Hospitality Daily Podcast

In this episode, Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares how his teams evaluate different types of business, connect forecasts to operating decisions, and use lessons from the results to improve the next forecast. He also shares why better training and deeper use of technology can help improve profitability.

Learn more about Paul Mengacci on LinkedIn 

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In this episode, Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares the experiences that taught him to see the whole hotel business. He reflects on his career in operations and finance, the people who helped him grow, and how those experiences shape the way he leads today.

Learn more: Paul Mengacci on LinkedIn

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What does becoming an AI-first company make possible for hotels and their guests? Kevin King, CEO of Shiji International, shares how Shiji is building on years of investment in connected technology to develop AI with hotel companies, simplify complex workflows, and give teams more time with guests.

We discuss why Shiji took time to establish the right foundations for AI, how it's changing the way their teams build technology, and a late-checkout development example that shows what having work done for you could look like. Kevin also offers guidance on choosing technology partners and shares his vision...

In this episode, Chris Anderson, the Professor and Area Chair of Services Management at the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, shares what he has learned as owner of a historic inn in Ithaca. 

You'll hear why owning a property where most guests return year after year gave him a different perspective on pricing than others, why the inn closes during its slower periods so his team can travel and be with family, and what getting close to operations—then stepping back from it—taught him. 

Listen to my earlier conversations with Chris: 

In this episode, Chris Anderson, the Professor and Area Chair of Services Management at the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, shares what he's learned about how hotel leaders learn, from teaching both 20-year-old undergraduates and 65-year-old seasoned leaders. You'll hear how Chris keeps learning himself, why real learning is supposed to feel inefficient, and why AI is bringing hands-on, learn-by-doing skill-building back to leaders in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.

Chris's course: AI in Hospitality certificate (eCornell)

Listen to my earlier conversation with Chris: Why Hotels Can't Wait on AI

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In this episode, Cally Coombs, the fifth-generation innkeeper at Little River Inn, shares how her family's inn on California's Mendocino Coast keeps changing while remaining loved by locals and visitors alike. You'll hear why the bar stays exactly as it is while everything else is up for grabs, how a loyalty program for the rainy months brings guests back when the coast is quiet, and why giving your team real authority only works when they care enough to listen first.

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Hotel guest satisfaction increased across every segment in J.D. Power's 2026 North America study. Andrea Stokes, Practice Lead, Hospitality Intelligence, explains what guests are noticing in rooms and shared spaces, why responsive human service still matters alongside mobile check-in, and what operators can learn from food and beverage. We also discuss how J.D. Power benchmarks large third-party hotel management companies.

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Today in Washington, DC, I shared findings from the State of Hotel AI research I ran with Nazpari Aydin for Destination AI. We surveyed hotel company leaders about how they feel about AI, where it's paying off today, and what's holding them back. 

The research

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AI is the tool, mindset is the operating system, and hospitality is the outcome. In this episode, Danica Smith, Guest Experience Correspondent at Hospitality Daily and founder of MorningStar GX, shares what this framework means for hospitality leaders: giving people the time and support to use AI, keeping experimentation focused on useful outcomes, and considering operational efficiency alongside team well-being and guest experience.

Read Danica’s article: You Cannot Automate Your Way Out Of Overwhelm

Listen to our previous conversation: Is AI Actually Improving Our Lives?

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In this episode, Danica Smith, Guest Experience Correspondent at Hospitality Daily and founder of MorningStar GX, joins Josiah Mackenzie to share her read on AI in travel and hospitality, fresh from the main stage at AI Summit Barcelona, where not one person in the room said they would let an AI agent book their trip without approval. Danica and Josiah compare that hesitation with Josiah’s recent experience using AI to research and book a trip. They also discuss inequality in experimenting with AI, what productivity measures can miss about hospitality work, consent when technology records guests, and whether a...

In this episode, Steven Moore, CEO of Actabl, and Joseph Benjamin, Actabl's Chief Technology Officer, share a practical approach to using AI in hotel operations as leaders prepare for budget season. They explain why reliable operational AI depends on trusted data, how it can give hotel teams more time with guests, and how leaders can move from scattered experiments to a coherent architecture without creating new security and cost problems.

Watch the webinar:

Explore Actabl AI:

Dan Kornick, Chief Information Officer at Loews Hotels, explains how they decide where AI can improve hotel work and guest service. Dan also discusses working with technology partners, measuring results, and testing whether the value justifies the cost.

Going to Destination AI? Hear Dan there: Destination AI Forum.

Read my related HotelOperations.com article: Most Hotel AI is Stuck in “Pilot Purgatory” But Loews Sees a Way Out.

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Alex Cabañas, founder and CEO of Astound Ventures and executive chairman of Pyramid Global Hospitality, shares how our industry can innovate to make hotels more profitable, working in hotels more rewarding, and stays in hotels more enjoyable.

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Sloan Dean introduces AI Hospitality Group and explains why he's building an AI-native hotel management company. He covers the pace, risks, and benefits of AI; the pressure on hotel owners; and how he's approaching recruiting, sales, and daily operations through hotel partnerships. Sloan also explains his profit-sharing management model and what he believes this approach could mean for hotel associates, owners, and guests.

