a resort, and it having that experience there. So very interested to see, right. Genna Panagopoulos: It’s, I don’t mean to interrupt you. But I just wanna say, I was recently having the conversation because when I started in the industry, we would joke, you could, you could like blow a cannon through a hotel restaurant. Nobody wanted to go to a hotel restaurant. Back in the day, they were cool. And it was like, oh, I’m staying at this hotel, meet me at the restaurant. But for a while, you didn’t wanna go to a hotel restaurant. It was vanilla, it was boring, it had no identity. It was just an extension. It was just a restaurant within a hotel. Now it’s such an important driver of bringing people to that hotel, whether local or visiting from out of town. And so there’s such an opportunity. I just, I look back at the time that those hotel restaurants were not attractive. And now I’m like, no, it’s such a beautiful component to an experience and I’ve seen really amazing destination hotels that are operated by the operators, but have a totally unique identity that’s very strong and compatible with the hotel, but not homogenous with the hotel. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. It’s very, very cool to see that evolution. And I think it’s only, again, as the trend continues to grow, I think it’s only gonna get stronger. You’re gonna see more emphasis on that f&b experience. And I personally can’t wait. Because I love those types of experiences to kind of see that evolve. And we’re gonna learn a little bit about maybe some of your favorite f&b experiences within the portfolio here. So let’s do my favorite part of the episode. Some rapid fire to get to know you Genna and the Minor Hotel portfolio a little bit better. Let’s start with one of your, you talked about maybe future favorite views at your property, but right now what is one of the favorite views at your properties in the portfolio? Genna Panagopoulos: I know you’re trying to do rapid fire, but of course I’ll just story tell a little bit. Ryan Embree: No, not at all. Please. Genna Panagopoulos: The Avani in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity during my onboarding with Minor to go to Amsterdam for a few days. Because we have a ton of hotels in Amsterdam. And I got to stay there and I woke up, I think it was a Sunday morning, and I had one of the upper level rooms and floor to ceiling windows. And I just, I watched the city wake up. It was so cool to see the sunrise from my room, but also the canals were coming to life. People were in boats and I had this cup of coffee and they had a great lounge here. And it’s not, it’s not a fancy hotel, right? It’s an approachable lifestyle of hotel. But it was really, it was so beautiful. I had this like Minor Magazine I was reading and I read the full thing. It was so lovely. And I’m actually taking my daughter there in a few, in two weeks, because I loved it so much. Ryan Embree: Very cool. Yeah. And she’ll get to have that view of the, the property as well. What about favorite fact? A fun fact about one of the properties? Genna Panagopoulos: Okay, so one of our new Colbert collections, that I believe is open now in Florence. It’s called Port Rosa, which it translates to Red Door. And it is actually one of the oldest, it might have been the first hotel actually in Italy and one of the first hotels in Europe. So it’s just so funny ’cause here we call our historic hotels 200 years old. And, and here we have like an 800 year old hotel. So I think that’s, I don’t think I could top that. Ryan Embree: Yeah, that puts it in perspective. Favorite signature dish? We talked about f&b experiences at one of the properties. Genna Panagopoulos: So I know I’m talking a lot about Amsterdam, but that was, it obviously left an impression on me, but at the Tivoli, which is one of our entry luxury brands, very well established in Europe, they really pride themselves on food and wine. And so culinary is a huge component of that experience. So I get to eat at the restaurant in the Tivoli called Ombre. And they really try to weave in creativity and art into the overall experience. And so they took it, they took inspiration from Rembrandt, and so Ombre is one of the 12 colors of Rembrandt’s palette. And so they, they had a beautiful way of weaving that into the food, the color of the food, the color of the menu, the names of the menu items. And it was just a beautiful, and you could watch the chef finish the food right at the entrance. And it was just, it was remarkable. It’s also on the canal. It was an evening candle lit room. It was beautiful. Ryan Embree: I mean the marketing team for some of these properties I’m sure has no shortage of content and storytelling. I mean, this is every hotel marketer’s dream. What about favorite guest experience or amenities at one of your properties? Genna Panagopoulos: That’s a good question. The, also in the Avani in Madrid, so, when I had wrapped up, I had trained in Madrid. I went to Amsterdam for a weekend, came back to Madrid to kind of give everybody my 2 cents of how the project or how the onboarding went. And I was only there for one or two nights. I was so tired. I had been gone for like two weeks. I missed my kids. But I came back and the Avani in Madrid as my welcome city had a smoothie set up. And I had never seen this, and I don’t even know if I’ll ever see this again, but they had a little, a little tiny, I think it’s called like a bullet blender, right? That I could blend in my room. They had the most beautiful, I don’t even know what fruit it was, but it was sweet. It was delicious. They had a variety of milks next to it that I could mix with the fruit, and then of course a little ice bucket and some honey. And it was just everything that I needed. I was so tired from being on the road and to come back and have this really like, cool, healthy, nutritious, it