Richard Valtr didn’t just build hotel software—he rewired what a stay could be. Before Mews, he was designing a 60-key hotel in Prague with a brazen brief: make every guest feel five-star without hiring an army. He imagined stays like playlists—moods, moments, choices—then realized the industry lacked the pipes to power it. So he built them: an open-API PMS as the backbone for personalization at scale.

Today on the show, I’m joined by Richard Valtr—founder of Mews, hotelier-turned-systems architect, and one of the sharpest minds pushing hospitality past “heads in beds.”

In this episode, we:

Connect with Richard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-valtr-79541410/

Explore Mews: https://www.mews.com/en

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

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

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.