Hospitality Daily Podcast

Could select service hotels be an underrated opportunity in hospitality today? In this episode, Mission Hill Hospitality CEO Greg Kennealey makes the case for select service hotels both as a way of providing hospitality and as an investment. We cover:  How Greg became interested in select service hotels [0:47] How to create a better guest experience and add value to your investments [2:30] Renovat...

"Think like an owner!" I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before - and maybe even used it yourself. It’s a powerful guiding principle - but in practice, it’s hard to make others feel unless they actually have an ownership stake. In this episode, you’ll hear how Mission Hill Hospitality CEO Greg Kennealey does this at his investment firm.  Follow Greg on LinkedIn Learn more about Mission H...

How do you balance optimism and realism as a hospitality provider - both leading a company and as you think about your own career?  I had the chance to catchup with Mission Hill Hospitality CEO Greg Kennealey to talk about this - and what else he saw at the Lodging Conference this week.  Follow Greg on LinkedIn Learn more about Mission Hill Hospitality A few more resources: If you're new to H...

Victoria Taylor is an experience consultant and designer who works with hospitality, luxury, travel, and entertainment brands to become what she calls "The Only.” In this episode, you’ll learn what she means by that … as well as lessons she learned from working with Lamborghini and other luxury clients that any of us can use in how we provide hospitality. Follow Victoria on LinkedIn Visit Vic...

Appellation is a new culinary-forward luxury hotel company co-founded by chef Charlie Palmer and Christopher Hunsberger , the former president of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In this episode, we're speaking with Ed Skapinok , the company's chief commercial officer - about how they have designed a modern approach to technology that supports their brand. Ed is on the board of directors...

Michelle Jensen Session is co-owner of Kensington Investment Group , a family company that owns, renovates, and manages a mix of commercial and hotel properties. On top of that, she is co-founder of Aquarius Hospitality Solutions - and in this episode, you’ll learn what sustainability really is and why it matters, the top misconceptions about sustainability, and the surprising place to begin your...

Sherry Villanueva is the Founder and Managing Partner of Acme Hospitality , which has three historic hotel properties – two in California’s Gold Country and one in Palm Springs. In this episode, you'll learn about the opportunity with historic properties, how to learn the history of a place, and how to re-interpret properties to be both authentic and timeless. If you liked this episode, check...

Del Ross is a longtime industry expert, innovator, and leader who currently serves as Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company , the top global strategy consulting firm. Before that, he led sales and marketing for IHG in the Americas, delivering $12 billion dollars in annual revenue for IHG worldwide - drawing from his earlier experiences at IHG leading e-commerce and distribution. On top of tha...

Over the past few weeks, we've been running a series called San Francisco Sundays - and the series wouldn't be complete without diving into what's going on with hotel investments in California these days. To help us understand this, Craig Sullivan , Founder and President of the California Lodging Investment Conference is joining us to walk us through what he's seeing. Follow Cr...

Why invest in hotels? One of the biggest hotel investment conferences in the world, The Lodging Conference is coming up next week, I wanted to explore the answer to that question. Of course, this show is not investment advice - you should speak with your financial advisor on how to manage your money - but I want us all to talk more about the reasons for participating in the hospitality industry no...

How can you tell stories and create content that gets you attention and media coverage?  In this episode, you'll learn from someone who has cracked the code on this to earn hundreds of thousands of social media followers and is an in-demand guest expert on shows such as the Kelly Clarkson Show and GoodDay LA and networks from ABC to CBS to NBC and has been featured everywhere from The New Yor...

In the hospitality industry, the phrase "people matter" is often thrown around. However, this sentiment frequently falls flat when it comes to the everyday experiences of front-line employees. So, how can we move beyond platitudes to genuinely care for our team members? Today, we're learning from Anthony Pellegrino , Head of Hotels at Ash , an award-winning company involved in the d...