was so, it was like they were reading my mind of what I needed. And I’ve never been in a lot of amazing hotels. And again, Avani is not a luxury brand, but they totally nailed it. And then about an hour later after it, ’cause I had checked in fairly late in the day, they showed up at my door with this beautiful wind down tea set up, and it was, you know, tea can be hit or miss. Yeah, it was so beautifully floral and delicious. And I’m not even a tea drinker. And I loved every moment of it. And they had the most perfect cookie to compliment. Ryan Embree: It’s brilliant by the way, that smoothie, because it makes you a part of the process. It makes you feel a part of the experience. I’m sure a ton of people are sharing that on social media. They’re talking about it. I mean, how easy could it have been to just deliver a smoothie, but for you to kind of be a part of that experience, I think makes it a little bit more special. Very, very cool. I’ve never heard that either. Very cool. And then the last but not least, favorite piece of artwork at one of your properties? Genna Panagopoulos: Thats a tough one. Coming back to the fact that we have an NH hotel in Amsterdam called the Schiller, with tons of authentic Danish artwork. But I’ve also heard that the Tivoli Puerto Gaia has a lot of remarkable pieces. In fact, they have over 70 pieces of authentic art. One of my favorite artists is a Spanish artist…and his works are there. So I haven’t seen it in real life, but that’s on my bucket list. Ryan Embree: Well, I’ll tell you, this was probably the most internationally friendly rapid fire that we’ve had here. When asking these questions. You took us to Madrid, Amsterdam, Italy, all over the place. So, we’ll definitely, I can feel the hoteliers now doing some research on these hotels and planning their vacations. Let’s shift to the Independent Hotel show. It’s happening September 16th, 17th in Miami Beach. And remember Suite Spot listeners, don’t forget to use promo code Ryan26 for a complimentary registration. Genna, and I would love to see you there. Genna, you recently joined the show’s advisory board. Congratulations on that. What inspired you to get involved with this event and how do you see it supporting independent hoteliers? Genna Panagopoulos: First of all, thank you. And I’m really flattered to be on the advisory board. When we started our, when I was working through our development strategy as part of that, we were talking about the various conferences we wanted to attend. And we really think that we’re different from a lot of the big players that are already here, right? We’re trying to not be aligned with them, but a totally different offering. And so for us, it was really important that we find these independent hoteliers, boutique hoteliers that, again, are looking for somebody to help support them and maybe make their lives a little bit easier, but not be always watching over their shoulder. And so for us that this was perfect, I actually hadn’t come across it until they reached out to me. And it came about 48 hours after we had said, we need to find a show or a conference that has specifically this. And it just fell into our lap. And so we, it was, it was very serendipitous and we’re very excited. In fact, I hope we can continue to attend and I’ll be bringing my colleague from Mexico actually to help run the process with us while we’re there. So we’re excited. I also think that we could learn a lot of what independent hoteliers need and their challenges are and be able to help them out. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it’s a very, very unique event. I’ve had the privilege of being to the show since its inception a few years back. So much learning, there is something special when you put a group of independent hoteliers together in a room. The networking that goes down. It really is unlike any other event I’ve been to. So, again, hope you will join Genna and I in Miami Beach in September. We hope to see you there. As we wrap up today, we got a couple more minutes. What is your vision for the future of Minor Hotels in North America? Genna Panagopoulos: Listen, we don’t wanna be as big as everybody else that’s here, but we wanna have a really good foothold. I don’t think I mentioned this, but we have a little over 600 hotels worldwide, including in pipeline. And we’re really everywhere except for North America. And so it just feels like the right progression, of where we even have hotels in South America, in Mexico, right? So we’re really kind of closing in from all directions. And so we just wanna have good hotels here. Good representation on, fun fact, British and US travelers make up the majority of Anantara guests worldwide, even though we have no Anantara here in the U.S.. So, Norin England. So people want it, and I think once they’re here they will absolutely come. So we’re excited. We just want what we want. A good representation of hotels. Hopefully that’s somewhere around 20 to 30 hotels in the coming years. Ryan Embree: Well, you’re off to a super strong start. Congratulations again, Genna. It’s exciting to be here, kind of at the starting line of this Minor Hotel’s journey in North America. It will soon follow suit, like the rest of your brand is. So we’re excited to watch that unfold here in the upcoming years. Genna, thank you so much. We know you’re busy. You mentioned it before. We appreciate you taking your time, spending some time with us and talking about Minor Hotels and in the Independent Hotel Show. Again, we’re, we’re excited that we’ll both be attending there in Miami. And hope you will too. So Genna, thank you for your time. Genna Panagopoulos: Thanks for having me again. Ryan Embree: Alright and we’ll talk to you next time on The Suite Spot. Thank you for listening. To Join our Loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

