STR Global Unlocked with Simon Lehmann: Unfiltered knowledge for the short term rental industry

AI is changing hospitality, but I believe the bigger question is not just how AI will change our tools, our operations, or our businesses. The bigger question is: what happens when AI starts changing the customer? In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, I’m joined by Jamie Lane, Chief Economist at AirDNA and one of the leading voices on travel demand, market trends, and the future of short-term re...

In this episode of STR Global Unlocked , I speak with Shaun Shirazian, CEO of Lodgify , about one of the biggest shifts happening in short-term rentals and hospitality: the rise of AI search, direct bookings, and the future of guest experience. Shaun shares what Lodgify is seeing across more than 30,000 hosts and 100,000 listings , why the short-term rental market has become more competitive, and...

Book a strategic consultation with me now: https://bit.ly/simon-consultation AI is transforming guest communication in short-term rentals and hospitality. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, I speak with industry leaders Aarlo Stone Fish, Anthony Vancauwenberghe, Jay Ullrich and Cole Rubin about AI agents, automation, guest experience, operations, reviews, upsells, and the future of hospitalit...

Book a strategic consultation with me now: https://bit.ly/simon-consultation Profit margins can make or break a short-term rental business - but most operators are looking at the wrong numbers. In this video, I break down the real profit benchmarks for STR operators across different business models, including property management companies, aparthotels, hybrid models, urban portfolios, and resort/v...

Book a strategic consultation with me now: https://bit.ly/simon-consultation In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, I sit down with Siddhi Mittal, co-founder of yhangry, a Y Combinator–backed hospitality marketplace scaling across the UK and US. Together, they explore what AI-first hospitality really means beyond faster guest messages, automation tools, and surface-level efficiency. Siddhi shares...

In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, I sit down with Julie Brinkmann from Beyond to discuss how short-term rental operators can move from simple dynamic pricing to true profit-first property management. We explore why revenue management is no longer just about changing nightly rates, why occupancy can become a vanity metric, and how property managers can use better data, smarter pricing strateg...

In this episode of STR Global Unlocked , we explore what an AI-native property management company really looks like and how AI is already changing operations, guest communication, distribution, PMS systems, scaling, and hospitality brands. Together with Sab Mulligan, Arnon Cavaeiro and Chris Sorensen, we break down why AI is not just another tool or chatbot, but a deeper shift in how short-term re...

AI is changing how people search, plan and book travel and this shift could reshape the future of direct bookings, guest relationships and platform dependency in the short-term rental industry. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann speaks with Amirali Mohajer, Co-Founder & CEO of Host. AI, about the future of travel search, the rise of AI assistants, and why operators may final...

Marketplaces were built to aggregate supply. Not to own it. That assumption is breaking faster than most operators expected. Dr. Patrick Andrae is the Co-Founder and CEO of HomeToGo, one of the world’s leading vacation rental marketplaces, aggregating millions of listings across platforms and property managers. Since founding the company, he has expanded it into software, services, and property ma...

Short-term rentals and hotels are converging into a single operating model. The real shift is not about category. It is about who can deliver better economics, better experience, and better scalability in urban markets. In this episode, Simon Lehmann sits down with Christian Gaiser to break down how Numa built a hybrid model between short-term rentals and hotels, and why that model is gaining trac...

In this episode, Simon Lehmann sits down with Hector Hughes, Co-Founder & CEO of Unplugged, a UK-based cabin brand built entirely around one conviction: that spending three days offline in nature changes people. Founded in 2020, Unplugged operates a portfolio of off-grid cabins across the UK, runs a direct-only booking model with a mandatory three-night minimum, and has never listed a single p...

How did short-term rentals become a strategic priority for one of the world’s largest hotel companies? Short-term rentals now represent more than 14% of global lodging supply. When one of the world's largest hotel companies builds a platform inside that category, it is not a trend play. It is a structural decision about where hospitality is going. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon...

