Booked Solid Show - Short Term Rental Podcast

"Guests want and deserve answers instantly — and when you learn the art of great communication, they'll keep talking to Zoe even after they find out she's AI."

What happens when a guest asks mid-conversation, "Are you AI or human?" — and then just keeps chatting anyway?

That's not a glitch. That's the goal.

In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Sabrina Mulligan, AI-First Hospitality Brand Strategist at Zzzing — a tech-driven hospitality brand managing over 550 keys across hotels, vacation rentals, and boutique guesthouses in Malta. Sabrina has spent the last three years at the intersection of brand, guest experience, and AI, building systems that let a growing portfolio still feel personal, local, and boutique.

What unfolds in this conversation is genuinely rare. This isn't a surface-level talk about chatbots saving time. Sabrina walks through exactly how she built an AI character named Zoe, how she earned her team's trust, and how that trust translated into 80–85% of all guest and owner communication being handled by AI — without losing the soul of the brand.

Whether you're just starting to explore AI for guest communication in short-term rentals or you're already using automation and want to level up the experience, this episode will shift how you think about hospitality in the age of AI.

🔗 Connect with Sabrina Mulligan

🔹 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sabrinamulligan

🔺 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sab_mulligan/

Sabrina is also getting ready to launch a series of private mastermind sessions for STR professionals who want to go deeper on AI and guest experience — focused on where AI truly fits in the high-touch space, and how to monetize the guest experience without losing the human element. Keep an eye on her LinkedIn for details.

What if the key to more direct bookings had nothing to do with algorithms, dynamic pricing, or paid ads — and everything to do with who you are and who you want to serve?

That's exactly what Yvonne Halling discovered when she transformed her four-room bed and breakfast in the Champagne region of France from a €10,000-a-year hobby into a €100,000-a-year business — without a single listing on Booking.com or Airbnb. On this episode of Booked Solid, Yvonne breaks down the direct booking business principles she developed over years of trial, error, and award-winning results — and why they're just as relevant today as they were when she first built the system.

Whether you're just getting your first property off the ground or you've been in the game for years and feel stuck, this conversation will challenge how you think about hospitality, pricing, and your relationship with your guests.

🔗 Connect with Yvonne Halling

• 🌐 Website: bedandbreakfastcoach.com
• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 👥 Facebook: Coaching for Bed and Breakfast Owners
• 🎙️ Facebook Community (Free Trainings): Dynamic Bed and Breakfast Owners Group
• 💼 LinkedIn: Yvonne Halling
• 📺 YouTube: Yvonne Halling – Transformational Business Coach
• 🐦 Twitter/X: @yvonne3030
• 📸 Instagram: @bedandbreakfastcoach
• 🎧 Podcast: Listen on Spotify

"If you can two x your conversions and you're already making $50,000 on direct — you could be making $100,000." — Patryk Swietek

There's a version of building a short-term rental business where you grind market by market, property by property, hoping something sticks. And then there's the version Patryk Swietek built — one that compounds.

Patryk is the co-owner of The Cohost Company, one of the most recognized short-term rental brands in Joshua Tree, California. With 130 doors under management, a social following that doubled in six months, and a direct booking funnel generating over 720,000 monthly views on Instagram, Patryk has turned market focus into an unfair advantage.

On this episode of Booked Solid, Patryk joins Gil to unpack how he scaled from a single Smoky Mountains property to acquiring entire property management companies, why niching down in one market is the single greatest lever most operators overlook, and the exact Instagram-to-email-to-booking funnel his team is running right now. Whether you're just getting started with direct booking strategies or managing a growing portfolio, this conversation will change how you think about growth.

🔗 Connect with Patryk Swietek

• Instagram (Personal): @patryk_swietek
• Instagram (The Cohost Company): @thecohostcompany
• Podcast: Patryk Real Estate Show
• Website: thecohostcompany.com

"A tree without roots is a dead tree."

Your branding looks polished. The colors match. The logo is on point. But does any of it connect to who you actually are as a host? In this episode of Booked Solid, Anastasia Tara — founder of The Unique Stay community — shares how she and her husband transformed ordinary residential homes into culture-inspired vacation rentals themed around Japan, Bali, Italy, Greece, the Maldives, and France. She walks through her full 10-step Craft Build Scale framework, explains why your personal "why" is the most underused marketing tool you already own, and reveals how themed properties generate repeat guests who book your next unit before they even check out of the first.

Whether you're planning your first property or rethinking an existing one, this conversation will challenge you to look inward before you look outward.

📲 Connect with Anastasia Tara

• 🌐 Personal Website: AnastasiaTara.com
• 🏡 Community: UniqueStays.co
• 💼 LinkedIn: Anastasia Tara
• 📸 Instagram: @AnastasiaTarai
• 🐦 X/Twitter: @AnastasiaTarai

"You gotta make it or make it. These are your two options."

What happens when a 20-year corporate banker with a vision meets a solo operator managing 30 properties by herself — cleaning, messaging guests, and fixing maintenance issues with no team? In this episode of Booked Solid, Fouad Bazzi and Jacinda Neustel share how they combined their very different strengths to build a property management company spanning 82 properties across six markets. They talk about why saying yes to everything nearly broke them, how hiring for core values changed their team, and why the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) became the backbone of their operations.

Whether you're managing two doors or two hundred, this conversation is packed with perspective on growing with intention — not just growing for the sake of it.

🔗 Connect With Fouad & Jacinda

Fouad Bazzi:

• Instagram: @fouad_airbnb
• LinkedIn: Fouad Bazzi
• Website: fouadbazzi.com

Jacinda Neustel:

• Instagram: @the.airbnb.queen
• Facebook: Jacinda Neustel
• Website: thequeensbnbs.com
• Book: The Airbnb Queen on Amazon

🎧 Fouad is currently looking to help 10 operators set their goals and objectives for 2026. Reach out to him on Instagram if you're ready to scale with intention.