Andy Ansin is the third generation of one of South Florida's most enduring families. His grandfather Sidney founded Sunbeam in 1953. His father Ed turned WSVN-Channel 7 into a Miami institution and built the Miramar Park of Commerce. Now, as CEO of Sunbeam Properties and owner of WSVN, Andy is writing the next chapter at a pace that feels a lot like the newsroom he grew up in.Over a cocktail, we trace the whole arc: a Miami Beach kid running camera cable in the WSVN newsroom as a teenager, coming back after Brown, and stepping into the CEO seat in 2020. Then we get into what he is building now. Miramar Cove, the 125-acre lifestyle center he broke ground on this year, on land his grandfather bought for about a hundred dollars an acre. The Isle of Dreams towers rising in North Bay Village. And the family philosophy behind it, including why he builds with cash instead of debt.This being a biography show, we also get the side most people never see, including his passion for spearfishing. Turns out the guy running two megaprojects at once finds his head clearest underwater. Grab a drink and settle in.Connect with usWant to dive deeper into Miami's commercial real estate scene?

Fayçal Bettioui is the chef of Table 3 in Casablanca, Morocco. Bettioui grew up in a family of pastry chefs. close to the port in Casablanca, and fish and seafood was always a staple food in his family. His studies took him to the United States, where he switched to his chef's career in some of the best restaurants in New York and Miami. He worked at Per Se in New York, and in 2011 opened his first restaurant in Miami Beach. He later moved to Europe, where he launched Restaurant Krone in Germany's Pfalz wine region. After that, he and his family moved to Morocco, where he opened his fine-dining restaurant, La Table 3, in June 2024. In his podcast, Fayçal Bettioui will share his thoughts on Moroccan gastronomy. He will also reveal some of his favourite places in Morocco and the rest of the world. All the recommendations mentioned in this podcast and thousands more are available in the World of Mouth app: https://www.worldofmouth.app/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're delighted today to sit down with MDVIP Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Lin to talk about so building a sustainable practice, finding joy in the practice of medicine, and what's happening what the next chapter of Primary Care looks like. Dr. Jeffrey Lin is a board-certified cardiologist, internist, and the newly appointed Chief Medical Officer of MDVIP, the nation's leading network supporting physicians in personalized, preventive, and relationship-driven primary care. A Harvard Medical School graduate and Yale summa cum laude, Dr. Lin completed advanced fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Columbia University before building a distinguished career that spans academic medicine, elite sports cardiology as a consultant to the NFL Players Association, and executive leadership at Devoted Health, where he was the company's first physician hire and helped build a patient-centered care model serving over 400,000 members across 29 states. He joins MDVIP at a pivotal moment in the organization's growth, bringing with him a career-long conviction that prevention is a long game, that physician joy is inseparable from patient outcomes, and that the future of primary care depends on giving doctors the time and the tools to actually know their patients. --- MDVIP Appoints Jeffrey Lin, MD, FACC, as Chief Medical Officer     BOCA RATON, Fla. – April 22, 2026 – MDVIP, the national leader in supporting physicians to provide personalized, preventive, and primary care, today announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey Lin as Chief Medical Officer. A board-certified cardiologist and accomplished healthcare executive, Dr. Lin will lead MDVIP's clinical strategy and delivery as the company continues to expand its preventive and relationship-driven primary care model nationwide. Dr. Lin will also collaborate with the network's Medical Advisory Board on MDVIP's current and future offerings. The appointment reflects MDVIP's investment in physician leadership that deeply understands both the patient and provider experience, reinforcing the company's commitment to long-term health outcomes, proactive prevention, and a care model that gives doctors the time and tools to deliver truly personalized care. A cardiologist and internist by training, Dr. Lin has a longstanding commitment to prevention and optimizing health through data-driven, lifestyle-oriented approaches. He joins MDVIP from Devoted Health, where he served as National Medical Director and was the company's first physician hire, responsible for building its clinical care platform from the ground up. Since 2019, he helped lead the development and scaling of a comprehensive, patient-centered care model integrating preventive care, chronic disease management, and longitudinal wellness for primary care patients across the country, growing the clinical team to serve over 400,000 members across 29 states. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lin will work closely with affiliated physicians and the MDVIP team to enhance the MDVIP experience for patients and providers alike. His priorities include strengthening MDVIP's preventive and wellness programs, supporting physicians transitioning into more manageable practice sizes, and expanding the MDVIP model to new physician segments and patient populations across different life stages. "MDVIP was built on the belief that primary care should be proactive, personal and sustainable for physicians," said Larry Kutscher, CEO and Board Chairman of MDVIP. "Dr. Lin has devoted his career to those same principles, designing care models that prioritize prevention, meaningful time with patients and better long-term health. He will be a powerful advocate for our physician community and a key partner in shaping the future of MDVIP." Dr. Lin's passion for MDVIP's mission is rooted in his early years in practice, when he saw firsthand how fragmented, specialist-heavy care consumed patients' lives and made it difficult to focus on prevention and long-term health. "As a cardiologist, I've always viewed health as a long game," said Dr. Jeffrey Lin, Chief Medical Officer of MDVIP. "The choices we make in our 40s and 60s shape the next 30 years of our lives. MDVIP has spent more than 25 years building a model that gives physicians the time and tools to focus on prevention and real relationships with patients. I'm excited to help bring that kind of care to more doctors and patients across the country." Dr. Lin also emphasized the importance of elevating the physician experience. "You can't deliver great long-term outcomes if the people providing care are burnt out," he added. "I'm looking forward to partnering with our affiliated clinicians to bring more joy back into their practice and help patients live longer, healthier lives." With the appointment of Dr. Lin, MDVIP is beginning a new chapter in its growth story, doubling down on personalized, relationship-centered care and expanding its influence among patients and physicians nationwide. About Dr. Jeffrey Lin Dr. Jeffrey Lin is a board-certified cardiologist, internist, and an accomplished physician executive dedicated to advancing personalized, preventive, and relationship-driven care. He previously served as National Medical Director at Devoted Health, a tech-enabled Medicare Advantage organization, where he's helped lead the development and scaling of a comprehensive, patient-centered care model nationwide since 2019. A cardiologist by training, Dr. Lin has a longstanding commitment to prevention and optimizing cardiovascular health through data-driven, lifestyle-oriented approaches. Earlier in his career, he served as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach and Co-Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation, where he built a thriving ambulatory cardiology practice and developed programs that enabled patients to achieve meaningful, sustained improvements in heart health. Dr. Lin's experience also includes caring for elite and professional athletes as a cardiology consultant to the National Football League Players Association, as well as leading clinical research on cardiovascular performance and endurance. His work has been published in leading medical journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Lin earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and graduated summa cum laude from Yale University. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, followed by advanced fellowship training in cardiovascular medicine, sports cardiology, and cardiac imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and Columbia University.

