We covered a lot, including a few things I feel strongly about:

1. The power of people. The best brands and companies I see are built around the talents of individuals, and don’t treat people as replaceable cogs in a machine. I saw this with Sloan at Remington, which is why I’ve had him on the show more than any other guest.

2. The power of storytelling. (I’ve experimented with ChatGPT for 3+ hours every day for 3 years and remember nothing from it. What do I remember? The conversations I’ve had on Hospitality Daily.)

3. What it takes to win. Sloan asked how I think about marketing, and for me, it’s not that complicated: It’s building something that makes a real difference in the lives of your customers, and then telling the stories of the difference you make far and wide. Real impact + real stories as proof points = results.

You can listen to Sloan & me talk about this here on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

The Power of PR

PR & media strategy is more important than ever in an AI-driven world, but too many overlook this because it’s not trackable the way digital advertising is. From recruiting to revenue growth to business valuations, I’ve seen time and again the power of PR - which is why I was excited to have my Hospitality Daily co-host Nancy Mendelson interview Redpoint founder Victoria Feldman de Falco for a two-part series:

• Don’t Cut PR: How Communications Drive Hospitality Recovery in Tough Times

• Marketing × Operations: Teamwork for Topline Growth in Hospitality

Universal Music’s Hospitality Play

Last but not least, Oscar Serrano, Senior Vice President of Distribution, Sales & Marketing at UMusic Hospitality, joined the show to talk about why Universal Music Group (the world’s biggest music company) decided to get into hospitality.

I’m fascinated by bringing the best of other industries into the world of hospitality. Music & entertainment are perhaps the one industry better at emotion and experience than travel, and I’d love to see more crossover collaborations like this.

Listen to our conversation on this here (and the backstory on Oscar’s career here).

And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week ahead.

Josiah

That's why I started the Hospitality Daily Podcast, and that's why I was thrilled to publish two mini-series this week that meant a lot to me personally - citizenM's CEO and Ace Hotel's former head of brand - people who could tell stories of two of the most influential brands in hospitality.

Ace Hotel: The brand that showed us all what’s possible

For me, Ace Hotel was the hospitality brand that made the biggest impact on me and how I think about hospitality, because it was always much more than just a hotel.

From the beginning, Ace hotels were not only pillars of their communities and a platform to engage their neighborhoods, but they were catalysts for growth and creativity.

That's why I was beyond thrilled to have the chance to speak with Ryan Bukstein -- who started as an intern and then became the director of PR and marketing, and then vice president of brand for Ace Hotel -- and have him share the story behind this incredible company and his own remarkable career.

We talked about how Ryan met Ace founder Alex Calderwood, how they got started working together, what their early days were like, and the environment that led to the creativity and unique feel of Ace Hotel.

It’s the environment I found most fascinating. Ryan described how Alex and the founding team were deeply immersed in Seattle’s cultural and small business scene, and used this immersive approach anytime they opened a new hotel…moving to the new city to learn and create something that complemented the environment they were in.

Also: the approach to mentorship that Ryan described was inspirational, as was the way he’s mentoring others both at work and in his personal life.

You can find the playlist of my conversation with Ryan here on Spotify

citizenM: The innovation engine that keeps going

citizenM is one of the most innovative hospitality brands in the world, and has been for many years. I’ll never forget the first citizenM I stepped into and how I resonated with their idea of “mobile citizens.” It’s why I’ve covered them so extensively on the podcast through stories like these.

Many in the industry, myself included, have looked to them as being at the forefront of where hospitality is and where it can go. Years ago, they introduced a concept that brought innovation across the board — from construction methods, to how the brand was positioned and communicated, to how guests experienced their properties, to the way service worked, and how team members operated. They've consistently stayed at the cutting edge, which is why so many people love the brand.

This week, Hospitality Daily’s innovation correspondent, Matthias Hüttebräuker, interviewed the company’s CEO, Lennert de Jong, about why they sold to Marriott.

You can find the playlist here on Spotify

A few thoughts from the series:

• It was a smart move by Marriott to bring them into their portfolio. As Matthias pointed out, it bought them an “innovation engine” that has the potential to elevate hospitality across all of their brands.

• Some of the best inspiration comes from outside the hospitality industry. Lennert talked about building a membership program inspired by Amazon. With Prime Day Week this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of creating offerings for your best guests/customers that go beyond the typical points programs.

I was thinking about this from Lennert yesterday as well at an airport car rental desk yesterday with a line that snaked around the lobby, and each customer took at least 10 minutes to sign in. Shouldn't things like identity, payment and access be faster in 2025?

