Curator Hotels VP on Why Labor Costs Drive Every Tech Decision
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 06/26/2026
Hotel Deals Are Moving Again. Hereâs Whatâs Driving Them
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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....
info_outline
FNA 217: Belon Our Wildest Dreams
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outline
Why Hotel Investors Keep Choosing Conversions
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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.
info_outline
Why LivAway Makes Extended-Stay Rooms 20% Bigger
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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...
info_outline
Inside the Embassy Suites Reinventing the Brand
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
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_outline
How Independent Hotels Grow Without Losing Their Identity
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Curator Hotel & Resort Collection brings together some seriously cool independent hotels without sanding away the qualities that make them interesting. New Waterloo offers a great example. The company creates distinctive hotels inside historic buildings, connecting each property to its surrounding community. Curator gives the team greater buying power, stronger vendor relationships, broader marketing support and tools that help each hotel competeâwhile New Waterloo protects the identity and guest experience. I spoke with Jennifer Barnwell, President of Curator Hotel & Resort...
info_outline
How This Hotel Owner Keeps Employees for 20 Years
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Anthony Klok keeps 80% of his hotel staff for more than 20 years, and he doesnât credit software, surveys or another employee engagement program. I visited Anthony, Principal of Rebel Hospitality, at the Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace in Chicago while he cooked for his staff and handed out appreciation bonuses. He explained why people stay, why so many hotel companies still get this wrong and how owners directly shape the culture inside their properties. Anthony also connects that loyalty to stronger guest service and better business performance. His hotel just recorded its best summer...
info_outline
Why Your Hotel's Brand Promise Breaks At the Front Desk
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Every hotel brand makes a promise on a slide deck somewhere. There's a real gap between what a hotel brand promises and what actually happens at the front desk. I got brand strategist Philipp Mirow, CEO of Meridian Thinking, on the show with Dr. Producer Suzanne to figure out exactly where that promise falls apart. Philipp ran the Radisson brand while at Choice Hotels, then founded Meridian Thinking, the consultancy behind brand work for Hilton, Starwood, and 1 Hotels, among others. He's also got an unusual detour on his resume that shapes how he thinks about all of it. This conversation gets...
info_outline
Hotels Are One Bad Laundry Day From Disaster
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Picture 100% occupancy on your busiest weekend of the year â then picture running out of towels. Rooms sit unsellable, guests grow furious, and the hotel writes refunds and credits just to get through the night. Bart Begley built Integrity Laundry Services so no hotel has to live through that scenario, and I went to Destin, Florida to see how. Under Bart's model, hotels don't own a single towel or sheet anymore â Integrity owns every piece of linen outright and delivers a fresh set the night before a hotel even needs it. His proprietary system pulls reservation data straight from a...
info_outline
Why the Hotel Market Keeps Defying Expectations
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
The hotel business apparently didnât get the memo that everything is supposed to be terrible. Consumers feel squeezed. Credit-card debt keeps climbing. Business travel remains soft. Hotel construction faces the same cost and financing challenges weâve discussed for years. Yet hotels keep performing, people keep traveling and owners keep making deals. So whatâs actually holding this market together? I asked Bruce Ford, SVP at Lodging Econometrics, to help me make sense of it. We talked about why event travel continues to deliver, how hotels can offer deals without destroying their rates...
info_outlineBrent Hayhurst, VP at Curator Hotel and Resort Collection, won't look at a new technology until he knows what KPI it's supposed to move.
đ¸ Labor is the largest line item on any hotel owner's balance sheet, and that's the number Curator's tech decisions chase.
đď¸ Curator skips the big splashy booths and goes straight to the fringes of the show floor, where the new ideas show up first.
𧪠A pilot that fails isn't wasted. Hayhurst treats it as proof the team needs a different approach entirely.
âď¸ AI is already pulling phone calls off the front desk so staff can focus on the guest standing in front of them.
More from the show floor at HITEC. #NoVacancyNews
Unifocus, Workforce Management Redefined. Visit unifocus.com.
Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.