Hotel Tech Insider

Hotel Tech Insider

The HotelTechInsider podcast interviews the top leaders at the convergence of hotels, travel and technology. Guests include founders, executives, top hoteliers and industry organization leadership. Find all of the episodes at hoteltechreport.com

Episodes

May 4, 2026 26 mins

What if your hotel ran itself - an “army of AI agents” handling everything from reservations to check-in - while your staff focused entirely on guests?

In this episode, Aejaz Sodawala, CEO of Yanolja Cloud Solution, shares a forward-looking blueprint for how hotel tech is evolving - from fragmented systems to unified, AI-driven platforms powering over 33,000 hotels globally.

Takeaways:

  •  Why data silos are quietly killing ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

In this episode, Amano Group Managing Directors share how a 1,300-room urban hotel operator executed a full-stack overhaul—switching PMS, rethinking integrations, and redesigning the guest journey around automation, not tradition.

This isn’t theory. It’s a live case of what happens when you treat your tech stack as infrastructure, not tooling.

Key Takeaways:

  • How to rebuild your tech stack around integrations, not vendors....
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Most hotels are trying to deploy AI on top of broken data. In this episode, the founder of Nomse—managing 26 independent hotels—explains why fixing your data layer is the real prerequisite to turning insights into daily decisions.

  • Why AI fails in most hotels: Without clean, connected data across PMS, marketing, finance, and operations, AI outputs lack context and produce little value.
  • How to turn data into daily decision...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Most hotel tech stacks are overbuilt and underused. This one isn’t. In this episode, Harmeet Mann—CEO and cofounder of a 30+ property management firm—breaks down how her team runs high-performing hotels using simple systems, tight workflows, and a stack that’s largely not hotel-specific.

Key Takeaways:
• How to eliminate operational silos across properties by structuring communication and task ownership into one shared ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if the biggest mistake hotels make with technology isn’t adopting it too slowly—but using it to reinforce outdated assumptions about how guests want to interact with your property? In this episode, Matt Dybing, Co-Founder and COO of Nuvho, shares a candid look at how leading operators are using automation, revenue systems, and smarter distribution strategies to outperform competitors.

Nuvho advises nearly 200 hotels ac...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if 70% of your guests are willing to upgrade—but your pricing strategy is leaving that revenue on the table? In this episode, Erik Tengen, President of Hospitality at Plusgrade and former co-founder of Oaky, explains why the future of hotel profitability isn’t RevPAR—it’s total revenue, frictionless upselling, and becoming “agent-ready."

Experienced hotel operators, GMs, commercial leaders, and ownership groups focused...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if your busiest check-in nights didn’t require a front-desk line at all—even when most guests booked through OTAs? In this episode, Fabio Passos, Owner & CEO of QDI USA Developments (a multi-property operator with hotels across Florida and Brazil) breaks down the practical playbook he’s used to modernize arrivals, improve security, and squeeze more signal out of property data—without waiting for a brand to catch u...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if the fastest way to improve service, upsells, and loyalty isn’t adding staff—but redesigning how guests communicate with your hotel?

In this episode, Greg Nawrocki, Director of Online Marketing at Linchris Hotel Corporation (30+ hotels across urban, resort, branded, and independent properties), delivers a rare, operator-level breakdown of how modern hotel marketing actually works in the wild—where technology has to p...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

How do you scale hotel operations across brands, countries, and systems - without losing control or culture?

 In this episode of Hotel Tech Insider, we sit down with Øyvind Bøhm Frisak, Chief Commercial Officer at CIC Hospitality, to unpack how a fast-growing Nordic hotel operator is using AI, data, and unconventional guest-facing tech to drive efficiency, improve service, and prepare teams for the future.

 This conversation...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
December 29, 2025 27 mins

Guest reviews aren’t just social proof anymore—they’re quietly becoming the backbone of pricing power, AI-driven discovery, and automated guest communication. In this episode of Hotel Tech Insider, Ben Jost, Founder and CEO of TrustYou, shares how nearly two decades of working with the world’s largest hotel brands has shaped his view on where reputation management is headed next—and why many hoteliers are still underestima...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if removing your front desk—and doubling down on the right integrations—was the key to keeping your hotel profitable after COVID?

