Booked Solid Show - Short Term Rental Podcast

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  Luxury Direct Bookings Past 60% Built One Guest Connection at a Time with Rachel Alday 17.09.2026 1godz 2min

  "The goal is actually deeper connection." 💛Rachel Alday started Abode Luxury Rentals with her husband during the 2008 financial crisis. Eighteen years later, they manage around 200 luxury homes across Park City, Jackson Hole, and Sun Valley, and over 60% of their bookings come direct. In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Rachel tells Gil what she wishes she had known sooner. She explains why she hires for the hospitality gene, and why she treats every guest issue as a chance to earn a lifelong client. You'll also hear about the property lore project that gives each home its own story, and the simple branding move you can set up this afternoon. 🏔️🤝 Connect with Rachel Alday💼 LinkedIn: Rachel Alday📸 Instagram: @aldayrachel📧 Email: [email protected]🏔️ Website: Abode Luxury Rentals📘 Book: Please Do Disturb, releasing November 10
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  AI Search Visibility Is Rewriting the Hotel Booking Funnel with Kin Sio 10.09.2026 59min

  "Direct booking is a commercial system, not a website project." That's the line Kin Sio opens with on this episode, and it sets the tone for one of the most tactical conversations we've had on AI search visibility yet. Kin runs revenue and marketing operations for more than 40 independent and boutique hotels through his firm, Lights On Digital. In this episode, he walks through how hotels define their booking funnel, why rate parity quietly kills more direct bookings than any marketing mistake, and what his AI search research is turning up across dozens of properties, including why TripAdvisor and OTA listings are outranking hotels' own websites inside ChatGPT and Perplexity answers right now.If you manage anywhere from one property to a hundred, this conversation will change how you think about where your next guest is actually discovering you.🔗 Connect with Kin SioWebsite: lightson.coPodcast: The Lights On PodcastLinkedIn (his most active channel): linkedin.com/in/kinsioEmail: [email protected]
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  Local Content Direct Bookings: The Bar Guide That Booked 16 Months with Damian Sheridan 03.09.2026 1godz 7min

  "We are the local experts."Damian Sheridan spent eight years doing SEO for property managers before he built one of the biggest education brands in short term rentals. He knows the technical side cold. So it says something that his best story about local content direct bookings is a 600 word page about which bars in his Spanish village show football. Nobody would call that a booking strategy. It brought him a guest who stayed 16 months. In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with the co founder and CEO of Scale to unpack what actually gets properties found now. Gil shares fresh research from roughly 24,000 AI search queries and a finding that surprised him: the sites getting cited had fewer backlinks than the ones that did not. Damian explains why that feels fairer. You will hear how pre arrival guest questions become a content calendar, why the lowest hanging fruit in your business is the email list you already own, and the 30 second video almost nobody records that quietly converts browsers into bookers. Whether you are running two units or two hundred, this one gets specific fast.🌐 Connect with Damian SheridanLinkedIn is his platform of choice, and Scale has migrated to a new home.Damian Sheridan on LinkedInScale
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  Dynamic Pricing Strategy Runs on Three Signals, Not Just the Market with Mridul Bansal 24.08.2026 59min

  "Use OTAs as billboards." That single line from Mridul Bansal reframes the whole direct versus OTA argument.Mridul is a Product Marketing Manager at PriceLabs, and he spends his days between the product team and the hosts who actually use the tool. In this episode he opens up the box most operators treat as magic. He walks through the three inputs that decide what your property gets priced at tonight, why market data on its own will steer you wrong, and how a hyperlocal read on your competition matters more than a radius on a map.Gil and Mridul also get into the new PriceLabs mobile app, what the MCP connector unlocks when you point Claude at your own revenue data, and the tier of revenue management maturity most operators have not stepped into yet. There is also a candid moment about what you should and should not try to vibe code yourself.If you have ever looked at a rate recommendation and wondered where the number came from, this one is for you. 🎧🔗 Connect With Mridul Bansal💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bansal-mridul🌐 PriceLabs: hello.pricelabs.co (30 day free trial, no card required)Mridul shares revenue management and pricing insights regularly on LinkedIn, including the MCP prompts he mentioned in this episode.
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  Direct Booking Channels Hiding in Your Guest Messages with Jeff Iloulian 13.08.2026 48min