Mattia Cicognani is the co-founder of 84 Magic Hospitality, the group behind four of Miami's most talked-about restaurants: Cotoletta in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach, San Lorenzo in Little River, and Si Papa 3190 back in the Grove. In under 18 months, every single location went viral within days of opening, not just because of marketing, but because of an almost instinctive read on neighborhoods, community, and what Miami was ready for. In this episode, Omar sits down with Mattia and Cervera Real Estate top producer Gingi Beltran to make the case that Miami is now a legitimate world-class gastronomic city and that its food revolution isn't just a lifestyle story. It's a real estate story. Where serious restaurateurs plant flags, neighborhoods follow. Where neighborhoods follow, property values move. And the people who see it first are the ones eating at the right tables. Guest: Mattia Cicognani, Gingi Beltran Host: Omar De Windt Producers: Veronica Paris, Jean Avendano This episode is brought to you by Cervera Real Estate, one of Miami's largest independently owned brokerages. With 10 offices across South Florida and more than 50 years of experience, Cervera continues to redefine Miami real estate. If you're ready to be recognized for your talent and want the full backing of the Cervera platform to fuel your growth, email careers@cervera.com today for a one-on-one consultation. To get in touch with our team, call 305.374.3434 or visit www.Cervera.com.

In this episode of Wellness at the Speed of Light, Dr. Stefano Sinicropi speaks with Dr. Ivan Rusilko about lifestyle medicine, integrative health, hormone optimization, sexual wellness, and the importance of taking a more proactive role in personal health. Dr. Rusilko brings his experience as a physician, lifestyle medicine expert, former fitness model, athlete, and founder of Lifestyle Medicine in Miami Beach to a candid conversation about what modern healthcare often misses. Together, they discuss the difference between managing disease and building a stronger foundation for health, performance, longevity, and recovery. The episode explores why tools such as peptides, GLP-1 medications, NAD, regenerative medicine, hormone therapy, and advanced wellness protocols should be understood in the context of lab testing, clinical guidance, and lifestyle fundamentals. Dr. Sinicropi and Dr. Rusilko also discuss metabolic health, mitochondrial function, inflammation, biological aging, sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress reduction, vitamin D, and personalized diagnostics. A major part of the conversation focuses on hormone health, perimenopause, libido, sexual wellness, and why many patients feel underserved when these topics are ignored in traditional care settings. This episode is for listeners interested in lifestyle medicine, integrative care, longevity, hormone health, sexual wellness, recovery, and patient education. It is also valuable for clinicians, health-focused leaders, and anyone seeking a more informed, whole-person approach to long-term wellness. This conversation is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.