Links:

In this episode, Cornell professor Chris Anderson shares why hotels cannot afford to treat AI as a "wait-and-see" issue. Drawing on research he conducted about how different traveler segments use AI, he explains why hotel discovery is becoming more contextual and why reviews and trusted third-party information matter. We also discuss what hoteliers can test now, why integrated technology will matter more, and how more specific guest requests could eventually change what hotels offer.

Chris Anderson will be speaking at Destination AI 2026. Learn more about the event here.

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In this episode, hosted by our careers correspondent Emily Goldfischer, founder of hertelier, Charlotte Weatherall, General Manager of Corinthia London, shares what she has learned about building a career and leading as herself.

Charlotte explains how her sales and marketing background prepared her to become a GM, why trusting her team shapes the guest experience, and how she balances ambition with family life. She also shares what hospitality needs to change to support women’s progression and why kindness belongs in even the most difficult leadership conversations.

Read Emily’s original Hertelier article: Charlotte Weatherall, Gene...

Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley & The Napa Valley Reserve and former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide, shares a recent experience with AI as a guest, and then what it's like providing service in a world where more and more people use AI as they travel.

Previous episodes with Jeff:

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Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley & The Napa Valley Reserve and former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide, shares a few thoughts on how to train your teams for excellence. 

Previous episodes with Jeff:

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Jeff Wielgopolan of Meadowood Napa Valley explains what it means for a guest experience to be consistent within itself, with the setting, language, and service all fitting together. He shares how that coherence can look different across properties and individual guests, including a bellman in Johannesburg whose personal response met him exactly where he was after a long journey.

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Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley & The Napa Valley Reserve and former Senior Vice President of Learning & Development at Forbes Travel Guide, joins us to explore what excellence looks and feels like in hospitality.  He explains why you often sense the quality of a hospitality experience within the first minutes, and how team energy, attentiveness, and simple acts of service shape the guest experience.  You’ll hear examples from Meadowood and Raffles Warsaw, plus Jeff’s story of a bartender who remembered him five years later and why those personal connections keep guests coming back.

Previo...

This summer, Hospitality Daily founder Josiah Mackenzie did something he’d wanted to do for years: drive across the U.S. coast to coast. In this episode, he shares some of the experiences that stood out to him, what he appreciated as a guest, and how an evening gone wrong reminded him how important hospitality is.

Mentioned in this episode: 

Share with Josiah what stood out to you about your travels here

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In this episode, Drew Bridges, principal at JMI Realty, shares the process behind one of the hotel deals the Wall Street Journal recently covered, including how he uses AI to read thousands of guest reviews and understand what is actually broken in a hotel before buying it.

You’ll hear how Drew uses guest feedback to identify investment opportunities, how the same analysis showed him that the elevators at the Hilton Garden Inn Austin Downtown were a real capital problem while the air conditioning primarily needed better preventative maintenance, and how he evaluates the operator who will ul...

In this episode, Emily Johnson, founder of Elevate Hospitality Collective; Erica Huss, creator of All Too Well; and Jen Veralle, founder of Mindful Drinking Movement and Sauna and Sobriety, share a practical approach to hotel wellness that doesn't start with a big CapEx budget.

They explore why the guest room may be the most powerful wellness facility on a property, how a thoughtful non-alcoholic beverage program can create incremental revenue, and how guided sauna and community experiences can give guests restorative ways to connect without depending on alcohol.

This...

What does AI adoption personally mean for a hospitality technology leader? In this episode, Sage Hospitality CTO Matt Schwartz explains how he is using AI to manage email, meetings, calendar demands, and other work so he can get back time for his company, family, and personal well-being.

Matt also shares how he keeps building AI fluency by learning from peers inside and outside hospitality, following technology companies and industry thinkers, and making continuous learning part of his routine.

Listen to our series with Matt:

In this episode, Sage Hospitality CTO Matt Schwartz explains how hospitality leaders can evaluate AI investment by connecting it to expense reductions, revenue, GOP, and NOI.

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Every technology partnership is a bet, especially when AI is changing what software can do and which providers may remain relevant. In this episode, Sage Hospitality CTO Matt Schwartz explains how he evaluates hotel technology partners -- and who he chooses to work with.

Listen to the series:

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Sage Hospitality CTO Matt Schwartz shares the four-layer framework guiding the company's AI strategy: data, reporting, insights, and action. He explains why hotel data must be brought together and normalized before AI can produce useful analysis or support operational decisions.

The framework moves from a reliable data foundation toward a future in which AI agents can take action, with the ultimate goal of giving property teams more time with guests and their other associates.

Listen to the series with Matt:

Giving people access to AI does not guarantee that they will use it or that your organization will benefit. Sage Hospitality CTO Matt Schwartz explains why he sees AI adoption as a change-management challenge and walks through how he and his team are helping both on-property and home-office leaders build AI fluency.

Matt also shares how Sage measures progress toward its adoption goals, addresses fear and resistance to AI, and focuses its AI initiatives on a human-first goal: helping their people spend less time in front of screens and more time with guests and their teams.