  Jeff Iloulian spent five years building a 150 property portfolio in Los Angeles, and set up close to 300 units along the way. He also once checked out of IKEA with 48 shopping carts and a $40,000 bill, then watched most of it break, chip and peel inside a year.In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Jeff, cofounder and CEO of HostGPO, to talk about what that portfolio actually taught him. Not just about furniture, but about where bookings really come from. Jeff's direct booking strategy had nothing to do with paid ads or email funnels. It came from reading guest messages closely enough to notice who kept showing up, then walking across town and building the relationship himself. That instinct led to Netflix, Warner Brothers, UCLA faculty housing, Lakers players, and one film shoot that covered nine months of annual revenue.If you have ever wondered why the same guests keep booking your place, this conversation gives you a way to turn that pattern into a channel.🤝 Connect With Jeff Iloulian💼 LinkedIn: Jeff Iloulian📸 Instagram: @hostgpo🌐 Web: HostGPO🏓 Jeff also runs the HostGPOpen, an annual pickleball tournament at VRMA with proceeds going to short term rental advocacy through the VRMA advocacy fund and Rent Responsibly. It is expanding beyond VRMA in 2026 with events planned in Palm Springs, Austin, and Atlanta.
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  Host to Host Direct Bookings That Pay Peers Instead of Platforms with Na'ím Anís Paymán 04.08.2026 44min

  "Pay your peers, not the platforms."That one line explains most of what Na'ím Anís Paymán has built. He scaled a UK portfolio past 500 units across serviced apartments, guesthouses, and hotels. When the software could not keep up, he gave two developers six months and a hard deadline, then migrated 150 units onto a system he owned. Today he has made that PMS free and launched a host to host direct bookings network where operators refer guests to each other and keep the commission inside the community.This conversation covers why a free PMS makes commercial sense, how smaller hosts can market a portfolio they do not own, and why Na'ím believes the biggest gap in direct bookings is mindset rather than tooling. Gil and Na'ím also get into paid ads discipline, guest data, voucher tracking, and the quiet risks hiding inside a vibe coded booking website. 🎧🔗 Connect With Na'ím Anís PaymánPersonal site and free consultation booking: naimanispayman.comZeeLink host network: zee.linkZeevou: zeevou.comCommunitise: communitise.comLinkedIn: Na'ím Anís PaymánFacebook: Na'ím Anís Paymán
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  Guest Fraud Prevention Made Simple for Direct Booking Hosts with Ela Mezhiborsky 09.07.2026 58min

  "Real fraud that's aware of your loopholes will not come in looking sketchy." That's the moment this episode shifts from guest screening 101 into something a lot more unsettling — and a lot more useful. On this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Ela Mezhiborsky, Co-Founder and President of Autohost, to talk about guest fraud prevention in an age where AI can fabricate a convincing, sympathetic, entirely fake guest from scratch. Ela walks through how fraud has evolved from fake IDs to synthetic identities, why "gut feeling" is a liability instead of a filter, and why screening guests properly is what actually lets you say yes to direct bookings with confidence instead of fear. Whether you're just getting your first direct booking site off the ground or you're managing a growing portfolio, this conversation reframes guest screening as the thing that protects your hospitality — not the thing that gets in its way.🤝 Connect with Ela MezhiborskyEla is most active on LinkedIn, where she shares insights on guest fraud prevention, identity verification, and the occasional parenting story.
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  Converting Apartments to Short-Term Rentals for 3x the Revenue with Tim Bratz 02.07.2026 53min