This week on Because Miami, Billy Corben is joined by Miami New Times reporter Scott McLendon who wrote about former Miami Beach mayor Phil Levine's relationship with Jeffery Epstein. Plus, Camila Ball comes on the show to talk about being forcefully removed from a Miami-Dade county commission meeting during public comment with the intent on discussing local law enforcement working hand in hand with ICE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Natalie Sawyer is joined by Mark McGhee and Joe Shennan from Boston for the latest World Cup Daily. After a Miami detour featuring iguanas, Miami Beach and a life-changing Chick-fil-A experience, the team reacts to Ecuador's shock win over Germany, Sebastián Beccacece's Disney Prince energy and Scotland's fading knockout hopes. Mark McGhee also gives his view on John McGinn's role and Steve Clarke's post-match mood.Plus, it's Mbappé v Haaland as France face Norway live on talkSPORT, Senegal chase qualification, and the team discuss news of Elliot Anderson's record-breaking move to Manchester City.YouTube: @talkSPORTX: @talkSPORT & @talkSPORT2Instagram: @talkSPORTWebsite: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion - talkSPORTPhoto Credit: Getty Images Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Part 2 of Murder: True Crime Stories, host Carter Roy follows Andrew Cunanan's cross-country killing spree from Minneapolis to Miami Beach. After murdering two men he knew personally, Andrew killed a wealthy Chicago real estate developer and a New Jersey cemetery worker before driving south to Florida, where he spent two months hiding in plain sight just miles from Gianni Versace's Ocean Drive mansion. On the morning of July 15th, 1997, Gianni stepped out for magazines and coffee. He never made it back through his front door. What followed was a massive manhunt, an eight-day standoff that ended on a houseboat, and a death that left every question about motive unanswered. Andrew Cunanan took his reasons with him, but Gianni's legacy endured through the sister who refused to let it die.Head over to our Murder True Crime Stories YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@MurderTrueCrimeStoriesJoin Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America's 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the FBI, gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and gave us America's Most Wanted. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show's page. You'll also get both parts to every Murder: True Crime Stories case released at once ad-free.

Gianni Versace was the Italian fashion designer who turned bold prints, bare skin, and celebrity culture into a global empire. From his mother's seamstress studio in southern Italy, he rose to dress everyone from Princess Diana to Tupac Shakur, building a brand that generated over $800 million in annual sales by the mid-1990s. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crime Stories, host Carter Roy traces Gianni's creative journey from small-town Calabria to the top of the fashion world, while introducing the man who would destroy it all: Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old con artist whose carefully constructed life of lies was collapsing around him. As Gianni settled into his Miami Beach mansion at the height of his influence, Andrew bought a one-way ticket to Minneapolis, where two men who trusted him were about to pay for it with their lives.Head over to our Murder True Crime Stories YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@MurderTrueCrimeStoriesJoin Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America's 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the FBI, gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and gave us America's Most Wanted. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show's page. You'll also get both parts to every Murder: True Crime Stories case released at once ad-free.

This week the art world descends on Basel, a Swiss city on the Rhine River, where the latest edition of the world's most important modern and contemporary art fair is taking place. We're talking about Art Basel, of course. Its 290 exhibitors include all the top galleries of the world. It's a place where you can see and buy museum-quality Picassos and Warhols next to still-wet-paint by emerging artists, though there's not as many of those lately. Major collectors like Don and Mera Rubell are there, and so are celebrities like Kanye West and James Franco. At the center of it all is Noah Horowitz, who has been CEO of Art Basel since 2022. Noah and senior writer, Katya Kazakina, have known each other for years, throughout which he has stood at the helm of various art fairs, starting with the first online art fair called VIP in 2010. In 2011 he became the executive director of the Armory Show in New York and remained in that role for almost four years until 2015. He then advanced to Art Basel, becoming its head of the Americas, which put him in charge of Art Basel Miami Beach, the largest contemporary art fair in the United States. In 2021 Sotheby's hired Noah to lead the gallery and private dealer services worldwide, but he stayed for just a year before returning to Art Basel triumphantly as its chief executive. Noah is also the author of the book Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market, published in 2011. For many years, Art Basel ran three art fairs, the original one in Basel, second one in Miami Beach, and the third one in Hong Kong, but in the last couple of years it added a fourth fair in Paris, and just this year another one in Qatar, raising questions about its expansion model and sustainability. It also introduced a new platform, Zero 10, for digital art, and the Art Basel Awards. Noah and Katya discussed the changing art market, digital art, and the strain art fairs place on mid-tier galleries.

Ryan, Dana, and Nathalie Rodriguez discuss the latest highlights from World Cup Day 6, including Lionel Messi and the biggest moments from the tournament so far. They also cover the bizarre incident involving a man accused of slashing a giant inflatable FIFA ball in Miami Beach and share the story of a Swedish World Cup fan experiencing American healthcare during his trip.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan, Dana, and Nathalie Rodriguez discuss the latest highlights from World Cup Day 6, including Lionel Messi and the biggest moments from the tournament so far. They also cover the bizarre incident involving a man accused of slashing a giant inflatable FIFA ball in Miami Beach and share the story of a Swedish World Cup fan experiencing American healthcare during his trip.

Savage sits down with Dr. Michael J. Hall, MD founder of the Hall Longevity Clinic in Miami Beach and author of Infinite Youth: Solving the Aging Equation. Drawing inspiration from his grandmother, who lived to 104, Dr. Hall defines longevity medicine as a proactive, integrative form of functional medicine that focuses on optimizing health rather than simply treating disease. He discusses key lessons from population studies of long-lived communities, introduces his concept of the "Aging Funnel"—which balances genetic factors with lifestyle choices—and addresses common misconceptions surrounding fad diets and health misinformation.The conversation explores evidence-based strategies for healthy aging, including a Mediterranean-style diet, meal timing, and reducing processed food consumption. Dr. Hall also explains advanced diagnostic tools now available and the role of comprehensive screening in early disease detection. Beyond nutrition and medical testing, the discussion underscores the importance of resilience, stress management, spirituality, prayer, and kindness as fundamental pillars of long-term health, vitality, and well-being. Visit Hall Longevity Clinic online at hallongevity.com or call 305-672-4733.   Get your copy of Infinite Youth: Solving the Aging Equation here:  https://a.co/d/08AP25PB

How are beauty and wellness business leaders actually using AI today?  That was the question posed to three longtime industry executives on stage during Glossy's annual E-Commerce Summit in Miami Beach earlier this month — and the answers may surprise you.  For example, Jenna Manula Linares, vp of digital marketing and TikTok Shop at Tarte Cosmetics, has recently added 15-minute team check-ins at the end of each weekly meeting that require staffers to share how they used AI that week and whether or not it was successful.  “We're creating a culture of experimentation,” she said. “So, what I challenge my teams to do each week is to use AI in a new or different way.” The team then tracks these challenges and results using Tarte's internal AI program.  Meanwhile, David Baker, chief revenue officer of the skin-care brand Beekman 1802, has found success in identifying early AI adopters within the brand and empowering them to learn new skills and own tentpole projects. “First and foremost, it's finding the people who have an interest in it, and giving them the room and space to play,” he said.  Baker is teaching his team to think of AI as a colleague that works while the rest of the team is off the clock. “Finding and sourcing creators gets really hard, so we've built an agentic staffer. Her name is Zoe, and Zoe is designed to source [creators] and draft personalized outreach, so that we can find people who fit our ethos and fit our brand voice really, really well at scale, while we sleep,” he said.  “AI has permeated every team and workflow we have at Tarte,” Linares said. “I'm constantly telling my team, if it takes you longer than 15 minutes to do something, there's a faster way, and you should learn and try to figure it out via AI.” Then there is Ulta Beauty, which rolled out one of the largest AI partnerships within beauty retail last month, with Google Gemini. The team has spent the past few weeks learning how its consumers actually use the new AI-powered features, which include an on-site and in-app chatbot.  “We continue to find new data sets that we need to put into [the chatbot's knowledge base, like] store locations, store hours — a lot of those things where customers are just asking generic questions,” said Josh Friedman, svp of digital and e-commerce at Ulta Beauty. “They're asking lots of questions about the brand, and we're seeing some really good use cases with our customer care agent, as well.”  In today's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, host Lexy Lebsack takes listeners live on stage with Ulta Beauty's Josh Friedman, Tarte's Jenna Manula Linares and Beekman1802's David Baker to learn about the actual impact of AI today. 

