Customer Journey Series, Ch. 4: Building It With Your Team
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 03/18/2026
Wyndham’s New CDO David Wilner: Why New Construction Still Wins
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For , I caught up with , newly appointed Chief Development Officer of , at the to talk development reality right now—conversion-heavy conditions, brand value pressure, and why he still won’t count new construction out. 👥 David keeps the mission simple: drive the best opportunities and returns for franchisees 🏷️ He talks brand value in a tighter market—owners look harder at what their flag and distribution actually deliver 🔄 He agrees it’s a conversion market right now, and he explains why that creates opportunity 🏗️ He refuses to count new construction out: real...
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Is the Economy Segment Turning? Red Roof President Weighs In
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Economy and midscale owners don’t need shiny objects. They need tech that either drives revenue or cuts costs—period. For , I caught up with , President of , at to talk about why he’s leaning into tech now while demand softens—and what he thinks starts to turn. 📲 Zack explains the guest experience platform: guests text requests, staff stops playing phone-tag, and hotels fix issues before checkout 🧠 He talks ROI discipline: Red Roof only adopts tech that clearly drives revenue or clearly cuts costs 💳 He says franchisees asked for cheaper payment processing, so Red Roof...
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Hotel Costs Keep Rising And What That Means for Summer Travel
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America didn’t travel in America the way we expected last summer—because a lot of the spend went overseas. Now the calendar flips, the event slate stacks up, and the question becomes simple: who travels, where do they stay, and what does that do to performance? For , I talked with (SVP, Lodging Econometrics) from Atlanta on the eve of the about what he expects this year—World Cup momentum, America’s 250th anniversary, rising costs, and the “down-the-scale” shift that could help midscale and upper-midscale operators. ⚽ Bruce expects U.S. events to keep more travel domestic...
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1023: How Conrad Orlando at Evermore Keeps Guests On Property Not in the Parks
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Evermore is building an Orlando resort ecosystem: multiple hotels, a massive lagoon, and enough on-property programming that guests don’t treat the theme parks as the only “main event.” For #NoVacancyNews, I talked with Sean McCarron (General Manager, Conrad Orlando) about how Conrad fits inside Evermore—and what it takes to deliver luxury standards inside a new complex. 💎 Conrad Orlando becomes the first Conrad to earn AAA Five Diamond ⭐ Sean talks Forbes recognition and how the team keeps standards tight 🌊 He points to the Evermore centerpiece: the 17-million-gallon lagoon...
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Customer Journey Series, Ch. 4: Building It With Your Team
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Chapter 4 of this 6-part CoralTree Customer Journey series focuses on implementation - specifically, how you get property teams to build ideas they actually believe in and want to own. Hotels do not improve the customer journey by accident. They build it through strategy, systems, and execution. This chapter shows what the build process looks like. I talk with Kaitlin Broumpton, Director of Quality and Guest Experience Strategy at CoralTree Hospitality, about workshops, property-level ideation, and how CoralTree helps teams shape locally authentic moments instead of pushing top-down scripts....
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Sunday Rewind: How a 16-Unit Idea Became One of America’s Largest Resort Experiences
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Westgate didn’t just build a resort — they built a small city of experiences. In this walking-tour episode, Glenn Haussman explores Westgate Vacation Villas in Orlando with Chief Business & Strategy Officer Jared Saft, starting at the original 16-unit building from the early 1980s and moving through the resort’s huge renovation and expansion. We visit the movie theater, the retail experiences designed by Starboard, the Chuck E. Cheese–powered arcade, the toddler zone, the retro arcade, the Mystery Funhouse throwbacks, the in-lobby candy shop with a waterslide running through it,...
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FNA 204: Will This Joke Lan?
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This week the amazing Lan Elliott returns to FNA to laugh along Glenn, Craig and Doctor Producer Suzanne. This week Glenn is in Dallas and the gang reveals which pet peeves are moving on to the sweet 16!
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1021: Evermore Orlando Resort Solves Group Travel
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Evermore doesn’t try to win every traveler. It commits to one niche: togetherness for families and groups. Then it builds the product around that focus—shared moments, easy flow, and enough space so the whole crew stays connected without feeling crowded. For #NoVacancyNews, I tour Evermore Resort Orlando and talk with the team behind the experiences. 👥 Elizabeth Mullins (President) explains the togetherness-first strategy and why Evermore complements the parks instead of competing with them 🌴 Rob Schultz shows how the lagoon stays the centerpiece while the heavy infrastructure...
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Ben Perelmuter Built the New Remington Team—Now It’s Time to Execute
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I'm at ’s annual leadership conference - the first with serving as CEO. For , I caught up with Ben in the JFK Suite at the Hilton Fort Worth, a historic 100-plus-year-old property, and asked what he wants the team focused on right now. 👥 He lays out leadership structure and alignment across the organization, including as COO and as Chief Commercial Officer 🎤 Ben talks momentum from day one: welcome reception, sponsor luncheon, and key themes from the opening sessions 🏈 He previews tomorrow’s keynote with and jokes about studying football the night before 📈 He talks about...
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Customer Journey 3: Building a Hotel Guest Journey Framework That Still Feels Local
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Chapter 3 of this 6-part CoralTree Customer Journey series moves into the framework itself: how you create consistency across very different hotels without turning everything into cookie-cutter service. Customer journey work only matters if it improves operations, guest loyalty, and results. This chapter gets into the structure behind that. I talk with Andre Fournier, Chief Commercial Officer at CoralTree Hospitality, about Standards of Care, touchpoints from booking to departure, and how service rankings can influence ADR and consideration. Here is what we cover: ...
info_outlineChapter 4 of this 6-part CoralTree Customer Journey series focuses on implementation - specifically, how you get property teams to build ideas they actually believe in and want to own.
Hotels do not improve the customer journey by accident. They build it through strategy, systems, and execution. This chapter shows what the build process looks like.
I talk with Kaitlin Broumpton, Director of Quality and Guest Experience Strategy at CoralTree Hospitality, about workshops, property-level ideation, and how CoralTree helps teams shape locally authentic moments instead of pushing top-down scripts.
Here is what we cover:
· How CoralTree runs workshops to bring the soul of a property to life
· Why buy-in improves when teams have a seat at the table
· How they refine ideas without forcing corporate templates
· How local culture and brand pillars shape guest moments
· Why the process works across property and regional teams
· A Seaport Boston example: arrival cards + QR codes by travel motivation
Catch up on Chapters 1-3 if you have not yet - this is where the strategy starts turning into property-level plans.
Next week: how the guest actually experiences this through real touchpoints.
Want to follow the full series and catch any chapters you miss while you're busy? Subscribe to the #NoVacancyNews newsletter by texting HOTEL to 66866.
Thanks to Unifocus for supporting this series. Unifocus, technology that drives value. Visit Unifocus.com.