1031: LGBTQ+ Hotel Brand Axel Hotels Targets U.S. Expansion
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 04/30/2026
FNA 218: Red Roof, Red Jackets & Really Bad Advice
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Friday Night Audit gives hotel company presidents a dangerous combination: cocktails, bad ideas and three people absolutely convinced they know how to run the business better. Red Roof President Zack Gharib made the mistake of joining us this week. We insisted our advice was genius. Zack knew better. Between drinks, Craig Sullivan started designing a red-jacket tradition for Red Roof, Suzanne Bagnera battled technical problems, I kept one eye on a pork butt creeping toward 205 degrees, and Zack kept the whole thing moving despite the rest of us. Then we reached the Final Four of the Friday...
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Why This 14-Room Fantasy Hotel Gets Millions of Views
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What happens when you build a hotel around elves, orcs, fairies and leprechauns â and commit fully to the idea? Ancient Lore Village has just 14 rooms, yet some of its social videos draw millions of views, including one that topped 25 million. Now CEO Melissa Blattner is taking the concept much further. I spoke with Melissa about why immersive storytelling connects so strongly with guests and what separates a real experience from something a hotel simply calls an âexperience.â Plenty of hotels deliver perfectly good stays. Far fewer create something guests remember, talk about and share....
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The Dirty Dancing Hotel Lost Its Lake. Hereâs What Happened Next
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What if the biggest problem at your hotel isnât what youâre missing? Heidi Stone knows that trap well. She took over Mountain Lake Lodge â the Virginia resort made famous by Dirty Dancing â when the lake had dried up and the property had plenty working against it. Her answer wasnât to obsess over everything that was wrong. That mindset changed the property, and it shapes how she looks at independent hotels today. If you own or operate a hotel, thereâs a very good chance youâre spending time and money fixing the wrong things. Heidi explains where sheâd look first â and why...
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Why Hotel Companies Are Betting Big on Asia Pacific
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Some of the biggest hotel construction opportunities in the world right now are taking shape across Asia Pacific â and India is accelerating fast. I spoke with Lodging Econometricsâ Bruce Ford about where hotel companies are placing their bets next. Indiaâs hotel pipeline nearly tripled over the past three years, and Bruce expects a construction wave there for the next five to seven years. China brings a different story, with huge numbers of rooms opening, major renovation activity and development patterns that look very different from what we typically see in the U.S. If you want to...
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SBA Hotel Loans Just Got Bigger: How Owners Access Up to $10 Million
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What if the SBAâs $5 million hotel loan limit doesnât actually limit you to $5 million? At LendingCon, SBA Regional Administrator Tyler Teresa explained how hotel owners now use the 7(a) and 504 programs together for as much as $10 million in total financing. Congress never raised the $5 million limit. The SBA found another route. Then Tyler dropped another number every hotel buyer should hear: 15%. Under the 504 program, hotel buyers contribute 15% toward the deal. Tyler also took me through an $8 million hotel acquisition and showed exactly where the 7(a) and 504 pieces fit. I spend...
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Hotel Deals Are Moving Again. Hereâs Whatâs Driving Them
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Waiting for âuncertaintyâ to disappear before making your next hotel deal? Dan Lesser has a technical term for that: a cop-out. I caught up with the LW Hospitality Advisors president and CEO at LendingCon 2026, and Dan sees considerably more activity in the hotel market than all the hand-wringing might suggest. He says the first half of the year has been phenomenal, people continue to travel, substantial hotel transactions are getting done and thereâs money available for acquisitions, refinancing and construction when the economics work. Then we got into what could drive even more deals....
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FNA 217: Belon Our Wildest Dreams
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Staypineapple Hotels President Dina Belon joined us for Friday Night Audit, and within minutes we were talking about underground printer-paper markets, retired Peabody ducks and why her early Google results once featured photos from the Playboy Club. So, pretty much a standard Friday Night Audit. Craig Sullivan and Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera were along for the ride, while I broadcast from EPCOT, questioned ducks about their employment history and went five-for-five on a Phish quiz. After more than 200 shows, I would've been embarrassed if I missed one. Dina also had plenty to say about what...
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Why Hotel Investors Keep Choosing Conversions
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During LendingCon 2026, Glenn Haussman asks Red Roofâs Lina Patel why conversions now account for roughly 80% of the companyâs hotels this year. Lina also explains how Red Roofâs RIDE initiative has helped 40 people become hotel owners and why the company sees more room to grow that number. Watch the conversation to hear what Red Roof sees happening in the hotel deal market right now. #NoVacancyNews #RedRoof #LendingCon Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you mightâve missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
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Why LivAway Makes Extended-Stay Rooms 20% Bigger
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LivAway Suites made a bold choice: give long-term guests more room and still protect the economics behind the hotel. The company builds rooms about 20% larger than typical economy extended-stay rooms, places the kitchen at the center of the space and adds features that matter when someone lives in a hotel for weeks at a time. Fast Wi-Fi, better sound control, package lockers, useful storage and stronger ventilation all play a role. I spoke with LivAway Suites CEO Mike Nielson with Dr. Producer Suzanne Bagnera about how LivAway makes that model work. Mike explains how the company controls...
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Inside the Embassy Suites Reinventing the Brand
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A Michelin-recommended restaurant on top of an Embassy Suites changes the conversation pretty quickly. I spoke with Bonnie Campagnolo, Global Head of Embassy Suites, from the rooftop of the brandâs Asheville hotel, where the restaurant draws customers seven nights a week. The property combines two-room suites, breakfast and the evening reception with meeting space, serious food and beverage, and a rooftop experience befitting the Asheville market. Bonnie explains how Embassy Suites gives developers more flexibility to shape each hotel around local demand while protecting the elements that...
info_outlineAxel Hotels runs 12 properties across four countries with nearly 1,000 rooms, and the brand focuses on the LGBTQ+ community.
I talk with Efrain Castro, COO of Axel Hotels, about how the brand creates community-driven hotels and where the team wants to expand next.
đłď¸âđ Efrain calls Axel the largest hotel chain focused on the LGBTQ+ community, built as a âspace of freedomâ that welcomes anyone who wants that environment
đ Axel uses social spaces to connect travelers and locals, and that local/traveler mix drives repeat demand
đ¨ Axel operates through leases, management agreements, and franchise deals, with a current push toward franchising
đ US expansion sits on the table again; Axel previously operated in Miami Beach, and Efrain names Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and New York City as top targets
𧊠Efrain says Axel tailors the product to each dealânew build, conversion, or guidance on an existing asset
đŠ Franchise and development inquiries: Efrain.Castro@axelhotels.com or the form on axelhotels.com
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Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you mightâve missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.