"The first 10 minutes of a guest's stay set the tone for everything that follows."

That single insight from luxury hotel research changed how Katie Cline operates her short-term rentals, and it might change how you think about yours, too. In this episode of Booked Solid, Katie sits down with Gil to share what years inside the boardrooms of Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, and St. Regis taught her about hospitality, and how she now applies those five-star principles to her growing portfolio of vacation rentals in upstate New York. From the psychology of confirmation bias to why your welcome note probably shouldn't include the guest's name, this conversation covers the small, often free gestures that turn first-time guests into repeat bookers.

Whether you manage one property or forty, Katie's hotel guest experience strategies for short-term rentals will give you a fresh perspective on how to serve your guests and strengthen your brand.

🔗 Connect with Katie Cline

• 🌐 Website: ByKatieCline.com
• 📩 Newsletter: BuyYourSecondHomeFirst.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Second Home First | Suite Success: Masters of Hospitality
• 📸 Instagram: @ByKatieCline | @BuyYourSecondHomeFirst | @SuiteSuccessPodcast
• 💼 LinkedIn: Katie Cline
• 🎁 Free Resources: TheFiveStarRental.com

"Be so good they can't ignore you. That's where you are."

What if there was an entire organization in your county — funded partly by your own lodging taxes — dedicated to driving visitors to your destination, and you've never once reached out to them? In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Jennifer Barbee, tourism strategist and creator of the Host Gap™, to uncover a massive blind spot for short-term rental operators. Jennifer has worked with over 400 destinations across the U.S. and reveals how DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations) hold a goldmine of traveler research, event calendars, and visitor data that most hosts have never tapped into. You'll learn how independent lodging went from 4% of the market to nearly 30%, why that shift is changing everything, and how building a relationship with your local tourism office could reshape your direct booking strategy from the ground up.

🔗 Connect with Jennifer Barbee

• LinkedIn (Personal): linkedin.com/in/jenniferbarbeeinc
• LinkedIn (Destination Innovate): linkedin.com/company/destinationinnovate
• Instagram: @alittlejennspiration
• X (Twitter): @jenniferbarbee
• Newsletter: The Daily Destruptor on LinkedIn

"Hospitality is the North Star. If it doesn't drive back to that, it's probably not gonna work."

James Varley went from managing communications for the FIFA World Cup to building one of the fastest-growing educational platforms in the short-term rental space. In this episode of Booked Solid, James opens up about his unconventional path into hosting, the painful lessons he learned rebranding his company, and why consistency beats complexity when building an audience.

Whether you're a new host wondering where to start or an experienced operator looking to sharpen your direct booking game, this conversation delivers practical wisdom on brand clarity, local marketing tactics, and why the simplest strategies often produce the biggest results. James also shares the QR code tactic that keeps bringing guests back to his properties and why building your email list remains the single most important thing you can do for your business.

Connect with James:

• 🌐 Website: hostplanet.club
• 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jdsvarley
• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 📚 Free Downloads: hostplanet.club/free-downloads
• 🎤 Host Planet Roadshow: hostplanet.club/host-planet-roadshow

"I'd rather be small and personal and well known for that than just be a generalist."

What happens when a marketing agency owner sees a gap in the vacation rental market that nobody else is filling? She builds an empire from scratch—175 properties across Cyprus, managed remotely from the UK for 18 years—and then successfully exits during a pandemic.

Lisa Roads joins the Booked Solid Show to share her journey from hands-on property furnishing (yes, she shipped entire containers of furniture across the Mediterranean) to becoming one of the most respected voices in STR business strategy. Now, as The Holiday Property Coach and founder of Women in Short-Term Rentals, Lisa helps property managers build profitable direct booking brands that attract both the right guests AND the right property owners.

In this episode, you'll discover why having a logo isn't the same as having a brand, how to curate your portfolio for maximum conversions, and the trust signals that actually get guests to book directly. Plus, Lisa reveals why dog-friendly marketing converted her from browser to booker in just hours—and how you can apply the same psychology to your ideal guest avatar.

Whether you're managing 5 properties or 50, this conversation will reshape how you think about niching down, building trust, and positioning your business for long-term success.

🔗 Connect with Lisa Roads

Lisa welcomes connections from property managers and hosts looking to grow their businesses strategically.

• Website: theholidaypropertycoach.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisaroads
• Facebook: The Holiday Property Coach
• Instagram: @theholidaypropertycoach
• Community: Women in Short-Term Rentals on Facebook and LinkedIn

"Your personal brand is what people are saying about you when you're not in the room."

In this episode of the Booked Solid Show, Gil sits down with Amber Hurdle—brand strategist, keynote speaker, author, and former Gaylord Hotels executive—to explore why personal branding isn't just for influencers. It's the foundation of trust that converts lookers into bookers.

Amber breaks down how short-term rental hosts and property managers can leverage psychology and neuroscience to build authentic brands that attract ideal guests, command premium rates, and create lasting loyalty. From her celebrity event planning days with Sony Music and Jessica Simpson to leading the internal rebrand when Marriott acquired the world's largest hotel property, Amber brings decades of hospitality expertise to help you stop hiding behind a logo and start building a business that books direct.

Whether you manage two properties or two hundred, this conversation will shift how you think about showing up for your guests—and why it matters more than ever.

Connect with Amber:

• 🌐 Website: amberhurdle.com
• 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/theamberhurdle
• 📸 Instagram: @theamberhurdle
• 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/AmberHurdleFan