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  • He DJ'd for Jay-Z and Kanye — Now He's Rewiring Sound for Aman, Hyatt, and Jose Andrés

    He DJ'd for Jay-Z and Kanye — Now He's Rewiring Sound for Aman, Hyatt, and Jose Andrés
    2026/04/28

    Explore Raina Music: https://rainamusic.com/

    Connect with Vikas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikassapranyc/

    Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/

    Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/

    —

    In just a moment, you’ll meet Vikas Sapra—DJ, tech founder, and the guy who’s quietly rewiring how the world’s best hotels and restaurants think about sound. Vikas has played for A-list celebrities like Jay-Z and Kanye, just to name a few. He’s collaborated with Mark Ronson and Questlove. He’s the rare DJ who can play a rock set on Friday, an R&B crowd on Saturday, and a Brooklyn warehouse the weekend after that. And at every venue he’s played, the GM said the same thing: “Dude, take over our music. What does it take to get you full-time here?”

    Well, after the hundredth time of being asked, he did. And that’s how Raina was born.

    Today, Raina powers the sound in over 600 hospitality spaces—from Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, to The Moxy in the East Village, to José Andrés’ restaurants, Tao Group’s rooftops, Auberge properties, and so much more. They’re a preferred vendor for Hyatt, and they’re doing something no one else is doing. They’re combining a DJ’s ear, an operator’s mindset, and a tech founder’s instinct for what to build.

    Vikas’s thesis is sharp: music isn’t decoration—it’s a behavioral lever. The right tempo changes dwell time. The right familiarity changes the average check. And most operators, even the great ones, still treat it as an afterthought.

    This conversation is about how he’s changing that.

    Here’s my conversation with Vikas Sapra, founder of Raina.

    — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
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    59 分
  • This Week In Hospitality: Hospitality’s Muddy Middle Is Breaking — With Bashar Wali

    This Week In Hospitality: Hospitality’s Muddy Middle Is Breaking — With Bashar Wali
    2026/04/24

    Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts:

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality

    Luxury hospitality has a credibility problem: the industry keeps charging more while delivering sameness, ceremony, and aesthetic shortcuts that increasingly feel hollow. Joining the quad this week is Bashar Wali—hotel operator, industry veteran, and one of hospitality’s most outspoken critics—known for pairing irreverence with sharp, experience-backed insight. He wastes no time arguing that the old markers of luxury no longer match what modern travelers actually value: time, privacy, ease, and the feeling of being genuinely seen.

    The conversation expands into a broader critique of ownership, brands, and the “muddy middle.” Bashar reframes hotels not as service businesses, but as retailers selling a perishable product—one that must earn loyalty through experience rather than points or perks. Ben pushes on capital constraints, Scott questions whether human-first hospitality can scale, and Edwin highlights how far the industry has drifted from its roots. The tension is clear: technology should remove friction, not replace human connection.

    The episode ultimately lands on a sharper test for any hotel claiming luxury status: strip away the scent machine, the coffee table books, the scripted welcome—what’s left? If it isn’t care, competence, character, and soul, the product was never luxury to begin with.

    This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey.

    Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary.

    If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance

    Special Guest:

    Bashar Wali — This Assembly

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basharwali/

    Your Hosts:

    Zach Busekrus — Journey

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/

    Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/

    Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

    Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
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    1 時間 9 分
  • Inside the Vrbo Where George Washington Stayed — and the Operator Turning Savannah Into a Historic Luxury Destination

    Inside the Vrbo Where George Washington Stayed — and the Operator Turning Savannah Into a Historic Luxury Destination
    2026/04/21

    Connect with Corey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-jones-a66a004/

    Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/

    Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/

    —

    His tenant stopped paying rent. When he went to investigate, he found guest books, five-star reviews, and a listing on VRBO — for his own home. That's how Corey Jones stumbled into vacation rentals. No business plan. No grand ambition. Just a house he couldn't sell in 2009, a tenant who saw an opportunity before he did, and a New York Times travel feature he never knew existed — about a property he owned. That accidental beginning became Lucky Savannah, now one of the largest vacation rental management companies in one of the South's most beloved destinations, with over 400 properties across the city. We sat down together in one of those properties — a three-story home built in the 1760s, the oldest masonry brick structure in the state of Georgia, where George Washington once stayed. It's been a colonial meeting house, a law firm, and now a meticulously restored luxury vacation rental that just won one of VRBO's top homes of the year. In this episode, we explore:
    • How a rental gone wrong became a 400-property portfolio — and why saying yes to everything was the right move early on
    • What "historic luxury" actually means, and how Corey's team blends 18th-century architecture with modern amenities
    • Why Savannah's hotel-first culture forced his team to operate at a higher standard from day one
    • How he's thinking about AI — including a dedicated budget line item for 2026
    • The case for casting a narrow net in an industry that rewards specialization
    • And why the operators who stayed disciplined through the post-COVID hangover are the ones getting the calls back
    Fifteen years in, Corey hasn't expanded into new markets or chased the hotel trend. He's betting that going deeper — not broader — is how you win in the long run. A special thanks to my friends at Expedia and the VRBO team for inviting me down to Savannah to capture Corey's story in person. — Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
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    58 分
  • This Week in Hospitality: The Hotel Owner Squeeze, Six Senses Founder's Comeback, Wyndham's Grandma Gambit, and Coachella's Dirty Secret