In this episode of Hotel Tech Insider, Roberto Pacaccio, Revenue & Expense Manager at GWT Hotels, shares how a five-property independent hotel group in San Francisco survived near-shutdown, rebuilt its operating model, and lowered its breakeven point by rethinking technology from the gro...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What happens when a boutique hotel director builds a fully personalized “signature tech stack” from the ground up—and proves you don’t need to be a tech native to run one of the most digitally advanced 70-key properties in Berlin? In this episode, Tini Diekmann, Hotel Director at the acclaimed Hotel Oderberger, reveals the real-world tools, workflows, and mindsets that transformed her operations.

 This episode is designed f...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What happens when the Chief Commercial Officer of the world’s largest hotel franchisor rethinks the entire guest-to-tech relationship? In this episode, Wyndham CCO Scott Strickland reveals how a single global tech stack, empathetic AI, and vendor co-development are quietly reshaping hotel operations at a scale few brands on earth can match.


Key Takeaways:

  •  How Wyndham uses one global tech stack across 9,000 hotels—an...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Did you know 30–40% of guest calls to hotels go unanswered? In this episode, Harman Singh Narula, CEO and co-founder of Canary Technologies, shares how his team is tackling this operational gap while redefining the entire digital guest journey—backed by $80M in funding and multiple HotelTechAwards wins.

This episode is for veteran hoteliers, brand executives, and asset managers who want to understand where guest-facing tech...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if you could double your hotel’s efficiency—without adding headcount? In this episode, Michael Bohler, Founder of SUM Hospitality, reveals how he’s transforming independent hotels in Switzerland into high-performing, tech-enabled operations that run smoother, smarter, and more profitably.


 This episode is for hotel owners, general managers, and operations leaders looking to modernize their tech stack, reduce manual...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What happens when a 20-hotel operator treats brand data, RMS outputs, and labor costs as one system—and then points AI at it?

Takeaways:

  • Build a single source of truth: How Hospitality America centralizes Amadeus/TravelClick market data, Hilton Grow & Marriott OneYield outputs, and Actabl (ProfitSword + Hotel Effectiveness) in a Microsoft data lake to power faster decisions.
  • Make revenue meet labor—down to the penny: ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if your team could double productivity—without adding a single new hire? In this episode, Diego Fernández, CEO of Port Hotels, reveals how his 11-property Spanish hotel group is scaling smarter by automating repetitive work and treating technology as an investment, not a cost.

Takeaways:

  • Build for scalability, not complexity: Learn how Port Hotels is using a unified PMS ecosystem to operate 11 hotels as efficiently ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if you could design the perfect hotel room—not on paper, but by testing it in real life with 200 real guests? In this episode, Asli Kutlucan, CEO of TFE Hotels Europe, reveals how her team built a “lab hotel” in Berlin to reimagine hospitality from the ground up.

This episode is tailored for experienced hoteliers, executives, and owners who want to stay ahead of shifting guest expectations, leverage new technology, and...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What if you could run a 116-property hotel portfolio without a single traditional front desk? In this episode of Hotel Tech Insider, Julius Anders, Head of Operations at Numa, reveals how his team is redefining hospitality with technology at its core.


Key Takeaways:

  • AI-Driven Decision Making: How Numa uses data, automation, and AI to save up to 60% in payroll costs.
  • Guest Experience Reimagined: What a fully digital gu...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Can rethinking something as fundamental as market segmentation unlock new performance gains in hotels? Joe Pettigrew, Group Chief Commercial Officer at L+R Hotels—one of the world’s largest privately held hotel investment and operating groups—thinks so.

Takeaways:
 • Hear how L+R Hotels is standardizing PMS, RMS, and CRS across 100+ properties to unlock scale, consistency, and better reporting.
 • Learn why Pettigrew ...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices