Episodes

Avi Brosh, founder and chief creative officer of Palisociety, explains how he makes small hotels work as businesses by combining design and fiscal discipline with shared operating resources. He shares how he matches costs and oversight to each property, what changed when he brought experienced operators onto the team, and where he sees AI helping while preserving personal hospitality. Also see: The Innkeeper Behind Palisociety: Meet Avi Brosh Taste and Courage How Avi Brosh Built Palisociety t...

Avi Brosh, founder and chief creative officer of Palisociety, shares how he creates hotels that celebrate their neighborhoods while bringing his own sensibility to each place. He explains why making spaces for people to use and enjoy is his way of living hospitably, and we discuss the different ways we can contribute to hospitality. Also see: The Innkeeper Behind Palisociety: Meet Avi Brosh Taste and Courage How Avi Brosh Built Palisociety to Provide Independent Hospitality at Scale Mentioned ...

Avi Brosh, founder and CEO of Palisociety, shares how he built an independent hotel company at scale, starting with a single hotel in West Hollywood. He explains why he stayed focused on smaller neighborhood hotels, what he learned from taking on larger properties, and how he's expanding the company's reach while preserving its independent spirit. Also see: The Innkeeper Behind Palisociety: Meet Avi Brosh Taste and Courage A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. ...

Avi Brosh, founder and CEO of Palisociety, shares what shaped his taste and the courage behind his creative approach. He reflects on his mother's example and his upbringing around horses, then explains why he deliberately breaks down perfection to make his hotels feel more authentic. Hear how he keeps his vision for excellence at the center of creative decisions while working with his in-house team to bring it to life. Also see: The Innkeeper Behind Palisociety: Meet Avi Brosh A few more resour...

In this episode, Avi Brosh, founder and CEO of Palisociety, shares childhood memories of European hotels, his unexpected shift from real estate development to hospitality, and why he sees himself as an innkeeper. Hear how that perspective shapes the responsibility he takes for the places he creates. Mentioned in this episode: Avi's conversation with Dan Ryan on Defining Hospitality, Episode 38: Going to California. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can...

In this episode, Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares a finance leader's view of where AI fits in a hotel business. He explains why his team is adding AI Insights for Hotel Effectiveness, why the bigger payoff with AI is getting hotel managers away from their computers, and how more time with team members and guests shows up in bottom-line results. Learn more about Paul Mengacci on LinkedIn More with Paul: How We Turn Hotel Revenue Into Bottom-Li...

In this episode, Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares how his teams evaluate different types of business, connect forecasts to operating decisions, and use lessons from the results to improve the next forecast. He also shares why better training and deeper use of technology can help improve profitability. Listen to our first episode with Paul: How I Learned to See the Whole Hotel Business Learn more about Paul Mengacci on LinkedIn Mentioned in this e...

In this episode, Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares the experiences that taught him to see the whole hotel business. He reflects on his career in operations and finance, the people who helped him grow, and how those experiences shape the way he leads today. Learn more: Paul Mengacci on LinkedIn 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 ...

What does becoming an AI-first company make possible for hotels and their guests? Kevin King, CEO of Shiji International, shares how Shiji is building on years of investment in connected technology to develop AI with hotel companies, simplify complex workflows, and give teams more time with guests. We discuss why Shiji took time to establish the right foundations for AI, how it's changing the way their teams build technology, and a late-checkout development example that shows what having work...

In this episode, Chris Anderson, the Professor and Area Chair of Services Management at the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, shares what he has learned as owner of a historic inn in Ithaca. You'll hear why owning a property where most guests return year after year gave him a different perspective on pricing than others, why the inn closes during its slower periods so his team can travel and be with family, and what getting close to operations—then stepping back from it—taught him. ...

In this episode, Chris Anderson, the Professor and Area Chair of Services Management at the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, shares what he's learned about how hotel leaders learn, from teaching both 20-year-old undergraduates and 65-year-old seasoned leaders. You'll hear how Chris keeps learning himself, why real learning is supposed to feel inefficient, and why AI is bringing hands-on, learn-by-doing skill-building back to leaders in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Chris's course: AI in...

In this episode, Cally Coombs, the fifth-generation innkeeper at Little River Inn, shares how her family's inn on California's Mendocino Coast keeps changing while remaining loved by locals and visitors alike. You'll hear why the bar stays exactly as it is while everything else is up for grabs, how a loyalty program for the rainy months brings guests back when the coast is quiet, and why giving your team real authority only works when they care enough to listen first. Mentioned in this episode:...