    This Week in Hospitality: The Hotel Owner Squeeze, Six Senses Founder's Comeback, Wyndham's Grandma Gambit, and Coachella's Dirty Secret
    2026/04/17

    Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts:

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality

    The hotel industry is telling two very different stories right now — and this week, the squad unpacks both. First up: a Skift deep dive exposes the brutal math crushing America's hotel owners. Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt are posting record profits while the people who actually own the buildings are hemorrhaging cash — franchise fees, loyalty fees, F&B fees, spa fees, stack an OTA commission on top and owners could be handing over 40% of revenue before paying a single employee. The panel doesn't hold back. Edwin calls it a deadlock. Ben calls it a hostage situation. Scott says the cracks show up the moment growth slows — and right now, they're everywhere. Then: the man behind Six Senses is back. Bernard Baumgartner's new venture, Discover Collection, ditches OTAs entirely for a membership-based model with 32 villas in Oman and a bombshell incentive — travel advisors earn 12% commission on lifetime guest spend. It won't scale. That's the point. Wyndham makes a surprise appearance with a genuinely clever social campaign — a $20K Route 66 road trip giveaway pairing grandparents with grandkids, comp stays at Days Inn and Super 8, full content documentation required. The most valuable guest isn't the highest spender — it's the best storyteller. And Coachella? Ben drops a reality check. It didn't sell out in 2023. Random April weekends outperformed festival weekends at his Palm Springs hotel. Justin Bieber saved it this year. The takeaway: demand anchors are powerful, but they're lineup-dependent, not brand-dependent.

    This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey.

    Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary.

    If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance

    Key Topics & Timestamps

    00:00 — Intro 05:12 — Story #1: Hotel Owners Get Crushed While Brands Cash In 26:46 — Story #2: Bernard’s Members-Only Hotel Bet 40:13 — Story #3: Wyndham’s Grandparent Route 66 Play 48:57 — Story #4: Coachella Became a Hospitality Engine 59:13 — Spice of the Week

    Your Hosts:

    Zach Busekrus — Journey

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/

    Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/

    Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

    Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
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    1 時間 12 分
  • This Week in Hospitality: Why Direct Booking Isn’t Working, Hyatt’s Miss, and the New Rules of Demand

    This Week in Hospitality: Why Direct Booking Isn’t Working, Hyatt’s Miss, and the New Rules of Demand
    2026/04/10

    Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts:

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality

    This week, Scott, Ben, and Zach discuss the growing disconnect between industry strategy and traveler behavior.

    New data from Cloudbeds shows OTA share continuing to rise for independent hotels, even as operators double down on direct booking initiatives. At the same time, Hyatt tied executive compensation to improving direct channel performance—and failed to meet the target, underscoring how difficult the shift has become, even at scale. In parallel, short-term rental data suggests demand has not weakened, but rather evolved. Travelers are taking longer to convert, prioritizing flexibility, and increasingly relying on platforms during moments of uncertainty. And in the Caribbean, tourism reached record levels despite severe hurricane disruption—highlighting both the strength of global demand and the growing importance of long-term resilience.

    Taken together, these stories point to a broader shift: success is no longer determined by capturing demand more efficiently, but by creating it earlier—and owning it before the booking ever begins.

    This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey.

    Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary.

    If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance

    Key Topics & Timestamps

    00:00 — Intro 03:15 — Story #1: OTAs Gain Share as Direct Booking Push Stalls 27:02 — Story #2: Hyatt Ties Executive Pay to Direct Booking Goals 40:16 — Story #3: Caribbean Tourism Rebounds Despite Disaster Losses 45:06 — Story #4: STR Demand Isn’t Falling—It’s Delaying and Shifting 51:21 — Spice of the Week

    Your Hosts:

    Zach Busekrus — Journey

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/

    Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/

    Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

    Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
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    1 時間 9 分
  • How a Health Crisis, a Divorce, and a Thai Monk Led Her to Create the #1 Spa in the World: Meet Diana Stobo of The Retreat Costa Rica

    How a Health Crisis, a Divorce, and a Thai Monk Led Her to Create the #1 Spa in the World: Meet Diana Stobo of The Retreat Costa Rica
    2026/04/07

    Explore The Retreat Costa Rica: https://www.theretreatcostarica.com/ Connect with Diana: https://dianastobo.com/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ Apply to join the Journey Alliance: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/

