Hospitality Daily Podcast

How We Grew While the Market Shrank - Rob Smith, Stonebridge Companies 02.06.2026 12min

In this episode, Rob Smith, the President and CEO at Stonebridge Companies, shares an operator's read on why top-line growth — not cost-cutting — is a sustainable path through today's environment of profit pressure. He explains how Stonebridge grew same-store revenue by 7.8% in 2024 while the market grew by 1.8%, why their revenue-management-first approach drives 41% direct bookings at their independent hotels, and what a deliberate culture of accountability looks like when you're a 174-hotel...

How I Stopped Getting Through the Day and Learned to Think Strategically - Rob Smith, Stonebridge Companies 01.06.2026 15min

In this episode, Rob Smith, the CEO and President of Stonebridge Companies, shares the unlikely path that took him from an accounting degree to running his own hotel by 25 and then spending 17 years as a hospitality leader in the Caribbean. You'll hear how a Caribbean hotel owner taught him to stop just getting through the day and start thinking strategically, why working alongside people from other countries changed how he leads, and why he believes everyone should work abroad at least once....

What a Founder Learns Inside a Big Hospitality Company - Tamara Lohan, Hyatt 29.05.2026 28min

In this episode, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer continues her conversation with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt. Tamara shares what it's like to step inside a large company after co-founding and building Mr. & Mrs. Smith for more than two decades. She gets into the difference between a mentor and a sponsor, why she wishes she'd built her network earlier, and the deep work of repositioning Park Hyatt, Alila, and Miraval for the next l...

Why Guests Hate Scripted Service - Tamara Lohan, Hyatt 28.05.2026 13min

In this episode, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer continues her conversation with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt, Tamara shares why today’s guests increasingly reject scripted hospitality experiences and what great service looks like instead. The conversation explores emotional intelligence in hospitality, the importance of “reading the room,” how Hyatt is thinking about AI and personalization, and why the future of luxury service depend...

Travelers Want Hotels With a Point of View - Tamara Lohan, Hyatt 27.05.2026 17min

What makes a luxury hotel memorable today? In this conversation, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer, sits down with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt, to discuss why travelers are increasingly drawn to hotels with a strong sense of place and identity. They also explore Hyatt’s luxury growth strategy, the role of storytelling in hospitality, and how wellness is evolving beyond fads into something more meaningful for guests. A few more resour...

"The Anticipation Layer" and the Future of Hospitality - Arnold Amrhein 26.05.2026 25min

In this episode, Arnold Amrhein, VP of Investments at CREO Capital, shares the idea behind his widely discussed article "The Anticipation Layer." He explains why data is becoming an asset, what hoteliers lose every time a booking comes through an OTA, and how AI could eliminate the long-standing trade-off between scale and soul in hospitality. A thoughtful conversation on the future of hotel operations, investment, and guest experience. Listen to our previous episode: Hospitality Works Best W...

Hospitality Works Best When Owners Think Like Operators - Arnold Amrhein 25.05.2026 13min

In this episode, Arnold Amrhein, Vice President of Investments at CREO Capital, shares what his career — from guest relations at Rosewood London to institutional hotel investment across Southern Europe to private equity in Latin America — taught him about the gap between operators and owners, and why closing that gap matters for everyone in the business. If you work in hotel operations and want to understand how owners think, or if you're on the capital side and want a sharper sense of what o...

The Soul Community Planet Playbook for Performance and Purpose - Pam & Ken Cruse, SCP Hotels 23.05.2026 47min

In this episode, Ken Cruse, Co-Founder and CEO at SCP Hotels, and Pam Cruse, Co-Founder and CMO at SCP Hotels, share their perspective on why values-led hotels are outperforming the broader industry on EBITDA, where guests are actually drawn now that a significant majority distrusts AI, and how vertical integration lets them move faster than chain-affiliated operators ever could. Mentioned in this episode: Our first conversation with Ken and Pam (Nov 2024)SCP Mendocino Inn and Farm and SCP Me...

Bad AI: The Risks Too Many Hoteliers Are Missing - Chris McDowell & Justin Call, Actabl [Sponsor Bonus] 22.05.2026 25min

In this episode, Chris McDowell, Chief Information Security Officer at Actabl, and Justin Call, Chief Legal Officer at Actabl, unpack the growing AI risk that many hotel leaders still underestimate. They explain how people across hospitality are already uploading confidential guest and operational data into public AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, why privacy and compliance rules still apply once that data enters an LLM, and why AI adoption needs to be treated as a business risk decision, not...