Hotel guest satisfaction increased across every segment in J.D. Power's 2026 North America study. Andrea Stokes, Practice Lead, Hospitality Intelligence, explains what guests are noticing in rooms and shared spaces, why responsive human service still matters alongside mobile check-in, and what operators can learn from food and beverage. We also discuss how J.D. Power benchmarks large third-party hotel management companies. Learn more: 2026 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study20...

Today in Washington, DC, I shared findings from the State of Hotel AI research I ran with Nazpari Aydin for Destination AI. We surveyed hotel company leaders about how they feel about AI, where it's paying off today, and what's holding them back. The research State of Hotel AI: Fall 2026 findings Take the survey to get the full benchmarking data set Related episodes Destination AI: How I Built the #1 Hospitality AI Event From Scratch (Nazpari Aydin) Stop Guessing About AI. See What Hotel Leade...

AI is the tool, mindset is the operating system, and hospitality is the outcome. In this episode, Danica Smith, Guest Experience Correspondent at Hospitality Daily and founder of MorningStar GX, shares what this framework means for hospitality leaders: giving people the time and support to use AI, keeping experimentation focused on useful outcomes, and considering operational efficiency alongside team well-being and guest experience. Read Danica’s article: You Cannot Automate Your Way Out Of Ov...

In this episode, Danica Smith, Guest Experience Correspondent at Hospitality Daily and founder of MorningStar GX, joins Josiah Mackenzie to share her read on AI in travel and hospitality, fresh from the main stage at AI Summit Barcelona, where not one person in the room said they would let an AI agent book their trip without approval. Danica and Josiah compare that hesitation with Josiah’s recent experience using AI to research and book a trip. They also discuss inequality in experimenting with ...

In this episode, Steven Moore, CEO of Actabl, and Joseph Benjamin, Actabl's Chief Technology Officer, share a practical approach to using AI in hotel operations as leaders prepare for budget season. They explain why reliable operational AI depends on trusted data, how it can give hotel teams more time with guests, and how leaders can move from scattered experiments to a coherent architecture without creating new security and cost problems. Watch the webinar: Access the original on-demand Acta...

Dan Kornick, Chief Information Officer at Loews Hotels, explains how they decide where AI can improve hotel work and guest service. Dan also discusses working with technology partners, measuring results, and testing whether the value justifies the cost. Going to Destination AI? Hear Dan there: Destination AI Forum. Read my related HotelOperations.com article: Most Hotel AI is Stuck in “Pilot Purgatory” But Loews Sees a Way Out. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start ...

Alex Cabañas, founder and CEO of Astound Ventures and executive chairman of Pyramid Global Hospitality, shares how our industry can innovate to make hotels more profitable, working in hotels more rewarding, and stays in hotels more enjoyable. Learn more: Astound Ventures: launch announcement, net unit margin approach & portfolio companies Operational examples: Base Power (home batteries) | Fox Fold (refillable paper) | Outmore (heated outdoor furniture) | Relivable (meeting and event workflo...

Sloan Dean introduces AI Hospitality Group and explains why he's building an AI-native hotel management company. He covers the pace, risks, and benefits of AI; the pressure on hotel owners; and how he's approaching recruiting, sales, and daily operations through hotel partnerships. Sloan also explains his profit-sharing management model and what he believes this approach could mean for hotel associates, owners, and guests. Links: AI Hospitality GroupSloan’s newsletter: Services Are the New So...

In this episode, Cornell professor Chris Anderson shares why hotels cannot afford to treat AI as a "wait-and-see" issue. Drawing on research he conducted about how different traveler segments use AI, he explains why hotel discovery is becoming more contextual and why reviews and trusted third-party information matter. We also discuss what hoteliers can test now, why integrated technology will matter more, and how more specific guest requests could eventually change what hotels offer. Chr...

In this episode, hosted by our careers correspondent Emily Goldfischer, founder of hertelier, Charlotte Weatherall, General Manager of Corinthia London, shares what she has learned about building a career and leading as herself. Charlotte explains how her sales and marketing background prepared her to become a GM, why trusting her team shapes the guest experience, and how she balances ambition with family life. She also shares what hospitality needs to change to support women’s progression and ...

Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley & The Napa Valley Reserve and former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide, shares a recent experience with AI as a guest, and then what it's like providing service in a world where more and more people use AI as they travel. Previous episodes with Jeff: The Energy of Excellence The Fundamentals of Service in Luxury Hospitality The Experience That Earned Us Michelin’s Three Key Distinction A few more r...

Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley & The Napa Valley Reserve and former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide, shares a few thoughts on how to train your teams for excellence. Previous episodes with Jeff: The Energy of Excellence The Fundamentals of Service in Luxury Hospitality The Experience That Earned Us Michelin’s Three Key Distinction A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message...