Miami has transformed from a vacation destination into one of the world's most sought-after real estate and investment markets. In this interview, I speak with Alicia Lamadrid Paysse, Executive Vice President of Development Sales at Cervera Real Estate, about the forces driving Miami's growth, the influx of international capital, and why investors from Colombia and around the world continue to view South Florida as a compelling destination.Alicia explains how Miami's business-friendly environment, lifestyle advantages, and growing global stature have reshaped the city's real estate market. We explore the rise of North Beach, an emerging Miami Beach neighborhood that offers a unique combination of residential quality of life, tourism demand, and long-term investment potential.We also touch on PALMA Miami Beach Residences, a new 14-story luxury condominium currently under construction. PALMA offers owners the flexibility to enjoy their Miami Beach property while participating in legal short-term rentals when they are away, creating a rare blend of personal use and income-generating potential.To learn more about PALMA Miami Beach Residences or other South Florida real estate opportunities, visit Cervera Real Estate at: cervera.comWatch the video version here: https://youtu.be/JLDp4fyiIr8Read more at Finance Colombia: https://www.financecolombia.com/Subscribe to Finance Colombia for free: https://www.fcsubscribe.com/More about Loren Moss: https://lorenmoss.com/writeContact us: https://unidodigital.media/contact-unido-digital-llc/Follow me on social mediaFacebook https://www.facebook.com/financecolombiaLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/finance-colombia/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/finance_colombia/Read more at Finance Colombia: https://www.financecolombia.com/ Subscribe to Finance Colombia for free: https://www.fcsubscribe.com/ Read more at Cognitive Business News: https://cognitivebusiness.news/ The place for bilingual talent! https://empleobilingue.com/ More about Loren Moss: https://lorenmoss.com/write Contact us: https://unidodigital.media/contact-unido-digital-llc/

Our speaker is Ari Ciment. Ari ran the Covid Ward at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach and is the former president of the hospital's medical staff.  He is probably best known for being my doctor. Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

En 1997, Andrew Cunanan puso a Estados Unidos de rodillas. Pero su crimen más perfecto, no fue matar, fue inventar su vida.Esta es la nueva serie de Lugares misteriosos en su seccion Dossier del Crimen y hoy no seguimos un lugar, sino a un criminal.Uno que convirtió cada una de sus mentiras en una sentencia de muerte.Este es el episodio 3 y el último de la serie: "El Final en Miami Beach".Conviértete en un supporter de este podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lugares-misteriosos-casos-paranormales-y-crimenes-reales--4744170/support.

We welcome Steven Meiner, Mayor of Miami Beach, recorded live in a fast-paced hot seat at the Wellist Wellness Week Miami 2026. A champion of modern governance, Steven shares how he is cutting through bureaucratic noise to transform a high-stakes tourist hub into a premier global wellness capital.In this brief but hard-hitting conversation, Seb and Steven deconstruct the intense trade-offs of rapid city expansion. They explore the strategy behind replacing chaotic spring break crowds with health festivals, the reality of chasing Blue Zone accreditation, and the "worst-case scenario" principle for making tough leadership decisions under pressure.Topics Discussed"Smash or Pass" City LogisticsThe Spring Break TransformationThe Infrastructure of Perception (FAR & Density)Hacking Late-Night Emails for GovernanceLaw & Order vs. Unlimited GrowthThe "Worst Case Scenario" Leadership PrincipleBlue Zone Accreditation: Project vs. RealityGlobal Fitness Capital vs. Bureaucratic FrictionThe Epicenter of South Florida TourismThe Compassionate City ParadoxConnect with Steven on InstagramConnect with Sebastian on InstagramSebastianNaum.com

Hour 3 opens with NBA Playoffs talk and a look back at a playoff game that happened 29 years ago between the Bulls and Heat that ended 75-68, sparking a wider debate about how dramatically the NBA has changed, with today's scores often resembling what used to be halftime totals. The conversation turns to whether the modern NBA has become too soft, with criticism of players exaggerating contact and frequent foul calls, especially when compared to the more physical style seen in the NHL playoffs where officials tend to let the game flow. The discussion also briefly touches on Urban Meyer making headlines with recent comments about Michigan. Later in the hour, Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald joins to break down the growing tension between Inter Miami supporters “La Familia” and the club, including Lionel Messi, over perceived lack of acknowledgment at matches, the resulting silent protest, and the broader disconnect between the team and the city after an MLS title without a proper celebration. The hour wraps with the crew discussing weekend plans and the upcoming Air and Sea Show in Miami Beach.

Brian Szytel recaps a positive market turnaround from Miami Beach after Hightower leadership meetings, with the Dow up about 280 points, the S&P up ~15 bps, and the Nasdaq up ~10 bps; year-to-date, the Dow is up ~5%, the S&P ~9%, and the Nasdaq ~13%. Rates were little changed with the 10-year around 4.56%, and WTI oil was slightly down amid reports of a potential Saudi-linked development in the Iran conflict. He discusses persistent core inflation across CPI, PPI, and PCE as demand growth outpaces supply growth alongside rising money supply, while maintaining the thesis of a 1% real Fed funds rate but with higher inflation expectations (now ~2.5–3%) implying a higher terminal Fed funds range. Economic data included slightly better housing starts (~1.5M), in-line jobless claims (209K), strong flash manufacturing PMI (55.3), and slightly softer services PMI (50.9), and he explains why markets focus on results versus expectations. 00:00 Welcome and Updates 00:52 Market Close Recap 01:44 Inflation and Fed Outlook 03:32 Today Economic Data 04:30 How to Read Data 05:33 Wrap Up and Thanks 05:53 Disclosures Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