    In just a moment you'll meet Diana Stobo, the founder and visionary behind The Retreat Costa Rica — a 25-room luxury wellness destination and healing center with three farm-to-table restaurants, about an hour west of San José. Condé Nast just named it the number one destination spa in the world. But rewind about 25 years and Diana is 34 years old. Three kids at home. Husband travels Monday through Friday. And she's alone, projectile vomiting blood, calling a friend because she can't leave the house to get to the hospital. The doctors tell her she's raw tissue from one end to the other and hand her a prescription she'll need for the rest of her life. She never fills it. Instead she eliminates six foods, loses 100 pounds, reverses every condition her doctors said was permanent, pioneers the raw food movement, writes 15 books, and sells 65,000 copies out of the trunk of her car. Then comes the divorce. And on the same day it's finalized, she buys a property sight unseen on a quartz mountain in Costa Rica. But there are years between that purchase and the property you see today. Years where there are no investors, no guests, and no money left. Years where she's draining her retirement savings to keep her staff on payroll during a global pandemic. And then there's the moment she walks into the Global Wellness Summit — the biggest gathering of hospitality and wellness executives in the world — ready to sell the whole thing. She's broke. She's overwhelmed. She's one woman paying every bill. And one by one, the biggest names in the industry start describing the future of hospitality — intimacy, authenticity, nature, homegrown food — and she realizes they're describing everything she already built. She doesn't sell. She goes back to Costa Rica and buys the whole mountain. This is one of the most remarkable founder stories we've had on Behind the Stays.

    Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more.

    Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
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    58 分
  • This Week in Hospitality: The Death of Hotel Discovery, The Rise of Food-Led Hotels, and Loyalty’s Identity Crisis

    This Week in Hospitality: The Death of Hotel Discovery, The Rise of Food-Led Hotels, and Loyalty’s Identity Crisis
    2026/04/03

    Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts:

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality

    This week, the guys unpack a massive shift happening across hospitality — and what it means for who actually owns demand. Hotel executives are finally admitting what’s been true for years: discovery is no longer happening on their platforms. It’s happening on social, in group chats, and increasingly through AI. If you’re not part of the inspiration phase, you don’t exist. At the same time, food is stepping into the spotlight as a true demand driver—not just an amenity. From chef-led concepts to destination restaurants, hotels are betting big on F&B to differentiate, drive rate, and create relevance. But with thin margins and fierce competition, most will underestimate how hard it is to win. And then there’s loyalty. New data suggests travelers care more about trust, recognition, and real value than price alone — exposing just how outdated many loyalty programs have become. Points aren’t enough anymore. Guests want to feel known. We break down what all of this means for operators, brands, and investors—and why the hotels that win next won’t just distribute demand… they’ll create it.

    This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey.

    Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary.

    If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance

    Key Topics & Timestamps

    00:00 — Intro

    06:39 — Story #1: Discovery Moved Upstream

    32:16 — Story #2: Hotels Bet on Food as Identity

    47:15 — Story #3: Trust Beats Price

    56:01 — Spice of the Week

    Your Hosts:

    Zach Busekrus — Journey

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/

    Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/

    Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

    Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
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    1 時間 6 分
  • This Week In Hospitality: Hilton’s New Power Play, Marriott’s Brand Explosion, and the Battle for Who Owns Demand

    This Week In Hospitality: Hilton’s New Power Play, Marriott’s Brand Explosion, and the Battle for Who Owns Demand
    2026/03/27

    Subscribe to This Week in Hospitality wherever you get you podcasts:

    Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5oPExA0txHMjEI5Ye13IUy Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-hospitality/id1849637233 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinHospitality

    Hilton just rewrote the rules on growth—without buying brands. Marriott keeps flooding the market with more flags. And underneath it all, a bigger question is emerging: who actually owns demand in hospitality? This week, we break down Hilton’s Yotel deal and what it signals about the future of “platformized” hotel brands, Marriott’s relentless expansion strategy (and whether guests even care anymore), and why distribution—not differentiation—is becoming the real battleground. We also get into Four Seasons’ move into luxury yachts, Thailand’s push to own wellness travel, and how Netflix is quietly reshaping restaurant demand. If you’re building, investing in, or operating hospitality, this episode is about one thing: control the guest—or rent them from someone who does.

    This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey.

    Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary.

    If you’re an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance

    Key Topics & Timestamps

    00:00 — Intro

    02:06 — Story #1: Hilton’s Yotel Deal Turns Brand Into Distribution

    27:18 — Story #2: Four Seasons Bets That Luxury Belongs at Sea

    40:31 — Story #3: Thailand Makes Wellness a National Strategy

    51:11 — Story #4: Netflix Is Now a Travel Demand Engine

    01:04:37 — Spice of the Week

    Your Hosts:

    Zach Busekrus — Journey

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/

    Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/

    Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/

    Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/
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    1 時間 13 分