Sunday Rewind: How a 16-Unit Idea Became One of America’s Largest Resort Experiences
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 03/15/2026
Hotel Profitability vs RevPAR: The Shift Revenue Teams Need
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Hotels don’t need another system; hotels need the systems they already run to talk to each other. I talk with Alex Zoghlin, CEO of Duetto, during Duetto PERFORM about profit-first revenue decisions and connected hotel data. 🧩 Disconnected systems force teams to act on partial data 💰 Profit-first decisions require coordination across departments 🔗 Better access to existing data beats adding “one more tool” 🤖 AI speeds integrations and shortens decision cycles 🎯 Dynamic pricing and build-your-own packages lift total revenue and GOP Want the weekly roundup of news, videos,...
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Hotel Profitability Squeeze: Why Ancillary Revenue Matters More Now
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Profitability keeps getting squeezed even after years of strong revenue growth, so hotels can’t live on RevPAR alone. I’m at PERFORM at Margaritaville Resort, and I talk with , CEO of , about what his data shows right now—and what hoteliers can actually do about it. 📉 Michael says cost pressure stays the story: labor, wage inflation, loyalty costs, and credit card costs don’t go away 💰 He points to the opportunity: ancillary revenue grew 5.8% globally last year while RevPAR grew about 2.5% 🧠 He pushes a total revenue per customer mindset instead of obsessing over rooms...
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FNA 207: The Shah- Shank Redemption
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Oliver Shah is a first time guest, and we suspect after having drinks with Glenn, Craig and Suzanne itll be his last. Join us for some laughs and Happy Hour fun where Glenn is at Margaritaville Resort Hollywood Beach.
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Duetto PERFORM: Why Revenue and Profit Need One Operating Model
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
I’m at PERFORM at , and I grabbed , CMO at Duetto, to explain what Duetto built this event to do. 🚀 Duetto built PERFORM to give “hotel performance” its own space—not a back-room trade show conversation 📈 Olly lays out the idea: connect revenue and profit into one operating model, one story, and ultimately one technology 🧠 Duetto pulled in voices from outside hotels—airlines and casinos—to push new thinking on revenue + profitability 🛠️ I like the focus: actionable takeaways you can actually implement, not theory 📣 Duetto plans to publish key takeaways for people...
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AAHOACON Collegiate Championship: Hotel Management GM Simulation
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Last week, Suzanne Bagnera brought one of 11 student teams from nine schools to the AAHOACON Collegiate Championship, and the students ran the kind of decisions real GMs deal with. During AAHOACON 2026, where No Vacancy was the official podcast, I interviewed Suzanne Bagnera, PhD, CHA, CED about the competition and what she saw as the professor who brought the students. 🎓 Year three of the Collegiate Championship, with teams from schools including FIU, Virginia Tech, Grand Valley State, University of South Carolina, Cornell, Oklahoma State, and Kennesaw 🧠 Russell Partners ran an online...
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1028: Public-Private Hotel Deals: How Cities Finance Headquarters Hotels
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Public-private hotel deals don’t run on a private equity playbook. Cities use them to create demand and pull outside dollars into the market. Suzanne Bagnera, PhD, CHA, CED joins me, and we talk with Walter Peseski, Senior Vice President of Asset Management at Garfield Public/Private, about how these projects get financed and why brands matter. 🏛️ Why cities build headquarters hotels and convention-adjacent product 🏨 Why bondholders and ratings agencies push projects toward branded hotels 📈 Abilene example: a DoubleTree plus a demand curveball from the Stargate data center ⏳ The...
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What Great Partnerships Really Look Like in Hospitality
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
They flipped the first Sonesta hotel in a couple of hours. That’s what a real partnership looks like when the operator needs speed and the vendor shows up. During AAHOACON in Philadelphia, I talked with Patty Jefferson from Visual Matrix and Chris Trick from Sonesta about how they built the relationship, scaled it, and kept it practical for hotel teams. 🤝 They started with trust, then proved execution fast with that first flip 🏨 The rollout now covers 120+ installs across multiple Sonesta brands 🖥️ They cut friction at the desk: move from two screens to one, so staff works faster...
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Two Hotels, One Lot: The Dual-Brand Setup That Flipped Demand
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Two hotels on one piece of land, two separate buildings, two separate lobbies—and the demand mix flips in a way you wouldn’t expect. During AAHOACON 2026, No Vacancy is the official podcast, and I caught up with Hanan Anand, a Red Roof owner, on the show floor to talk about his dual-property setup in Cortland, New York, and what actually drives the business. 🏨 Hanan runs Hometowne Studios and Conference Center plus a Red Roof Inn side-by-side in Cortland 🔧 He converted Hometowne Studios via a full gut renovation, then opened a banquet hall about a week ago 🏟️ Sports tourism...
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How Wyndham Uses Experiences to Drive Direct Bookings
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Wyndham Rewards pushes beyond hotel nights into experiences, and Michael Shiwdin, Global VP of Loyalty at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, explains why: engagement drives direct bookings, and direct bookings drive owner value. I talked with Michael at Wyndham Grand Rio Mar in Puerto Rico about how Wyndham Rewards Experiences works and what it means for hotels in the portfolio. 🌿 Members earn points on experiences through Viator, including activities like kayaking 🎟️ Wyndham partners with Ticketmaster and Madison Square Garden for concert opportunities and VIP experiences 📈 Michael says...
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Hospitality Leadership Without the Fluff: Seek the Good and Celebrate
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
During , I talked with , author of Seek the Good and Celebrate., about why he wrote it, what he wants readers to take from it, and how he expects leaders to use it when the day gets messy. 🧠 He turns the message into a habit system—something you run, not something you quote 📖 He connects the book to his cancer journey and how it reshaped his perspective 🎉 The premise stays simple: seek the good, spot solutions faster, and celebrate more people 🏆 He talks significance vs. success and how that shift changes leadership decisions 📅 Release date: May 5 🧰 Get it at Want the...
info_outlineWestgate 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, and the multi-level Shipwreck Island Waterpark.
Jared also shares how Westgate plans new concepts, how they think about every family member’s experience, and what’s next as they just added 40 new destinations during a major growth cycle.
This episode is brought to you by Actabl — Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com.
What we cover:
🏨: The origin story — from a 16-unit project to one of Florida’s largest resorts
🎬: How the in-lobby movie theater reduces check-in stress for families
👾: The Mystery Funhouse legacy and why nostalgia still excites kids
🍭: The ice-cream + donut + candy shop with a water slide running overhead
🌊: Shipwreck Island Waterpark, lazy rivers, and multi-level amenities
🍽️: How Westgate approaches F&B for families with mixed tastes
🚀: Westgate’s expansion strategy and why they act like entrepreneurs, not a big-box brand