Khalid Meniri didn’t come from hospitality — but maybe that’s exactly why he was able to see its most obvious blind spot so clearly.
A designer and technologist by trade, Khalid is the founder of Selfbook, the beautifully elegant booking platform that’s quietly powering the next generation of high-end hotels.
In this episode, you’ll hear the remarkable story of how a glass cube on Fifth Avenue (yes, the Apple Store) first inspired Khalid’s obsession with design — and how years later, that obsession led him to reimagine the broken booking experience plaguing even the most beautiful hotels.
We unpack:
-
Why the legacy booking flow is fundamentally broken — and why most hoteliers don’t even realize it
-
How Selfbook is thinking about dynamic pricing, personalized rates, and the future of “invisible tech”
-
Why the most exciting guest journeys of the next decade won’t start on a hotel website — they’ll start in a chat window
-
And how Selfbook’s new partnership with Perplexity could reshape hotel discovery at the point of inspiration
If you care about hospitality tech, design-led products, or the future of direct booking, this is a must-listen.
Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more.
Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we’d love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.
Popular Podcasts
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.
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com