Extended-stay hotels are one of the hottest segments of hospitality today, and My Place Hotels stands out as a leader in this space. Today, President & CEO Ryan Rivett explains what led him to start the company and what he’s learned over the past 10 years building My Place into the powerhouse it is today.  We’ll learn what Ryan and his team did differently that has worked so well for them, why...

David Kong is the founder and principal of DEI Advisors , a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering personal success. Previously, he was president and chief executive officer of BWH Hotel Group – comprised of Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Sure Stay Hotels, and WorldHotels – a role he retired from as the longest-running CEO of any major hotel company. In this episode, David talks about...

Sherry Villanueva is the Founder and Managing Partner of Acme Hospitality , an award-winning collection of restaurants and hotels based in Santa Barbara, California. In this episode, Sherry shares her journey of how she accidentally got into the restaurant business and the lessons she learned along the way. From designing and opening her first restaurant to the success of her eclectic collection o...

David Lund is The Hotel Financial Coach and in this episode, you'll hear his advice on how to navigate budget season with confidence this year. Follow David on LinkedIn Visit David's website ( articles on budgets here ) Learn more about David's book, The Prosperous Hotelier Read my article with David, the hotel budget guide A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Dai...

Ali Wunderman is an award-winning freelance travel journalist with work in the Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, the Guardian, SF Gate, and many more. Ali is also a 4th-generation San Franciscan, and in this episode, she explains what's going on in this city - and what we can all learn from it. Visit Ali's website Follow Ali on LinkedIn Follow...

Today we're flipping the microphone around! My friend Steve Turk recently invited me to his excellent podcast, The Hospitality Mentor , to talk about what I've learned along my career so far, why I started Hospitality Daily, and the opportunities I see for all of us. Follow Steve on LinkedIn Follow The Hospitality Mentor on LinkedIn Listen to The Hospitality Mentor Podcast Subscribe to T...

The future may be closer than you think. Today, we're learning about the implications of autonomous transit on hospitality, travel, and the cities we operate in from someone with a unique perspective on it all: Timothy Papandreou , Founder and CEO of Emerging Transport Advisors, and key advisor for the Google X moonshot factory. Follow Timothy on LinkedIn Follow Timothy on Twitter Visit Timot...

Appellation is a new culinary-forward luxury hotel company co-founded by chef Charlie Palmer and Christopher Hunsberger, the former president of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In this episode, we speak with Ed Skapinok, the company's chief commercial officer, about the origins of the brand and its unique approach to providing hospitality. Learn more about Appellation Follow Ed on LinkedIn A...

Jacqui Nunley has more than 20 years of experience in hospitality technology, holding leadership positions across strategy, product, revenue, and distribution with companies such as Micros (now Oracle Hospitality) and Sabre Hospitality. She currently serves as a Travel & Hospitality Advisor at Salesforce , and in this episode, you'll learn how she thinks about building trust in our increa...

Bashar Wali is one of the most recognized names in hospitality because he's done it all - as a leading operator, investor, and hotel branding expert that 180,000 people follow on LinkedIn alone. He's also an outspoken advocate for the importance of hospitality experiences being led by people and for people. Today, we're learning how he thinks about providing human-centric hospitalit...

Today we're diving deep into a role that's central to our ability to provide hospitality: housekeeping. International Housekeeping Week is coming up, and to learn more about this, today we're joined today by Stephanie Leger , Chief Excellence Officer at First Rate Hospitality .  With a track record of leadership that includes roles at luxury brands such as Ritz Carlton as well as se...

Today we're learning from Alex Bastian , the CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco . Follow Alex on LinkedIn Learn more about the Hotel Council of San Francisco View the 29th Annual Golf Tournament and other events by the Hotel Council Listen to our other episodes in our San Francisco Sundays series . A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here .  You can sen...

In this episode, Zoku Director of Concept and Brand, Veerle Donders , shares what keeps her motivated. Listen to our other episodes with Veerle Follow Veerle on LinkedIn Learn more about Zoku 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 If you want to get my summary and actionable insights...