Behind the Stays

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5 Ways OpenAI's Sora Will Revolutionize Hospitality Entrepreneurship Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of Behind the Stays, Zach shares five tangible and tactical ideas for how OpenAI's new Sora model will fundamentally change hospitality entrepreneurship.

Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions.

Sora is able to generate complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion, and accurate details of the subject and background. The model understands not only what the user has asked for in the prompt, but also how those things exist in the physical world.

See Sora in action here.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Valcove Hospitality.
Valcove Hospitality enables you to have a dedicated assistant available 24/7 who can help with everything from email comms to responding to Karen — and they make this all possible at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.

Whether you’re managing 10 properties or scaling up to 150, Valcove's experienced team is ready to help you streamline your operations. Say goodbye to the endless cycle of hiring and training staff, and say hello to seamless efficiency.

With flexible partnership options tailored to your needs, Valcove offers 24/7 support, or a custom schedule that fits your business. And with a straightforward hourly rate of just $9.95/hour for your entire portfolio, you always know what to expect on your bill - no surprises, just dependable, transparent service.

The team at Valcove is offering 'Behind the Stays' listeners, like you, an exclusive offer. Use the code BEHINDTHESTAYS50 to get 50% off your first month with Valcove Hospitality.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How They Built a Cabin Collection That Landed in Vogue — The Story of North Country Cabin Co. Feb 16, 2024

Show notes

Meet Stephanie Gutierrez, the creator of North Country Cabin Co. — a boutique collection of short-term rentals located just 90 minutes from Minnesota's twin cities in Comstock, Wisconsin.

Growing up, Stephanie wanted to be an artist — her grandmother had an incredible eye for art and design and Stephanie dreamed of emulating her.

And while she didn’t become a professional artist, her knack for creativity would wind up leading her to launch a boutique hospitality company in partnership with her husband Eric.

In this episode, Stephanie and I discuss:

How and why she and Eric got into short-term rentals
The story behind how they found their first cabin and what it took to get it Airbnb-ready
Whether building from the ground up or renovating an existing cabin yields a more profitable unit
How they landed in Vogue and on the Magnolia Network
And so much more

Alright friends, without further adieu, get ready to meet Stephanie.

The team at Valcove is offering 'Behind the Stays' listeners, like you, an exclusive offer. Use the code BEHINDTHESTAYS50 to get 50% off your first month with Valcove Hospitality.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

So, Was the STR Wealth Conference Worth It? Here's What This Year's Attendees Thought Feb 13, 2024

Show notes

One of the newest and hottest industry events, STR Wealth Con, just wrapped last week — and we wanted to know what people thought about the event!

In this episode, Zach sits down with Wil Slickers (emcee of the event), Sean Wilkinson (Co-Founder of Hostshare and first-time conferences attendee), and Heidie Henriksen ( a vacation rental industry veteran, to get their thoughts on the content, the community, and the networking at the event.

Let us know what you thought of the event by joining the conversation on LinkedIn!

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Turno.

Turno is the smartest way to schedule, pay, and find vacation rental cleaners — think of Turno as an Uber or Task Rabbit for STR hosts.

Simply create an account, describe your listing’s cleaning needs, and Turno will match you with cleaners near you.

Turno offers simple, affordable pricing for STR hosts of any size. Single property accounts and Marketplace users get access to all the platform’s tools and features for FREE. And they make working with your existing teams easy too, with plans as low as just $6/month per property.

Learn more and earn a $150 Amazon Gift Card after you complete your first cleaning.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

Building the Prequel to Airbnb: Jeremy Gall on the Story of Flipkey and the Foundation of Breezeway Feb 09, 2024

Show notes

Meet Jeremy Gall, Founder & CEO of Breezeway — the leading property care, operations and messaging platform for hospitality entrepreneurs.

Growing up, Jermey wanted to be a professional basketball player. And while he never made it into the NBA, he did make it into Law School.

But Jeremy’s professional career as an attorney wouldn’t last long because he was bit by that sneaky, but ever so enticing, entrepreneurial bug.

Tune into hear the exciting story of how Jeremy co-founded and built Flipkey, the first online marketplace for vacation rentals, which was ultimately acquired by Trip Advisor, why he built Breezeway, the industry’s leading operations hub, and the opportunity he sees for other hospitality innovators and entrepreneurs over the next 5 years.

Learn more about Breezeway

Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn

This episode is brought to you by Summer.

Summer takes the headache out of owning a vacation rental by taking care of sourcing, designing, furnishing and managing your home.

What makes Summer especially unique is the pathway to ownership that they offer — think of this as an option to “try before you actually buy an Airbnb”

Here’s how Summer’s Gradual Ownership model works:

You work with Summer to find the perfect vacation rental — one that’s in a market that you want to vacation to and also in a market that makes sense for a vacation rental.
Summer guides you through the whole discernment process of where, when and what kind of home to buy.
When you find the right home, put down a downpayment of 15+% but Summer buys the home for you and holds it for up to two years — during this time you can buy back the home from them any time you are ready or, after the two year period you can decide you DON’T want the home and get a full refund of your down payment.
Also, Summer covers all of the closing costs and fees for the upfront purchase on the home, as well as furnishing and design. This means you pay far less out of pocket than you would if you bought the home yourself from day one.

So if you’ve been looking for a way to beta test the whole Airbnb game, this is your sign. Go and chat with my new friends at Summer and tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

She Wanted to Be a Cat, a Vet, or an Anesthesiologist — So, Naturally, She Got into Vacation Rentals Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

Meet Meaghan Moylan, Executive Director of Outpost — a Vacation Rental and Property Management company located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

If you were to have asked Meaghan what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have told you a cat, a veterinarian, a nurse, or a lawyer — depending on whether she was 3, 10, 15, or 18.

As fate would have it, Meaghan did not become any of the aforementioned and, after graduating from college with a degree in public relations, decided she was going to move to Thailand to teach English. One night at a bonfire she was telling an acquaintance about her plans to move abroad when said acquaintance asked her if she’d ever considered working in hospitality.

She hadn’t…but that night, Meaghan went home and, on a total whim, applied for a job at 360 Blue, one of the most respected, luxury vacation rental companies in the country…and, well, she got the job and almost 10 years later, Meaghan has become one of the most interesting and influential young voices in the industry.

In this chat, Meaghan and I discuss:

Opportunities she sees for young entrepreneurs to build great businesses in and around vacation rentals
What the quote-on-quote “Instagram Airbnb Host” can learn from professional operators (and vice-versa)
Her new love of podcasting
Hot takes she has on the future of hospitality
And so much more…

Connect with Meaghan on LinkedIn

Learn more about Outpost

Stream Workflows and Espressos

Follow Corporate Natalie on Instagram

The team at Valcove is offering 'Behind the Stays' listeners, like you, an exclusive offer. Use the code BEHINDTHESTAYS50 to get 50% off your first month with Valcove Hospitality.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

Marriott’s Venture into Vacation Rentals: The Story Behind Launching Homes & Villas Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

Meet Chris Stephenson, Vice President of Global Development at Marriott Homes & Villas.

Chris has spent his career building new, innovative products and services across travel and hospitality.

In February of 2019, Chris was a part of the founding team of Marriott Homes & Villas and in charge of thinking through how best to bring Marriott’s vacation rental home product to life.

In this episode, Chris and I discuss:

What it’s like incubating a new product offering within a legacy business
Why Marriott Homes & Villas has had a different business model from Airbnb since Day 1
How Homes & Villas has grown from a couple of thousand listings to a couple hundred thousand listings in just the last couple of years
How Bonvoy, Marriott’s loyalty program, has played a roll in accelerating usage of Homes & Villas
And what the product roadmap for Homes & Villas looks like in 2024 and beyond

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Turno.

Turno is the smartest way to schedule, pay, and find vacation rental cleaners — think of Turno as an Uber or Task Rabbit for STR hosts.

Simply create an account, describe your listing’s cleaning needs, and Turno will match you with cleaners near you.

Learn more and earn a $150 Amazon Gift Card after you complete your first cleaning.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How She Designed a Luxury Haven in the Blue Ridge Mountains That Got Wander's Attention Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

Meet Taylor Bates, the creator of The Afton House — a stunning, luxury home made for gathering and nestled in the heart of Virginia wine country.

Growing up, Taylor wanted to be an architect or a Fortune 500 CEO — she’s always loved the intersection of marketing, design, and business.

After working in a few marketing management and nonprofit leadership roles, Taylor wound up starting her own boutique interior design firm focusing on residential and commercial projects.

And it was around this time when the idea of building a luxury short-term rental that was conducive to multi-family stays, first began to percolate.

Tune in to here the story behind:

How Taylor designed a truly unforgettable stay in Afton, Virginia
Her process for approaching a design project — the room she loves designing most and the room she loves designing least
Getting approached by Wander about joining the Wander network, Wander’s new managed service option
And so much more…

Book The Afton House

Follow The Afton House on Instagram

Connect with Taylor on Instagram

This episode is brought to you by Summer.

Summer takes the headache out of owning a vacation rental by taking care of sourcing, designing, furnishing and managing your home.