You can also hear me more talk more about citizenM+Marriott with Steve & David on The Modern Hotelier:

…and that’s a wrap for this week. I’d love your candid feedback on this weekly recap format, whether you love it or hate it! Hit reply to this email and let me know.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great week ahead.

-Josiah

P.S. Make sure you’re subscribed to Hospitality Daily in your podcast player, because tomorrow morning I’m dropping my biggest deep dive on AI I’ve ever done… 👀

Hospitality Daily is, well, a daily show, and while I hope to bring the daily newsletter back at some point, I don't have capacity to do that now - and that's why I'm doing something a little different here now.

Also, while the goal of the Hospitality Daily Podcast is to provide you with a daily dose of inspiration, one more email to read each day may be too much for you. This newsletter will be a short, handwritten summary of the ideas that stood out most to me from the show in the past week. So let's get into it.....

This week, I featured my conversation with Ed Mady, the decorated hospitality leader that Ritz-Carlton founder Horst Schulze trusted to run some of his most high-profile properties, and who was most recently a leader with Dorchester Collection overseeing The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air. He has a new book coming out soon, Honing the Human Edge.

Some things that stood out to me from our conversation:

1. The power of a personal board of directors. Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent time with several friends at key junctures in their lives and careers, and am recalling how valuable their friendship and advice have been for me in my own journey. Ed has a process for cultivating his personal "board of directors" that I’ve informally used but am interested in being more structured with.

2. The power of presence for learning. Ed worked in more than 35 roles across hotel businesses before moving to executive leadership and credits the power of being present for maximizing learning at each of these steps. This stood out to me because it’s often easy to go through the motions of any work…but doing that misses out on a big opportunity to learn and grow. (Hear him talk more about this here)

3. Negative vs positive mentorship. Ed shared his experience working for an “anti-mentor” as well as someone who just might be the best there is, Ritz-Carlton founder Horst Schulze. While I’ve been blessed to work for and be mentored by some incredible leaders, I’ve also experienced “anti-mentors” and honestly probably learned more from them about what not to do. If I can just avoid the mistakes they made, maybe I’ll be an alright leader 😅 The truth is we can learn from everyone.

4. Creating a “culture of welcome.” I'm fascinated by what it takes to welcome people well, because the first moments of interacting with someone set the tone for the rest of their time with you. As a hospitality leader, you need to think about more than just orchestrating a welcome. You need to think about how you can create an internal culture that enables this in a consistent but personal way. What I found fascinating is how Ed cultivated this by focusing on how he welcomed, celebrated, and recognized his team, from the entrance to the music to the meals he shared with them to the rewards for joining the “quarter century club.” (Listen to him talk about this here)

5. “You have to keep getting better to stay the same.” Ed shared this as part of what he learned from baseball, and it inspires me to keep honing my craft and get a little better each day.

I created a playlist on Spotify for the entire series with Ed if you’d like to listen here:

And that’s a wrap for this week. I’d love your candid feedback on this weekly recap format, whether you love it or hate it! Hit reply to this email and let me know.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Josiah

Reneson Hotels consistently tops guest satisfaction charts, with their Best Western property rated #2 of thousands in the brand, and their IHG and Hilton properties all in the top 10% of their respective brands.

I recently asked Chief Operating Officer Scott Curran how they achieved these ratings, and he told me about how they’ve digitized their operational workflow in a way that provides more visibility and accountability for everyone.

You can listen to him tell the story here, but the way they do this is through GuestEQ, a tool that Scott built himself to make hotel operations as easy as using Facebook - no software needs to be installed and training takes 20 minutes max.

GuestEQ is offering hoteliers a free trial of their platform this month in preparation for 2023. I was impressed hearing about the story of how Scott and his team built this - and more importantly, the results it’s driving at their hotels.

Click here to check it out.

• This Rainbow-Hued Hotel Is The Ultimate “Dopamine Destination” (TZR)

• Forget Selfies: At This Hotel in Monte Carlo, an Artist Will Paint Your Portrait (Bloomberg)

• What hotel star ratings actually mean today (CNN)

• The rebirth of New York’s legendary Hotel Chelsea (CN Traveller)

• Opportunities in hotel technology today (some thoughts from joining the No Vacancy podcast)

In case you missed our episodes this week:

• Change your commute, transform your day

• Heroism in hospitality

• Uber Eats can’t beat this hotelier

• How to provide hospitality through music

• Designing the soundtrack to one of California's best new resorts

Reply and let me know if you like this - or if this should be the first and last issue of Weekend Reads 🙂 Would also like to hear any stories you’ve read that you think our community may enjoy….