European vacation rental is not short on platforms. It is short on platforms that have survived every cycle and kept building anyway. Johannes Siebers is the Co-Founder and CEO of Holidu, a vacation rental technology company he co-founded with his brother Michael in 2014. Over the past decade, Holidu has raised approximately $200 million in equity funding, grown its host-side business 50 times bet...

Venture capital is not ignoring travel tech. It is underwriting to a different standard. And most founders building in hospitality right now do not fully understand what that standard is. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann sits down with Chris Hemmeter, Managing Director at Thayer Ventures, one of the most active institutional investors across travel and hospitality technology,...

Nobody calls a property manager "a software company." Arbio is replacing the traditional tech stack with a single AI system designed to run operations end to end. Constantin Schröder is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arbio, one of Europe's fastest-growing short-term rental operators, managing over 1,500 units across Germany and Austria. Under his leadership, Arbio has positioned itself n...

The biggest disruption coming to short-term rentals is not regulation, supply growth, or capital compression. It is distribution itself. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked , Simon Lehmann sits down with Shaun Stewart, VP of Open Distribution at StubHub and one of the most consequential behind-the-scenes figures in the history of modern travel infrastructure.  Shaun spent 8 years at Expedia bui...

Is short-term rental growth a volume game, or is quality becoming the real competitive advantage? In a market flooded with inventory, inconsistent standards, and increasing AI-driven discovery, Christian Schwarz Lausten argues that the future of STR belongs to curated supply, disciplined execution, and brand-led trust. After selling his previous company to Airbnb, Christian returned with a deliber...

Short-term rentals disrupted hospitality by challenging one of its core assumptions: that consistency is the ultimate brand promise. But as Airbnb scaled globally, the real shift was not about standardization. It was about redefining what quality means at scale. In this episode, Simon Lehmann sits down with Chip Conley to explore how the platform matured from scrappy disruptor to mainstream hospit...

As short-term rental moves from rapid expansion into a more disciplined phase, leadership quality becomes the differentiator. In fast-scaling STR businesses, execution rarely breaks because of strategy. It breaks under pressure, idea overload, unclear decision rights, and human blind spots. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann speaks with Gary Cohen, CEO coach and leadership advis...

Luxury short-term rental has long been viewed as the most resilient segment of the STR industry. But resilience does not mean immunity. Rising interest rates, tighter capital, geopolitical instability, regulatory scrutiny, and growing operational costs are reshaping the landscape. Demand remains strong, yet it is more selective, more price-sensitive, and less forgiving than in previous cycles. In...

Reviews are everywhere in hospitality, yet most operators still misunderstand what they actually represent.  In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann sits down with Ben Jost, CEO of TrustYou, to unpack why guest feedback analytics, reputation management, trust, and experience intelligence are emerging as critical drivers of decision-making and long-term performance in hospitality and...

Some platforms optimize for growth. Others optimize for survival. Very few manage both. In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann sits down with Jon Gray, CEO of RVshare and former executive at HomeAway (now VRBO), for a grounded conversation on what actually makes marketplaces last. Jon has seen multiple cycles from the early days of short-term rentals, through the $3.9B sale of HomeA...

In this episode of STR Global Unlocked, Simon Lehmann speaks with Fred Lerche-Lerchenborg, CEO of Lavanda, about how short-term rentals, mid-term stays, and multifamily are converging inside the same assets. This is not a tech pitch. It is a practical discussion on institutional real estate, operating risk, and why flexible living is becoming a core strategy for owners and investors. Fred breaks d...

The short-term rental industry is entering a more demanding phase. In 2026, performance will be defined by execution, discipline, and decision-making under pressure. In this solo episode, Simon Lehmann outlines what professional operators must change, what they must stop doing, and where time and capital should be focused to protect margin and build durable businesses. The 6 Decisions Shaping STR...

Short-term rentals, flexible living, and multifamily are no longer separate conversations. For institutional capital, they are converging into a single question around risk, yield, and long-term durability. In this episode, Simon Lehmann sits down with Jaja Jackson, Senior Vice President of Real Assets at ICONIQ Capital and Corporate Development Officer at Sentral, to unpack how large-scale invest...