What makes Summer especially unique is the pathway to ownership that they offer — think of this as an option to “try before you actually buy an Airbnb”

Here’s how Summer’s Gradual Ownership model works:

You work with Summer to find the perfect vacation rental — one that’s in a market that you want to vacation to and also in a market that makes sense for a vacation rental.
Summer guides you through the whole discernment process of where, when and what kind of home to buy.
When you find the right home, put down a downpayment of 15+% but Summer buys the home for you and holds it for up to two years — during this time you can buy back the home from them any time you are ready or, after the two year period you can decide you DON’T want the home and get a full refund of your down payment.
Also, Summer covers all of the closing costs and fees for the upfront purchase on the home, as well as furnishing and design. This means you pay far less out of pocket than you would if you bought the home yourself from day one.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

He Dreamed of Being a Farmer, But Wound Up An Entrepreneur: The Story of Back Forty Glamping Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

Meet Scott McIntosh, Co-Founder of Back Forty Glamping, a luxurious glamping oasis on 26 acres of land in Meaford, Ontario.

Growing up, Scott wanted to be a farmer — he loved being outdoors and the notion that you could make a life from tilling fields and harvesting crops was incredibly attractive to him.

And while Scott wound up pursuing a career as an educator instead, a few years ago he and his brother Ben had an idea which would enable Scott to trade the classroom for the great outdoors…

And that idea? Well, it was to build a glamping resort featuring luxury domes just 2 hours outside of Toronto, Canada.

Tune in to hear the story of how:

Scott and the team worked through loads of red tape to get Back Forty Glamping approved by their local municipality
Why they decided on domes as their unique stay structure of choice
What it actually cost to bring the first 5 domes to life
Why investing in the right infrastructure and building the right product from the beginning is crucial for success.
How they’re thinking about franchising the Back Forty Glamping brand
And so much more

Book a Stay at Back Forty Glamping

Follow Back Forty Glamping on Instagram

Connect with the Back Forty Team

The team at Valcove is offering 'Behind the Stays' listeners, like you, an exclusive offer. Use the code BEHINDTHESTAYS50 to get 50% off your first month with Valcove Hospitality.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How He's Reimagining Outdoor Hospitality Through the Restoration of 970 acres of Texas Hill Country Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

Meet Dylan Barahona, General Manager at Canyon of the Eagles, a nature resort and preserve on 940 acres of land, located just 1.5 Hours from Austin, Texas.

If you were to have asked Dylan at ten-years-old what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d tell you either a professional baseball player or a chef.

And while neither of those dreams quite panned out, the latter, dream set him on path to pursue a career in hospitality, and, over the last decade, Dylan has become a highly-regarded and respect voice in outdoor hospitality.

In this episode, Dylan and I discuss:

How he’s reimagining outdoor hospitality through the restoration of 970 acres of Texas Hill Country
The importance of building an event strategy at your glamping resort
The future of fine dining in the glamping space
The opportunities he sees for hospitality entrepreneurs in the space
And so much more

Learn more about Canyon of the Eagles

Follow Canyon one the Eagles on Instagram

Connect with Dylan on LinkedIn

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Turno.

Turno is the smartest way to schedule, pay, and find vacation rental cleaners — think of Turno as an Uber or Task Rabbit for STR hosts.

Simply create an account, describe your listing’s cleaning needs, and Turno will match you with cleaners near you.

Learn more and earn a $150 Amazon Gift Card after you complete your first cleaning.

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

How They're Building the Hottest New Tiny Home: The Story of ÖÖD Mirror House Jan 19, 2024

Show notes

Meet Antonio Gonzalez, President of ÖÖD House — the company behind the instagram famous mirror houses.

Antonio is an engineer by trade, but always had a heart for entrepreneurship…

So, when the opportunity to co-found Jupe along with past-podcast guest Jeff Wilson and take it through Y Combinator, the world’s most prestigious of startup accelerators, came about, he took it.

Antonio learned SO much from the accelerator where the Airbnb founders also graduated from and had an incredible couple of years at Jupe before realizing that his heart was really in hospitality.

Tune in to hear the story of how ÖÖD House, founded in Estonia, came to be, what their game plan for expanding in the US in 2024 and 2025 looks like, and the kind of hospitality entrepreneurs they are looking to partner with to make this happen.

Learn more about ÖÖD House here.

Follow ÖÖD on Instagram

Connect with Antonio on LinkedIn here.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at StayFi.

StayFi is enables you to create a custom branded WiFi splash page for your short-term rental’s WiFi — similar to what you might experience when logging onto the WiFi network at your favorite coffee shop.

StayFi enables you to collect the contact info of every guest staying with you, not just the one who booked…because who doesn’t need the wifi?

So if you want a frictionless way to capture guest contact info and empower your direct booking strategy with more data, sign up for StayFi at StayFi.com and use the discount code “BTS” for 20% off of your first year…

If you chat with the team there, be sure to tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you their way!

Have you signed up for Ping yet?

Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available — and it's the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.

About the Show

Behind the Stays is brought to you twice a week by Sponstayneous — a free, biweekly newsletter that brings subscribers the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb.

You can subscribe, for free, at www.sponstayneous.com.

Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus, co-founder of Sponstayneous, you can connect with him on Twitter at @zboozee.

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