  "Resourcefulness is the ultimate resource." — Tim BratzWhat happens when a commercial real estate operator with 2,800+ apartment units starts converting a slice of that portfolio into short-term rentals — and generating two to three times the revenue on those units?In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Tim Bratz, founder of Legacy Wealth Holdings and Smart Management. Tim walks through how he went from a 23-year-old with a maxed-out credit card buying his first $14,000 house, to building and shrinking a portfolio that's peaked at nearly 5,000 doors and is valued at over $350 million today.But the real story here is what's happening right now: multifamily operators like Tim are quietly carving off a small percentage of their apartment units, furnishing them, and putting them on Airbnb and VRBO — and it's opening up a massive opportunity for short-term rental operators to partner directly with commercial real estate owners who are sitting on stressed portfolios and need help generating revenue without taking on debt.If you've ever wondered how the STR world looks from the other side of the real estate spectrum — or you're looking for your next growth opportunity beyond just buying more doors — this conversation will change how you think about where direct booking expertise can go next.🔗 Connect with Tim BratzInstagram / X / Facebook: @timbratzLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timbratzLegacy Wealth Holdings: legacywealthholdings.comSmart Management: smartmanagement.com
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  Direct Booking Conversion: Why Traffic Alone Won't Fill Your Calendar with Amber Knight 04.06.2026 1godz 4min

  🎙️ Why Your Marketing Is Working — But Guests Are Still Booking on Airbnb"You have to build trust on that website. Just being cheaper is not enough." — Amber KnightYou're driving traffic. You're running ads. Guests are clicking. And then... they book on Airbnb anyway.If that sounds familiar, this episode is exactly what you need to hear. In this conversation, Gil sits down with Amber Knight, General Manager at BookingsCloud, to pull apart the real reason so many direct booking strategies stall — not at the awareness stage, but at the moment of truth: the booking itself.Amber brings a background most people in short-term rentals haven't encountered — data-driven advertising built inside a 100-year-old media company, refined through the automotive industry, and now applied specifically to vacation rental portfolios. What she shares in this episode reframes the entire conversation around ads, conversion, and what it actually takes to turn a qualified visitor into a confirmed direct booking.Whether you're just getting started with direct bookings or you've been at it for a while and the numbers aren't moving the way you'd like, this one is worth your full attention.🤝 Connect With Amber Knight🔗 LinkedIn: Amber Knight📘 Facebook: BookingsCloud📸 Instagram: @bookingscloud
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  STR Design Strategy That Doubled Revenue to $254K with Courtney Petrovich 27.05.2026 51min

  "The only differentiator between my property doing $254K and my neighbor doing $185K? Design — and the strategy behind it."What if the gap between a good STR and a great one wasn't the location, the square footage, or even the amenities — but the intention behind every design decision?In this episode of Booked Solid, Gil sits down with Courtney Petrovich, founder and principal designer of Denori Designs, to unpack why strategy always comes before the furniture. Courtney is both a data-driven investor and a hospitality designer who works across short-term rentals and boutique hotels — and she brings the best of both worlds to this conversation.You'll hear how she took an eight-bedroom beach duplex from $120K to $254K in annual revenue, why boutique hotels consistently outperform on direct bookings, and the one free thing every host can do today to make guests feel genuinely connected to where they're staying.🤝 Connect with Courtney PetrovichCourtney and the Denori Designs team work with STR hosts and boutique hotel owners across the country. Whether you're wondering if it's time for a full redesign or just a refresh, they offer initial consultations to help you figure out what makes the most sense for your ROI.🌐 Website: denoridesigns.com📸 Instagram: @denoridesigns👥 Facebook: facebook.com/denoridesigns💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Petrovich
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  Scaling 220+ STRs and Direct Bookings Without Losing Your Brand with Tim Hubbard 14.05.2026 47min

