Red Roof at AAHOACON: Growth Strategy, RIDE, and Franchise Support
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 04/09/2026
Hotel Investment in 2026: Why Buyers and Sellers Hit Pause
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Suraj Bhakta doesn’t sugarcoat the moment. He sees a strong Q1, then watches geopolitics and travel costs squeeze demand again. No Vacancy is the official podcast of AAHOACON, and I talked with Suraj Bhakta of New Gen Advisory on the show floor about how owners react when the Fed shifts, travel gets expensive, and buyers and sellers hit pause. 📈 Suraj says he saw a strong first quarter, then geopolitical issues started weighing on activity ✈️ He points to Sun Belt impact: less Canadian and overseas traffic in some areas 🏦 He expects a standstill if rates don’t fall—sellers...
info_outline
Red Roof at AAHOACON: Growth Strategy, RIDE, and Franchise Support
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Red Roof treats AAHOACON like the Super Bowl, and Matt Hostetler explains why: owners, franchisees, and partners all show up in one place. No Vacancy is the official podcast of AAHOACON, and I talked with Matt Hostetler, Chief Development Officer at Red Roof, about growth, franchisee support, and how Red Roof helps owners win when the economy tightens. 🚀 Growth strategy for 2026 and why multi-unit owners keep driving momentum 🤝 RIDE program Road to Inclusivity, Diversity, and Entrepreneurship with Lina Patel and She Leads 📲 Tech focus: tools that cut costs or drive revenue, plus an...
info_outline
How Hotels Raise Guest Scores and Upsell Revenue Together
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Sloan Dean put a number on it: Frontline Performance Group drove a 3–5% RevPAR lift in the hotels where he used it—so he expanded it across the portfolio. I brought in Geoffrey Toffetti, CEO of Frontline Performance Group, and Sloan Dean, former CEO of Remington and now a fellow podcaster, to kick off a 3-part series on how hotels activate the front line to grow revenue and improve the guest experience at the same time. 📈 Sloan shares what surprised him: he still saw lift even in hotels that already used Nor1 🏨 He also saw real upside in select-service hotels because teams stopped...
info_outline
MyPlace Hotels Hits 125 Properties: How They Keep Growing in Extended Stay
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
MyPlace just hit 125 properties. That milestone matters even more now, because extended stay keeps getting more competitive. During the , I talked with , VP of Franchise Development at , about how they keep growing, where they’re expanding next, and what he sees heading into 2026. 🏨 Eric says MyPlace planted its flag in extended stay early—before everyone chased the category 🗺️ He shares the growth snapshot: openings in Arizona and California, plus expansion into Florida 📅 He previews the next owner/GM conference: September 22 in Miami at the JW Marriott, with collaboration...
info_outline
Hotel Demand Shifts: Blowout Trips, Meetings, and “Value”
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outline
Adaptive Reuse That Pencils: Historic Tax Credits Explained
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outline
How AI Frees Up Hotel GMs and Sales Teams to Execute
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
, 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...
info_outline
Customer Journey 6: Property-Level Execution
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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: ...
info_outline
1026: How Women Advance in Hospitality: The Data and the Playbook
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outline
World Cup Demand Reality: The 60–90 Day Booking Window
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outlineRed Roof treats AAHOACON like the Super Bowl, and Matt Hostetler explains why: owners, franchisees, and partners all show up in one place.
No Vacancy is the official podcast of AAHOACON, and I talked with Matt Hostetler, Chief Development Officer at Red Roof, about growth, franchisee support, and how Red Roof helps owners win when the economy tightens.
🚀 Growth strategy for 2026 and why multi-unit owners keep driving momentum
🤝 RIDE program Road to Inclusivity, Diversity, and Entrepreneurship with Lina Patel and She Leads
📲 Tech focus: tools that cut costs or drive revenue, plus an app refresh that delivered a 65% revenue increase year over year
🤖 AI marketing with Zeta Global to convert demand into stays
⏱️ Best AAHOACON detail: Matt tries to time how long it takes to get anywhere… and stops every ten feet to talk to people
Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might’ve missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.