Before Matt Schwartz became Chief Technology Officer at Sage Hospitality, a weekend HTML class changed the trajectory of his career. In the first episode of our six-part series with him, Matt shares how that unexpected experience led him from environmental economics into technology and ultimately hospitality technology leadership.

Learn more about the Destination AI Forum in Washington, DC (where Matt will be speaking)

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Kevin Masse is the founder and owner of Small State Provisions (IG: @SmallState), a Connecticut bakery and café built around one simple idea: create a place where people want to gather. In this conversation, Kevin shares how a career in marketing, advertising, and food media shaped his approach to hospitality, why thoughtful design and local sourcing matter, and how he's navigating the transition from hands-on baker to visionary leader as the business grows. Listen to hear practical insights on building community, creating memorable guest experiences, and scaling without losing what makes a business special. 

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In this sponsor bonus episode, Joseph McGroarty of Actabl shares what he learned working on site with a hotel company in the Forward Deployed Engineering model. He explains how observation and careful listening revealed the language, workflows, and operating knowledge needed to build AI around how hotel teams work and make decisions. 

You'll also hear how Actabl's Altitude product provides verified answers about hotel and portfolio performance, and why co-creation between hotel companies and technology providers helps move AI from a promising product to technology that defends a company's differentiators and drives real value. 

You ma...

In this episode, Emily Johnson, the Founder and CEO of Elevate Hospitality Collective, brings together Joli Barfield, Corporate Director of Human Resources, and Kristi Ellingsworth, Director of Hospitality, both at Dartcor Enterprises, to explore why great guest experiences begin long before a guest arrives.

Drawing on experience across hotels, restaurants, HR and operations, they explain why employee wellbeing is more than a benefits program. It's a leadership and operational practice that shapes everything that matters in hospitality. You'll hear why so many guest-facing wellness initiatives fall short, how Dartcor is building employee wellbeing into daily operations, and...

In this episode, Christina Poon, the General Manager at the Detroit EDITION, shares what watching AI companies can teach hospitality leaders: continuous improvement as a way to win in a business that's "always done it this way," AI as a research tool, and rethinking how you communicate with the next generation joining your team.

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In this episode, Christina Poon, the General Manager at the Detroit EDITION, shares the three layers of impact a hotel can make on its city: a gathering place, an economic engine, and a career catalyst that keeps talent home. You'll hear what she learned advocating for the neighborhood on the board of the Union Square Partnership, including the 14th Street mural painted by a couple hundred volunteers, and the city-first strategy behind the Detroit EDITION.

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In this episode, Christina Poon, the General Manager at the Detroit EDITION, shares how she's building a great hotel guest experience before the property opens. She talks about recruiting leaders in a place where she started with zero network, hiring for attitude plus operational readiness, and designing the guest experience while the building is still under construction. You'll hear why she meets every candidate one-on-one instead of relying on CVs, plus the W Hotels chef collaboration that shows what curated guest moments can deliver.

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In this episode, Christina Poon, the General Manager at the Detroit EDITION, shares how vision guides the moves you make as a hotel leader and throughout your career.

You'll hear how Christina builds a property vision with owners and the team, why she compares each hotel chapter to making a movie, and how her yearly personal review helped lead her from New York to a construction site in Detroit.

Listen to the first part of our series: The Unexpected Joy of a Career in Hospitality

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Christina Poon, General Manager of the soon-to-open Detroit EDITION, shares the story of how an unexpected career recommendation led her into hospitality and why she's never looked back. She reflects on the power of human connection, creating lasting guest experiences, and building a career aligned with your personal values. Christina also explains why she began documenting the realities of hotel leadership on LinkedIn, offering aspiring hospitality leaders a rare behind-the-scenes look at the work. If you're looking for a reminder of what makes hospitality such a meaningful profession, this conversation delivers both perspective and encouragement.

Read Christina's...

In this episode, Milou Neelen, the Founder of Hôtel Magique, shares why so many beautifully designed hotels leave guests feeling nothing. You'll hear why she chases awe over polish, how imperfection makes a space feel more human, and why she believes an awe-inspired hotel moves guests from memorable to transformational. She also gets into the science of awe through the work of UC Berkeley's Dacher Keltner, author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder.

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Scaling a hospitality brand is about more than adding new properties. The real challenge is preserving the culture, service, and sense of connection that made the brand successful in the first place.

In this episode, Lily Wecker, CEO of Aethos, shares how the company approaches growth by investing in people first, choosing locations with intention, and expanding alongside the communities they serve. She explains why culture is the foundation for scaling and why staying true to your identity matters more than growing quickly.

This conversation is hosted by our innovation correspondent Matthias Huettebraeuker.

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Creating a memorable hospitality experience is only part of the challenge. Communicating it in a way that feels just as human is what sets great brands apart.

In this episode, Lily Wecker, CEO of Aethos, explains how the company's human-centered philosophy shapes its marketing and communication. She shares why Aethos prioritizes people over products, how its campaigns capture the spirit of the brand rather than staged perfection, and why storytelling attracts guests who will really connect with its approach to hospitality.

This conversation is hosted by our innovation correspondent Matthias Huettebraeuker.

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