  "You can have a perfect property, listed perfectly, with perfect reviews — but if it's not priced right, people just won't book it." — Tim HubbardWhat does it actually look like to run a short-term rental business from thousands of miles away, across 40+ cities, in multiple countries, and still deliver a five-star guest experience consistently?That's not a hypothetical. That's what Tim Hubbard has built.In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Tim, founder and CEO of Corzly, a remote-first hospitality company managing 220+ properties across dozens of markets. Tim is also the host of the Short Term Rental Riches podcast, and he brings more than 11 years of STR experience to this conversation — from his first lightbulb moment comparing Airbnb rental returns to those of traditional long-term properties, to building a white-label operations model that gives owners back their brand without sacrificing operational control.You'll hear Tim's perspective on why the property management model is changing, how AI is reshaping guest communications, what every host needs to have in place before chasing direct bookings, and the one tactic he recommends for anyone looking to grow their direct booking rate starting today.If you're a host trying to scale without losing the personal connection to your property — or a property manager rethinking how your operations are structured — this one is for you.🤝 Connect With Tim Hubbard🌐 Corzly: www.corzly.com🎙️ Short Term Rental Riches Podcast: www.strriches.com📘 Facebook: facebook.com/corzly💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tim-hubbard-str
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  Hospitable's Free PMS Plan Changed Everything for STR Hosts with Pierre-Camille Hamana, CEO and Founder of Hospitable 07.05.2026 1godz 10min

  What would it look like if your property management software started working for you — not the other way around? In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Pierre-Camille Hamana, the founder and CEO of Hospitable, to unpack one of the most ambitious product months in short-term rental software history. Pierre breaks down a $0 subscription PMS plan, an MCP server that lets you talk to your own property data in plain English, a property manager marketplace, and a brand-new sister insurance company — all launched in April 2025. This isn't a product announcement show. It's a rare look inside the strategic mind of a founder who believes the STR software market is still wildly underserved — and is doing something about it.🔗 Connect with Pierre-Camille Hamana🌐 Hospitable.com💼 LinkedIn: @pchamana
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  Scaling Short-Term Rental Operations to 93 Doors With Steve Resnick 30.04.2026 56min

  What does it actually take to scale to 93 properties in a single market — without losing the five-star experience that got you there in the first place?In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Steve Resnick, Cofounder and CEO of HeavenlyRez Vacation Rentals, opens up about the journey that took him from a single beach house in Ocean City, New Jersey, to running the #1-ranked property management company in his market (per AirDNA 2025). Steve shares the personal tragedies that shaped his mindset, the poster board that keeps his vision in focus every morning, and the operational decisions behind a brand that holds the most five-star reviews in a town dominated by century-old competitors.You'll hear how Steve built a centralized hospitality hub to eliminate inconsistencies in his cleaning operation, why he treats every single property as its own warehouse problem, and the AI-powered tech stack that lets a lean team operate at a level most operators can only dream of. If you've ever wondered what the "next level" of short-term rental operations actually looks like, this conversation gives you the blueprint.🤝 Connect With SteveYou can follow Steve and HeavenlyRez through his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/heavenlyrezFor everything HeavenlyRez (website, social, listings, reviews): HeavenlyRez.comHe's also active in the STR Secrets Mastermind community and is happy to connect with fellow operators looking to compare notes on operations, tech, and scale.
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  A Smartwatch Ping Turned One Rental Into an Autism-Friendly Brand with Suzanne Hacker Robinson 23.04.2026 55min

  "Don't give up. People give up too early — and it usually doesn't make sense to." — Suzanne Hacker Robinson 🌴What if the quiet, unsexy part of hosting — the checklists, the naming, the tiny intentional touches — is actually what separates a one-and-done guest from one who books direct every year? In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Suzanne Hacker Robinson, founder of Welcoming Wow and a former 25-year banking executive who now manages 25 vacation rental properties in Florida. Suzanne shares why operations quietly run the whole show, how a single ping on her smartwatch reshaped her entire hosting philosophy, and the simple, direct booking moves any host can start this week — no agency build required. 🏡✨This one's for anyone who keeps waiting for their portfolio to be "big enough" before investing in direct bookings. Suzanne makes a humble, grounded case for just starting — and keeping it simple.🔗 Connect With Suzanne🌐 Website: www.welcomingwow.com📸 Instagram: @welcomingwow🔗 Linktree (free resources, including 12 Steps to an Autism-Friendly Rental): linktr.ee/SuzRobinson📧 [email protected]
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  Direct Bookings in Short-Term Rentals: From 10% to 80% with Suzy Turnbull 17.04.2026 1godz 3min