Dave Rubin is a media personality, political commentator, and entrepreneur best known for hosting The Rubin Report, a long-form interview show focused on politics, culture, and current events. Through conversations with politicians, comedians, authors, academics, and public figures from across the political spectrum, Rubin has built a large independent online audience and become a major voice in digital political media. Catch Dave alongside Ron DeSantis, Ben Shapiro, Jillian Michaels, and Adam at The Fillmore in Miami Beach on June 11th.IN THE NEWS: Xavier Becerra tries to tell a journalist how to do her job in what may be one of the most disastrous interviews of all time, Karen Bass unveils a controversial dental plan for the homeless, and ICE says more than 10,000 foreign students are suspected of defrauding job programs.GET IT ON! FOR MORE WITH DAVE RUBIN:LIVE SHOW: Desantis/ Dave Rubin ft. Ben Shapiro, Jillian Michaels, Adam Carolla@ The Fillmore in Miami Beach on June 11th PODCAST: The Rubin Report INSTAGRAM & X: @rubinreportFOR MORE WITH ELISHA KRAUSS:WEBSITE: elisha krauss.comYOUTUBE: Elisha Krauss INSTAGRAM: @elishakrauss TWITTER: @elishakrauss LIVE SHOWS: May 14 - Covina, CA (Live Podcast)May 15 - Visalia, CAMay 16 - Modesto, CAMay 24 - Costa Mesa, CA (2 Shows)Thank you for supporting our sponsors:Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/adam. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.Limited Time Offer – You Need Fiber. Yes you! Boost your fiber with Huel today using my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code ADAM at https://www.huel.com/ADAM. New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show!Find LUCY near you at lucy.co/stores, or save 20% on your first online order at lucy.co/ACS with promo code ACS.oreillyauto.com/ADAMPluto.tvSimpliSafe.com/ADAMShopify.com/CAROLLASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz were two Miami Beach stoners with zero military experience and absolutely no background in military procurement – but they had audacity to spare. The childhood friends hustled their way into nearly $300 million in Pentagon contracts, supplying ammunition to the Afghan army. They raked in millions along the way, blowing their profits on bayfront condos, luxury cars, and Miami clubs. But when you build a weapons empire on hustle, bravado, and a lot of weed… sooner or later, someone will notice the smoke.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"What we don't know CAN really hurt us, " says Florence Comite, M.D.  Comite is a Yale University School of Medicine and National Institutes of Medicine trained physician-scientist, endocrinologist, and the leading voice in the field of precision medicine and healthy longevity. She was founder of the first global women only health center at Yale three decades ago and is founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine & Healthy Longevity in 2005, in New York, with satellite offices in Palo Alto and Miami Beach. Her new book, Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer, was published by Little, Brown Spark in April 2026.  Catch this week's episode of mindbodygreen podcast, created in sponsorship with Toyota. For vehicles designed for all that life has to offer, check out the 2026 RAV4, Sienna, Highlander, and Grand Highlander. Hop in, turn on the episode, and enjoy every mile.  00:00 - Aging starts in your thirties 01:55 - The decline of testosterone 07:29 - How genetics dictate aging 10:08 - Increasing testosterone  12:30 - Hormone therapy 17:59 - A DHEA story 20:37 - Metabolic markers 26:11 - Using a continuous glucose monitor 33:13 - Heart medication & testing 36:06 - Personalized medicine & prevention 39:56 - The Alzheimer's spectrum 42:38 - Genetic variables & testing 49:00 - The trouble with AI in medicine For more about Comite, visit her website: https://florencecomite.com/  Buy her book here: https://a.co/d/0cnOvaH8  We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on YouTube! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dramatic video shows moment Frontier Airlines flight hits trespasser on runway; Spanish island braces for hantavirus cruise ship as WHO urges calm; 11 hospitalized after possible boat explosion near Miami Beach; and more on tonight's broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Maggie Rulli reports from the Canary Islands, a luxury cruise ship at the center of a deadly outbreak prepares to dock and allow passengers to disembark with medical teams standing by; Morgan Norwood reports from New York, at least 15 people were hurt in a possible boat explosion near Miami Beach; Andrew Dymburt reports from New York, an investigation is underway after a Frontier Airlines jet hit and killed a person walking on the runway while trying to take off in Denver and more on tonight's broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices