Behind the Stays

By Zach Busekrus

Welcome to Behind the Stays — a podcast that shares the stories behind your favorite boutique hotels, short-term rentals, and hospitality brands and the hosts, operators, and entrepreneurs who’ve brou... more

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How many episodes does Behind the Stays have?

The podcast currently has 359 episodes available.

Behind the Stays episodes:

May 13, 2026 How an Engineer-Turned-Michelin-Chef Built Epicurate, the Experience Platform for Luxury Stays
Explore Epicurate: https://epicurate.vip/
Connect with Max: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-porterkhamsy/
Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/
Apply to join the Journey Alliance: http://journey.com/alliance/
—
Every once in a while on this show, I get to share news that I'm personally invested in — and this is one of those episodes.
A few weeks ago, Journey acquired Epicurate, a private chef and experiences platform that has become one of the most beloved platforms in the luxury segment of the short-term rental world. If you operate in the high-end residence rental space, there's a good chance you've either used Epicurate yourself or you've stayed somewhere that does. The platform powers private dining, in-home wellness, gear rental, grocery delivery, and a growing list of curated services for some of the most respected vacation rental brands in the country — AvantStay, Abode Luxury Rentals, and Red Cottage just to name a few.

The man behind it is Max Porterkhamsy, and his story is one of my favorite kinds. A would-be patent lawyer who walked away from mechanical engineering to go to culinary school. He went on to work at a storied michelin star restaurant in New York, then designed and executed a 7-course tasting menu for a tasting room in Sonoma, to cooking private dinners and running concierge for vacation rental guests staying at some of the most coveted homes in wine country. And then, Max started noticing something the rest of us in this industry had been drowning in for years — concierge is broken. The relationships are there. The talent is there. But the tooling underneath it all is a tangle of spreadsheets, email chains, and tribal knowledge that doesn't scale.
So Max built the platform he wished he'd had as a chef. And six years later, it's become the connective tissue between operators who want to deliver hotel-grade hospitality and the local providers who actually make that magic happen.
In this conversation, we get into all of it — Max's path from growing up in farm in New Hampshire to how covid rocked the hospitality industry but accelerated Epicurate’s growth, what hotels can learn from the private external concierge model, and why Journey acquired Epicurate.
Alright friends, without further ado, get ready to meet Max.
—

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.
...more
47min
May 08, 2026 This Week in Hospitality: The World Cup Bust, Spirit's Collapse, Priceline is Back, and Aman's Move in the Texas Hill Country
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 hospitality industry was supposed to print money during the 2026 World Cup. Instead, nearly 80% of hotels across the eleven US host cities are pacing significantly below forecasts, with Kansas City operators calling it a non-event and Boston, Philly, and San Francisco not far behind. On this week's episode, Zach is joined by Edwin Kramer, Scott Eddy, and Ben Wolff to unpack what went wrong — visa friction, FIFA's extortionate ticket pricing, geopolitical headwinds, and a hospitality industry that mistook the World Cup logo for a marketing strategy. Edwin offers a sharp European perspective on why the math was always going to be brutal for international travelers, while Scott levels a familiar critique: hotels keep believing their own projections instead of doing the basic work of telling guests how to actually get to the match.

From there, the conversation moves to Priceline's surprisingly sharp William Shatner TikTok play (and what booking's parent strategy says about the OTA wars), Under Canvas's CEO transition and the missing middle in outdoor hospitality, and the slow death of Spirit Airlines — a story that opens up a wider debate about whether the ultra-low-cost carrier model can survive in the US the way it has in Europe. Ben, calling in from Onera Fredericksburg, makes the case that commodity businesses can't run on razor-thin margins forever, and Edwin walks through the European low-cost graveyard nobody's talking about.

The episode closes on Aman's reported move into the Texas Hill Country — a development Ben sees as the ultimate validation of a market he bet on years ago, and a signal that ultra-luxury is now defining itself by space rather than density. Plus spice of the week: Instagram's new metrics hierarchy, why most brands still can't do basic marketing, and Edwin's pitch to the next generation of hoteliers.

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
09:10 — Story #1: World Cup Hotel Demand Falls Short
24:13 — Story #2: Priceline Revives the Negotiator
31:47 — Story #3: Under Canvas’ Next Chapter
40:10 — Story #4: Spirit’s Collapse and the Low-Cost Airline Model
50:13 — Story #5: Aman Bets on Texas Hill Country
54:44 — 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/
...more
1h 4min
May 01, 2026 This Week in Hospitality: Uber Becomes a Hotel Platform, TikTok Outperforms OTAs, and Hotels Still Don’t Own the Customer
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’s conversation pulls apart a reality the industry has been circling for months—but is now impossible to ignore: travel demand is no longer being created, shaped, or captured by the companies that actually deliver the experience.

It’s happening upstream.
What starts as a discussion around TikTok and AI quickly evolves into something bigger—a structural shift in how travelers decide. Discovery is no longer destination-first. It’s scroll-first. A piece of content sparks interest, AI compresses consideration, and by the time a traveler reaches a booking interface, most of the decision has already been made.

That shift leaves hotels, airlines, and even OTAs reacting instead of leading.

The episode unpacks what that means in practice. Why a digitally ambitious airline like Riyadh Air still defaults to legacy distribution before launch. Why Uber entering hotel bookings isn’t about inventory—it’s about embedding travel into habit. And why every major brand—from Airbnb to Minor Hotels—is racing to become more than just a single touchpoint in the journey.

Underneath all of it is a more uncomfortable truth: the industry has over-rotated on storytelling without solving distribution. And storytelling alone doesn’t close the transaction.
There’s also tension between strategy and reality. Independent operators are told to “create demand,” but many are still constrained by ownership structures focused on 30- to 90-day performance windows. Attribution remains murky. Investment decisions follow what can be measured—not necessarily what drives long-term growth.

The result is a fragmented ecosystem where inspiration, validation, and booking live in entirely different places—most of which operators don’t control.

The question isn’t whether this shift is happening. It’s who adapts to it—and who becomes invisible within 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
05:15 — Story #1: TikTok, AI, and the Hijacked Travel Funnel
28:50 — Story #2: Uber Enters Hotel Booking Through Expedia
38:35 — Story #3: Riyadh Air’s Direct-Booking Reality Check
47:28 — Story #4: Minor Hotels Bets on Private Jet Luxury
57:32 — 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/
...more
1h 7min
April 28, 2026 He DJ'd for Jay-Z and Kanye — Now He's Rewiring Sound for Aman, Hyatt, and Jose Andrés
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.
...more
59min
April 24, 2026 This Week In Hospitality: Hospitality’s Muddy Middle Is Breaking — With Bashar Wali
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/
...more
1h 9min
April 21, 2026Inside the Vrbo Where George Washington Stayed — and the Operator Turning Savannah Into a Historic Luxury Destination
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.
...more
59min
April 17, 2026 This Week in Hospitality: The Hotel Owner Squeeze, Six Senses Founder's Comeback, Wyndham's Grandma Gambit, and Coachella's Dirty Secret
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/
...more
1h 13min
April 10, 2026 This Week in Hospitality: Why Direct Booking Isn’t Working, Hyatt’s Miss, and the New Rules of Demand
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/
...more
1h 10min
April 07, 2026 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
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.
...more
58min
April 03, 2026 This Week in Hospitality: The Death of Hotel Discovery, The Rise of Food-Led Hotels, and Loyalty’s Identity Crisis
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/
...more
1h 6min

FAQs about Behind the Stays:

How many episodes does Behind the Stays have?

The podcast currently has 359 episodes available.

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