“One of the things that we’ve done for many years is providing complimentary back-of-house tours. We believe in operating completely transparently. There are no areas that are a no-go for guests. Our tours take guests through the kitchen, through the laundry room, and through our recycling and wastewater treatment plant. We show them where employees eat and stay. This has a huge impact on our guests because they understand what it takes to operate in a truly sustainable way.”

Doing this also allows Cayuga’s back-of-house staff to interact with guests. This is good for both the guests and the staff to get to know each other as people and have an appreciation for the environment they are creating. 

“I want my guests to get to know our gardeners, maintenance people, and others that would typically work behind the scenes.“

For Cayuga’s staff members, this instills a sense of meaning and shows that what they do really matters. “It’s a way for us to pay attention to them and honor them in the role they play in creating this experience.”

It’s almost like the chef‘s table at a restaurant: the production process is a performance in itself. You leave with an appreciation for all of the work and artistry that goes into that experience.

“It turns our satisfied guests into raving fans,” Hans said. “Sometimes guests take two hours to go through the tour because they talk so much and want to interact with every member of our team. But they come out of it changed and want to tell their friends and people on social media. It’s played a big role in spreading the word on what we’re doing.”

Read the full case study on Cayuga Collection here

“Our employees have the right to stay the night at our hotels with their family to be served, have all the food, and experience everything any other guest would,” Hans Pfister told me. 

This makes a huge difference for a few reasons.

“First, the employee feels identified with where he or she works. But even more important, their families understand what it’s like to work on the property. They can talk about it when they come home for dinner. It just makes them so much more committed to what they do.”

Investments like this in people and culture allow Cayuga not only to provide an exceptional hospitality experience but reduce staff turnover. “Hotels will always have turnover, but it’s low for Cayuga because of how we invest in our people. We earn their commitment.”

Their blog post about this is well worth the read.

Many hospitality companies offer employee discounts, but could you go as far as Cayuga does in rolling out the red carpet for families of your teams?

“When we take over a hotel or start a new project, we don’t necessarily look for people who have a lot of experience,” founder and President Hans Pfister told me. “We’d rather work with people that have a passion for wanting to serve.”

What does that look like practically?

The “pen drop test”

Candidates who pass Cayuga’s interview process do a 2-3 day trial period working on the property. During this time, managers look for little things that indicate a willingness to serve.

“If a pen drops, for example, is the candidate jumping on that pen to pick it up or just looking at it and trying to figure out if they should pick it up or not?”

It’s those little things that show how someone is wired. Cayuga is also looking for people who will be social.

“In hospitality, it’s good to be social. We want people who are great at small talk and are naturally curious about other people. Our trial period helps us understand that.”

After just a couple of days, it’s often clear if this person is someone that will be a good fit or not.

What have you found helpful in finding the right team members who will provide great hospitality? Reply to this email to share, and I might feature you in an upcoming story…

Hans is on a mission to show that ensuring sustainability in both the environment and his teams is not only the right thing to do but plays a key role in delivering business performance. 

Cayuga Collection is a hotel management company in Costa Rica that Hans started after spending years as a general manager at hotels in Costa Rica and Germany.

Guests and travel journalists alike consistently talk about how engaged the staff is at Cayuga properties and how pride in their work shows through.

“They are really so proud to share their country, their region, their wildlife, and everything else with our guests – and that makes all the difference.”

Cayuga does a lot to take care of its people.

They only hire local people for both line staff and management positions and invest heavily in training and benefits for them. They provide things such as a company doctor that takes care of staff – and their families. They employ their associates year-round, and not just in the high season. 

“Providing great amenities may not seem super innovative if you work at Google or Facebook, but if you work in a remote place on an island somewhere with little infrastructure, it’s quite special.”

What could you do to invest in your teams this week?

His enthusiasm for hospitality was obvious from the start of our conversation.

“Hospitality is not a job if you ask me. It’s a way of life.”

To illustrate, he shared an analogy that he shares with each of his new hires.  

“Let’s say you invite me to your home for dinner. As the night gets closer, you’re looking forward to it. You’re tidying up your house, and getting the food ready. You’re watching the door as the time comes for me to arrive so you can receive me, give me a tour of your house, and bring out the food. We’ll have a great evening of conversation, and when I’m leaving you’ll bring me out to the gate to wish me farewell. That’s what happens daily as a hotelier,” he explained. 