  "You have to really get under the cover of knowing who it is you're trying to attract. If you don't know that, you are not going to succeed." — Suzy TurnbullHow does a single-property host in Panama grow from 10% to 80% direct bookings in just over two years? In this episode of Booked Solid, Gil sits down with Suzy Turnbull, author of 5-Star Hosting Made Simple and a former marketing executive who turned her Buenaventura villa into a thriving direct booking business. Suzy shares the exact year-by-year progression of her direct-booking growth, the infrastructure she wishes she'd built sooner, how a single conversation with Canadian birdwatchers reshaped her entire guest experience, and why hospitality — not just tactics — is the real engine behind repeat bookings. If you're a host or property manager who wants to move beyond OTA dependency but doesn't know where to start, this one's for you.🎁 Free Gift from Suzy: Get exclusive access to her HostGenius™ Guest Review Analyzer — a custom AI tool to help you decode what guests are really saying about your property. → https://5starhostingmadesimple.com/guest-review-analyzer-crafted-stays-podcast/🔗 Connect With SuzyWebsite: ⁠5starhostingmadesimple.com⁠Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/in/suzyturnbull⁠Instagram: ⁠@5starhostingmadesimple⁠Facebook: ⁠Suzy Turnbull on Facebook⁠Catch Suzy in London at the Short Stay Summit and Host Planet Roadshow, where she'll be signing copies of 5-Star Hosting Made Simple.
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  Social Media Marketing for Short-Term Rentals: Building a Brand That Books Directly with Emily Lethgo 10.04.2026 55min

  Most hosts launch a direct booking site and then wait. They post occasionally. They hope something goes viral. And when bookings don't come, they quietly go back to Airbnb.Emily Lethgo built something different — and she did it in the Smoky Mountains, one of the most competitive short-term rental markets in the country. Starting with a single cabin and a marketing background, she spotted a gap that most operators still haven't filled: the space between having a great property and actually getting people to discover it.In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Emily shares how she went from a Facebook post offering to photograph 10 cabins for free, to building Matchpoint Socials — a boutique, full-service marketing agency working exclusively with short-term rental brands. She opens up about what consistency really looks like in practice, why a viral post is actually the worst thing to chase, how she structures her team so every client gets five specialists instead of one overloaded generalist, and what she tells hosts who are wondering whether social media is actually worth the effort.If you've ever felt like you're doing all the right things but not seeing traction — this one's for you.🤝 Connect With EmilyEmily and the Matchpoint Socials team work with short-term rental operators who are ready to stop doing marketing alone. If you're investing in a direct booking setup and want a team that handles the visibility side for you — from organic content to ads to influencer partnerships — they offer a 30-Day Agency Pilot so you can experience it before committing long-term.🔗 Instagram: @emilylethgo | @matchpointsocials🌐 Website: www.matchpointsocials.com
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  Guest Favorite Over Superhost: What's Actually Moving the Airbnb Algorithm with Dan Rivers 25.03.2026 52min

  "Take the cheat code — go find someone who's done it, who's done it well, and learn from them." — Dan RiversIf you've been thinking about revenue management as a single lever you pull once in a while, this episode is going to shift your perspective. Dan Rivers has been in real estate since 2005, navigating everything from high-rise condo management on the beach to flipping homes to building a thriving short-term rental portfolio — and he's learned most of it the hard way. Today, as co-founder of SynergyStays, a revenue management company serving STR operators in the U.S. and Mexico, Dan brings a no-fluff, results-first approach to how operators think about revenue, occupancy, and direct bookings.In this episode of Booked Solid, Dan and Gil go deep on what it actually takes to stop being just "good" and start being great at running a short-term rental business. You'll hear how Dan transitioned from acquiring more and more doors to building a scalable business designed around his lifestyle, why revenue management is far more than nightly pricing, and how pushing your clients toward direct bookings is becoming a non-negotiable part of any solid revenue strategy.
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  AI Guest Communication in Short-Term Rentals: Building a Human Brand at Scale with Sabrina Mulligan 19.03.2026 43min