"Speed Up to Slow Down": AI and the Luxury of Time - Burak Ipekci 22.05.2026 9min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, the General Secretary of Les Clefs d'Or International and Head Concierge at London's Royal Horseguards Hotel, shares an operator's view of what AI can do in hospitality: take the mundane off your hands so your team has the freedom to sit in the lobby, learn a guest's name, and build the kind of relationship where a guest becomes a friend. If you've wondered where AI fits in a high-touch service environment without losing what makes it human, Burak's framing of "...

The Concierge Mindset - Burak Ipekci 21.05.2026 13min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, the Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and General Secretary of Les Clefs d'Or International, shares his case for why the hospitality industry is splitting into two distinct businesses, and why only one of them can justify calling itself a hotel. He explains the "concierge mindset" as a philosophy that should run through every role, why emotional engagement is the only thing that justifies a premium ADR, and why teams that don't feel welcomed at the d...

What It Takes to Earn the Golden Keys - Burak Ipekci 21.05.2026 14min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and General Secretary of Les Clefs d'Or International, explains what the golden keys actually mean inside the concierge profession, and what it takes to earn them. He shares his journey from becoming a concierge in New York in 1999 to helping lead one of hospitality’s most respected global organizations across 85 countries. Burak walks through the rigorous Les Clefs d'Or membership process, the emotional experience ...

Pick Your Boss (And Other Career Advice) - Burak Ipekci 20.05.2026 6min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London and Secretary General of Les Clefs d'Or International, shares a practical view of the decisions that shape a career in hospitality — why the boss matters more than the brand, how to read a leader's character in an interview, and why asking questions is the most underused skill in business. Watch our full conversation here on YouTube More in with Burak: Hire For The Spark - Burak IpekciEnergy Fit - Burak Ipe...

Why Work in Hospitality - Burak Ipekci 20.05.2026 7min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, the Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London and General Secretary of Les Clefs d'Or International, makes the case for why working in hospitality is worth it. He shares why the instant gratification of hotel work is unlike anything in other industries, and why the world has changed but the energy hasn't. Watch our full conversation here on YouTube More in with Burak: Hire For The Spark - Burak IpekciEnergy Fit - Burak Ipekci A few more resou...

Energy Fit - Burak Ipekci 19.05.2026 6min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, the Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and Secretary General of Les Clefs d'Or International, shares why hiring a great concierge isn't enough if the energy doesn't match the property. You'll hear how he advises hotel leaders opening new properties to think about the match between a person and a place, and why fit matters as much in hiring as it does in any other relationship. Watch our full conversation here on YouTube More on brand: Ace Hotel’s Earl...

Hire For The Spark - Burak Ipekci 18.05.2026 11min

In this episode, Burak Ipekci, the Head Concierge at The Royal Horseguards Hotel and Secretary General of Les Clefs d'Or International, shares his view on hiring: why he decides in five minutes whether to spend 55, why great concierge careers start with someone spotting them first, and why caring for people is the one thing you cannot teach. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions...

Guests are Complex. Hospitality Needs to Catch Up. (Philippa Wagner) 16.05.2026 41min

In this episode, Philippa Wagner, the Founder of People Places Spaces, and former head of 23 Lab at Ennismore, shares why the hotel industry's segmentation habit is breaking down, what the solo traveler actually wants, and why community can't be manufactured. Learn more about The Future Guest Report A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and act...

Could Human “Messiness” Be Hospitality’s Biggest Advantage? - Philippa Wagner 15.05.2026 10min

In this episode, Philippa Wagner, the Founder of People Places Spaces, shares an honest perspective on AI and tech in hospitality, drawing on her Future Guest research. She explains why guests forgive people but not technology, where AI belongs in operations, and how the right tech finally lets you hire for personality instead of tech skills. If you've sat through one too many high-level AI panels and want a grounded view, this conversation is worth your time. Mentioned: Bob WNuma MewsOr...

Why Our Approach to Hotel Data Earned a Patent and Prepares Hotels for AI - Clark Brayton, Joseph McGroarty & Pritesh Patel, Actabl 15.05.2026 20min

In this episode, Joe McGroarty, Clark Brayton, and Pritesh Patel of Actabl share why hotel data has been broken for decades, how their team built the patented normalization layer that fixes it, and why getting this right matters more in an AI-enabled world. You'll hear what's actually happening when revenue isn't easy to report on across your portfolio, the three questions to bring to your next tech partner meeting, and why context, not volume, is what makes AI answers trustworthy. Connect wi...

The Scorecard That Turns Hotels Into Meritocracies - Chris O'Donnell, Aimbridge Hospitality 14.05.2026 8min

In this episode, Chris O'Donnell, the President of Select Service Division at Aimbridge Hospitality, shares how the balanced scorecard turns hotel operations into a meritocracy. You'll hear how Aimbridge cascades five universal metrics from CEO Craig Smith down to every property, why turnaround success starts with quick wins, and the bias-for-action principle Chris carries into every problem. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message...