“We are waiting for you to check into our hotel. We make sure you have the best accommodations, and everything is ready for you. We make sure you have the best food and drinks. And when you leave, we wish you farewell. So what you do for a friend at your home is what we do all the time at a hotel – but we get paid to do this!”

Hospitality is fun and meaningful if you look at the industry this way, Kapoor says. He enjoys the challenge of providing authentic luxury hospitality to people from all walks of life. And he enjoys the diversity. 

“The hotel industry is the only industry in the world where you consistently meet everyone from a carpenter, to a plumber, to a scientist, to a doctor, to a member of the armed forces, to a professor – and so many more. Everyone has a different background and a different story. Being able to meet them and care for them is what makes hospitality the best profession in the world.” 

What about you? Why do you enjoy working in hospitality?

This week, we’ve been learning from Richard Garcia at Remington Hotels: why he won’t make excuses, the impact of F&B on the guest experience, why personalized service doesn’t need to be complicated, and the best hotel amenity.

His passion for the potential of our industry was palpable. Working in and around travel is a constant source of inspiration.

“Travel promotes a positive mindset. I travel a lot and get to see new things and meet new people. I find it really creates a positive view of the world for me today.”

I encourage you to read my full story with him here if you haven’t done so already.

Data-driven ways of driving happiness

This week I’ve been reading Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me is how we’re not great at predicting what will make us happy. The chart below is what people in a study predicted would make them happy - and how happy they actually felt. The difference column is fascinating to me:

Hotels already have #1 covered 😏 ….but how can you incorporate some of these other things into your own life and what you provide your guests?

“I showed up at a new hotel in Canada where I had never met the executive chef or been on the property – but that person gave me a bag of housemaid jerky and a little note on the top that said he was really looking forward to working with me. The note explained where the jerky came from and how they made it. For me, it was that little note and explanation of the process that felt very special for me.”

A takeaway for him in this experience was the optionality it provided.

“If you step back and look at the bigger picture there were a few other things that made that so good. It was packaged so I didn’t need to eat it right then and there if I didn’t want to. I could have given it to someone else.”

In thinking of amenities, hotels need to consider how a gesture could be perceived – and if the guest experience could actually be negative if they don’t like what is being offered. “Sometimes hotels will put together something like a cheese platter – but to be frank, I hate blue cheese!”

What’s been the best hotel amenity you’ve ever experienced? Why?

“A lot of people think personalizing service means customizing an entire stay. But providing a personal experience can be as simple as using a guest’s name.” 

Technology can help here.

“If we have a return guest that takes a Dr Pepper out of the pantry, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) can make note of that. The next time they come back, rather than the guest having to ask for it, you can proactively offer that can of Dr Pepper.” 

Guest expectations for service increases as you go up the chain scale.

“At full-service properties, we may write a personal note from the general manager, and the service we provide only goes up from there.”

What can personalized service look like at your property? How does it stand out from your competitors?

“We have 35 hotels on our core menu platform today, and those 35 hotels have generated half a million visitors in just five months. Those visits represent half a million opportunities to start new relationships and a massive marketing opportunity for us.”

Coming out of the pandemic, the stakes are higher than ever – not just from opportunity cost, but because of the higher amounts each guest is spending for their rooms.

“We’ve stripped away a lot of services that we used to give in our rooms – and I understand why. But now that puts a little more pressure on food and beverage to make up that slack. Today, food and beverage is not only the first impression for many guests – but plays a big role in deciding if that guest will return.“

Richard shared an example of staying at an iconic New York City hotel recently where the room was $400, but sitting at the restaurant felt like he was getting a fraction of the experience he would expect. “I spent $120 on breakfast and got it in takeout containers!”

Food and beverage teams have so many touch points in opportunities to enhance the experience of a hotel guest. “We touch them at breakfast, through a market or coffee shop, through a rooftop bar experience – and sometimes even through an in-room dining experience.”

While there are many touchpoints, Richard looks at each one of these as critical to getting them right. “If someone comes to my hotel and orders room service and something is wrong, they’re never going to do it again.”

This underscores the importance of having processes in place to ensure that the experience is done right every time, even with staff shortages and supply chain issues.

How are you using food & beverage to start new relationships with more guests?

Richard Garcia has held many roles over his career. A distinguished member of the US Marine Corps. Star chef. And now, Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage at Remington Hotels. 

One thing he’s passionate about? Never cutting corners on providing a great guest experience. 

“Too many in the industry are still using staff shortages and supply chain issues as an excuse to provide subpar service. That’s not something Remington is doing and we will never do. Instead, we will make changes elsewhere, such as streamlining our menus to ensure the staff we do have can execute them properly. I’d much rather do that than take away from the guest experience.”

The payoff for providing a superior experience is higher than it’s ever been, he told me.

“When you provide a great guest experience, you earn the loyalty of your guests, you turn loyal guests into advocates, which in turn improves the profitability of your business.” 

What changes do you need to make to provide your guests with great service - despite challenges you may be facing?

 “We don’t think of our team as hotel staff that just have stiffly defined tasks like a waiter or a bartender. We are training people to be generalist hosts and we encourage them to think of the property as their own home – from checking in a guest and serving coffee to scheduling experiences.”

For example, Delfina, their chef in Saragano, often takes guests on a guided walk through their gardens or invites them to the kitchen to help cook an authentic Umbrian meal. She does that because she is empowered to create an experience that goes beyond just being a chef.

The goal? Guests feel like they’re visiting the home of a good friend, even though they’re on the property for the first time.

How do you want your guests to feel? How will that shape the culture you build in your organization?

“Helping our guests plan their experiences is incredibly important,” says Aethos Hotels co-founder and CEO Benjamin Habbel.

He shared the example of yoga retreats they offer where everything is planned and managed for multiple days. “You don’t have to think about anything, you just arrive and take classes, enjoy great food, and see cultural attractions. We have everything organized, from the pickup to the drop-off.” 

The Aethos team provides service through the channels guests prefer. For many, that’s Whatsapp – so Whatsapp is the communication channel between the guests and the staff. “We reserve restaurants for you, plan boat rides for you, and provide suggestions for cool spots to check out each day.”

The goal? A no-stress experience where you feel continually inspired – whether you’re on property or not. 

Sometimes enabling the best travel experiences requires pushing guests outside their comfort zone.

“Sometimes we encourage you to try something new. Sometimes it’s great to chill by the pool, but maybe there’s more you could do. We want you to be aware of that. We want you to experience all you want to experience. This really defines our brand.” 

What could it look like for you to encourage your guests to try something new and step outside their comfort zone?

Exceptional hospitality comes from connecting with the guest.

“Exceptional hospitality is being able to move your customer, leaving an impact, an impression, a memory that lasts well beyond the Instagram post. Something people will talk about for a while.”

As you might expect from a founder who drew inspiration from sweetgreen to launch the brand, that comes back to knowing what your guest is looking for - and then offering amenities that deliver that.

For example, in Ericeira (Portugal) they decided to offer a dedicated surf concierge and a surf school.

“They will do daily research on the tides and wind and where the best waves are. They will help you plan your day dedicated to surfing. You can take classes if you’re still a beginner or an intermediate, but also receive expert-level instruction.”

Same at their spa - it goes beyond the typical offerings to provide treatments that cater to an active lifestyle. “If you go mountain biking or hiking, you come back and experience our hydro pool and massages that will relax you after a long, active day.”

What does this look like for you? How can you creatively offer amenities and activities that make a unique impression on your guests?

Join the conversation here on LinkedIn

Benjamin Habbel saw the rise of sweetgreen and brands like them that were design and experience-centric while he was building a technology company in NYC in the 2010s - and it inspired him to create Aethos, a new lifestyle hotel brand.

He calls it “inspirational arbitrage.”

“​​Whether you think they did this authentically or not, they really captured this idea of wellbeing, sustainability, and making a positive impact on communities – and they formed hospitality brands around that.”

In Habbel’s view, Europe had a lot of culture and incredible experiences but fewer brands built a clear hospitality experience around it. There was an opportunity to take part of what worked for sweetgreen and apply it to hospitality.

You can read the full story here.

Dan Ryan and I talked about this a bit more at minute 35 of the Defining Hospitality podcast that just came out this week.

What are you getting inspiration from right now?

Let me know and join the conversation here on LinkedIn

We talked about:

• What hospitality means in our personal lives - and what it means as a profession

• Career opportunities in hospitality today (hint: I think there's more potential than ever before)

• My experiences helping build technology companies such as ReviewPro and Duetto

• What technology is providing owners and operators today that wasn't possible before

• Why we're living through the golden age of hospitality right now

• Opportunities for investors today (a new model that's emerging that has my attention - and $$$)

• What I've learned from hospitality leaders such as Adele Gutman Milne, Benjamin Habbel, David Jurcak, Richard Garcia, and Reinier Bunnik

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on the Defining Hospitality website.

Would love your take: how do you define hospitality?

Let me know here on LinkedIn