  "Guests want and deserve answers instantly — and when you learn the art of great communication, they'll keep talking to Zoe even after they find out she's AI."What happens when a guest asks mid-conversation, "Are you AI or human?" — and then just keeps chatting anyway?That's not a glitch. That's the goal.In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Sabrina Mulligan, AI-First Hospitality Brand Strategist at Zzzing — a tech-driven hospitality brand managing over 550 keys across hotels, vacation rentals, and boutique guesthouses in Malta. Sabrina has spent the last three years at the intersection of brand, guest experience, and AI, building systems that let a growing portfolio still feel personal, local, and boutique.What unfolds in this conversation is genuinely rare. This isn't a surface-level talk about chatbots saving time. Sabrina walks through exactly how she built an AI character named Zoe, how she earned her team's trust, and how that trust translated into 80–85% of all guest and owner communication being handled by AI — without losing the soul of the brand.Whether you're just starting to explore AI for guest communication in short-term rentals or you're already using automation and want to level up the experience, this episode will shift how you think about hospitality in the age of AI.🔗 Connect with Sabrina Mulligan🔹 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sabrinamulligan🔺 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sab_mulligan/Sabrina is also getting ready to launch a series of private mastermind sessions for STR professionals who want to go deeper on AI and guest experience — focused on where AI truly fits in the high-touch space, and how to monetize the guest experience without losing the human element. Keep an eye on her LinkedIn for details.
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  Direct Booking Business Principles That Took One B&B from €10K to €100K with Yvonne Halling 🏡 12.03.2026 1godz 3min

  What if the key to more direct bookings had nothing to do with algorithms, dynamic pricing, or paid ads — and everything to do with who you are and who you want to serve?That's exactly what Yvonne Halling discovered when she transformed her four-room bed and breakfast in the Champagne region of France from a €10,000-a-year hobby into a €100,000-a-year business — without a single listing on Booking.com or Airbnb. On this episode of Booked Solid, Yvonne breaks down the direct booking business principles she developed over years of trial, error, and award-winning results — and why they're just as relevant today as they were when she first built the system.Whether you're just getting your first property off the ground or you've been in the game for years and feel stuck, this conversation will challenge how you think about hospitality, pricing, and your relationship with your guests.🔗 Connect with Yvonne Halling🌐 Website: bedandbreakfastcoach.com📧 Email: [email protected]👥 Facebook: Coaching for Bed and Breakfast Owners🎙️ Facebook Community (Free Trainings): Dynamic Bed and Breakfast Owners Group💼 LinkedIn: Yvonne Halling📺 YouTube: Yvonne Halling – Transformational Business Coach🐦 Twitter/X: @yvonne3030📸 Instagram: @bedandbreakfastcoach🎧 Podcast: Listen on Spotify
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  The Direct Booking Machine Behind Joshua Tree's Most Recognized STR Brand with Patryk Swietek 05.03.2026 1godz 19min

  "If you can two x your conversions and you're already making $50,000 on direct — you could be making $100,000." — Patryk SwietekThere's a version of building a short-term rental business where you grind market by market, property by property, hoping something sticks. And then there's the version Patryk Swietek built — one that compounds.Patryk is the co-owner of The Cohost Company, one of the most recognized short-term rental brands in Joshua Tree, California. With 130 doors under management, a social following that doubled in six months, and a direct booking funnel generating over 720,000 monthly views on Instagram, Patryk has turned market focus into an unfair advantage.On this episode of Booked Solid, Patryk joins Gil to unpack how he scaled from a single Smoky Mountains property to acquiring entire property management companies, why niching down in one market is the single greatest lever most operators overlook, and the exact Instagram-to-email-to-booking funnel his team is running right now. Whether you're just getting started with direct booking strategies or managing a growing portfolio, this conversation will change how you think about growth.🔗 Connect with Patryk SwietekInstagram (Personal): @patryk_swietekInstagram (The Cohost Company): @thecohostcompanyPodcast: Patryk Real Estate ShowWebsite: thecohostcompany.com