How AI Frees Up Hotel GMs and Sales Teams to Execute
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 04/04/2026
Hotel Demand Shifts: Blowout Trips, Meetings, and “Value”
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Bruce Ford keeps coming back to one idea: the next traveling economy will book and spend differently. He tracks the data as SVP at Lodging Econometrics, so he sees the shifts before they feel obvious. 📈 He talks “blowout trips” and experience travel, where guests spend big on the moment and stop sweating the room rate 🏨 He breaks down meetings demand: more meetings, smaller meetings, and a bigger need to capture total spend through #HotelOperations ⛽ He flags the cost ripple: diesel prices flow into everything, and operators feel it fast 🎟️ He talks incentives and loyalty...
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Adaptive Reuse That Pencils: Historic Tax Credits Explained
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The Lantern has been open four weeks, and already talks about it like a platform, not just another hotel. During the , I talked with Grey Raines, CEO and Managing Partner of , about what they’re building next, why they’ve exited some management relationships, and why adaptive reuse keeps showing up in their deals. 🏨 Grey shares why The Lantern is mission-focused and how the partnership with the shows up early 🏗️ He says the next Lantern is under construction in Rock Hill, South Carolina, with two more behind it 🤝 He explains the management churn: they walked away from...
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How AI Frees Up Hotel GMs and Sales Teams to Execute
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, President of , keeps AI simple: give hotel teams time back so leaders spend less time buried in admin and more time actually operating. During the , we talked about what that looks like in real life, plus why their growth focus shifts away from new builds and toward acquisitions and third-party management. 🤖 Justin frames AI as support, not stress—tools that help people operate better 📋 GM example: cut the report grind so GMs stay on the floor with guests and associates 📞 Sales example: cut prospecting time so sales teams spend more time selling 🏗️ He says new builds feel...
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Customer Journey 6: Property-Level Execution
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Final chapter. In Chapter 6 of this CoralTree Customer Journey series, we take everything from the last five weeks and put it at the property level. Customer journey work only matters when a hotel team can execute it in real time. This chapter shows what that looks like on the ground. I talk with Curtis Bova, General Manager of Hotel Polaris, about how he turns guest journey strategy into real moments on property - from reading context clues at arrival to training teams for perceptive hospitality and building experiences guests can only get there. Here is what we cover: ...
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1026: How Women Advance in Hospitality: The Data and the Playbook
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Women enter hospitality at the same rate as men. Then the numbers thin out hard at the top. That gap isn’t about “pipeline.” It’s about progression. Suzanne co-hosts #NoVacancyNews with me, and we talk with Emily Goldfischer of Her Tenure about the leadership study she and her team did with Forbes Travel Guide and what it reveals about what helps women advance—and what still gets in the way. 📊 Emily shares the benchmark: women lead 19% of Forbes Travel Guide partner hotels, and Her Tenure heard from 99 women leaders to dig into what drives advancement 🧭 She frames the core...
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World Cup Demand Reality: The 60–90 Day Booking Window
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During the , I talked with , CEO of , about what he sees right now: demand pockets, the real booking window, and why operators need to get serious about data before AI forces the issue. 📈 Ben says South Florida Q1 is “crushing it” after a flat year ⚽ He expects World Cup momentum, but he keeps the booking window realistic—60–90 days 🌍 He watches international indicators, but he says it’s still early 🤝 He says conferences work when you get outside your echo chamber and build strategic partnerships 🤖 He says growth and tech create the opportunity—get arms around data...
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Remembering Kirk Kinsell: Leadership Lessons That Still Hit
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We lost industry icon Kirk Kinsell this past week, and I wanted to re-share this 2024 conversation because it captures who he was and what he meant to many of us: a generous leader, a calm force in the room, and one of the people who helped shape the way this industry thinks about leadership and relationships. In this episode of Icons and Experts with my co-host from the . Kirk doesn’t do chest-thumping. He does substance. 🤝 Kirk talks about relationships the way the best leaders do: build them, invest in them, keep them for decades 🏨 He calls hospitality a team sport—from the...
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Hunter Hallway Talk: How Trust Turns Into Repeat Hotel Deals
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I ran into of during the and asked what owners actually want from management right now—and what separates operators who keep getting repeat deals. 🤝 Wayne says trust and alignment with owners drives repeat business, because the first deal teaches both sides how to work together 🏢 Newport runs 37 hotels and keeps key disciplines in-house: accounting, HR, construction services, corporate engineering, commercial strategy, and ops ✈️ Wayne says in-house resources let them move fast—he can put the right person on a plane tomorrow instead of waiting on a third party 👥 He says...
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FNA 206: He's Been Here Arlotta
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Friend of the show CJ Arlotta returns to do some clever PR tricks to make people think Glenn, Craig and Doctor Producer Suzanne are actually funny over here celebrating Happy Hour to get the weekend started. Plus, Bruce Ford joins for added fun.
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Hotel Profitability in 2026: Work Every Line Item
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While I was at the , I asked of a simple question: where do you actually find profit when there’s no silver bullet—just pressure everywhere? 💰 John starts with payroll, then works every other line item 💳 He calls out the hidden killers: credit card fees, insurance, deductibles, exclusions, coverage limits 💡 He talks energy the unsexy way: walk the building, manage lights, invest in tech only when it pays back 🤖 He sees and automation shifting work that used to require people—and he expects org charts to shrink as tools improve 👥 He talks seasonal reality: managers work...
info_outlineJustin Jabara, President of Meyer Jabara Hotels, keeps AI simple: give hotel teams time back so leaders spend less time buried in admin and more time actually operating.
During the Hunter Conference, we talked about what that looks like in real life, plus why their growth focus shifts away from new builds and toward acquisitions and third-party management.
🤖 Justin frames AI as support, not stress—tools that help people operate better
📋 GM example: cut the report grind so GMs stay on the floor with guests and associates
📞 Sales example: cut prospecting time so sales teams spend more time selling
🏗️ He says new builds feel tough right now, so he leans toward acquisitions
🔄 He talks growth moves: asset sales, acquisitions, and third-party growth, with three properties joining in the next 90 days
📊 He shares one internal signal he likes: he surveyed 120 managers and directors of sales at hotels they manage, and two-thirds said they feel bullish on the year
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