Hyperfixed – "Upsetting the Apple Cart" (October 2, 2025)

Podcast: Hyperfixed
Host: Alex Goldman
Guest: Matt Vella (Hospitality Technologist, former hotelier)
Producer: Amor Yates
Main Theme: Unraveling the hidden mechanisms and consequences behind why hotels consistently offer guests unappetizing apples, and what this says about the evolution of the hospitality industry.

Episode Overview

In this episode, Alex Goldman digs deep into the unglamorous but curiously persistent presence of bland apples—especially the infamous Red Delicious and sour green varieties—in hotels across the globe. Joined by hospitality industry expert Matt Vella, the conversation reveals how seemingly minor annoyances, like bad hotel apples, reflect broader shifts in hotel management, cost-cutting, the loss of personalized service, and the quest for meaningful guest experiences.

Matt offers insight from his years in hotels and hospitality technology, dissecting why service quality and little touches are eroding even as hotel prices rise—and why even fruit bowls are more than they appear.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hotels and the Problem of Bad Apples

• Alex introduces the "garbage fruit" problem: why do hotel guests so often find mushy Red Delicious or sour green apples at the breakfast bar or as welcome gifts?

  • [00:54] "Like, this gross, mushy, mealy, flavorless apple... was never meant to be eaten at all." — Alex

• Matt, who spent years in hotel operations and founded Muse (hospitality tech), explains that these apple choices are rooted in cost-cutting and durability over real guest satisfaction.

  • [11:53] “Nobody wants to eat these. They're sour... that is not a great welcome gift.” — Matt
  • [13:18] “It feels like in this hotel, the accountants made the guest decisions instead of the hosts. And that creates really bad hospitality moments.” — Matt

2. Personal vs. Corporate Hospitality

• Matt reminisces about falling in love with hotels at age four and laments how service has changed as hotels have become “asset-light” and often separated from the brands guests know.

  • [06:11] “Today it's an asset light product. So the person that owns the building is different from the person that operates the building that operates the brand.” — Matt
  • [07:00] “I miss the manager at the front line... There's just less care for service.”

• The industry’s evolution has distanced management from direct guest experience, leading to more transactional interactions.

  • [07:07] “If you don't feel a connection to the place you're working, you are going to feel less interested in it.” — Alex

3. Questioning Hotel Ratings and Real Service

• The hosts discuss how official star ratings often have little to do with actual guest satisfaction—especially service.
  • [09:31] “These stars are handed out by the government... In the US there's like no official system at all.” — Alex
  • [10:46] “The best hospitality experiences... aren't the beautiful swimming pool. It's the person that serves you the drink... that does something really unique.” — Matt

4. Omelettes and Outrage: Fixating on Breakfast Service

• Matt shares his frustration at a 4-star hotel expecting guests to cook their own breakfast eggs, which sparked a viral LinkedIn post about declining service that resonated globally.
  • [08:39] “I thought, I don't even make omelettes at my house, let alone at your buffet. And I thought, how can a four star hotel... not have any service at the breakfast?” — Matt
  • [11:10] “I am a terrible cook and I go to hotels because I don't want to cook. So don't make me do the thing I don't want to do because that creates a bad experience.” — Matt

5. Applegate: Why Hotels Serve Unappealing Fruit

• Hotels often choose apples (and specifically bad ones) because they're cheap and durable, not because guests enjoy them. As Matt puts it, it's “anti-hospitality.”

  • [17:16] “If you don't use toilet paper, I'm making a saving in that room. And it's the same with the apples. If no one eats them, we save cost because I can recycle that apple for five guests...” — Matt
  • [17:42] "That's like anti hospitality." — Alex

• The psychology of “something extra” is acknowledged, but Matt argues the execution is lazy and misses chances for memorable, place-specific gestures.

  • [20:08] “You didn’t expect to get anything in the room... it feels like a shortcut. Apples are sold in every single store... Maybe doing something that's connected to the place... would be much more memorable than a sour green apple.” — Matt

6. Cost Cutting Across the Industry

• The apple is a metaphor for wider industry cost-saving measures: from omitting daily housekeeping post-COVID, to downgrading toiletries and cutting turndown service.
  • [31:06] “Hotels... are slowly working their way through [expenses] to figure out where else can we cut costs without damaging the experience too much?... It does at some point get too much where you're like, what am I actually paying for?" — Matt

7. Small Fixes, Big Impact

• Subtle improvements can create a positive feedback loop for hotels: better fruit (like Matt’s beloved Pink Lady apples), improved service, and attention to detail can elevate reviews and guest experiences, possibly offsetting increased costs.

  • [22:42] “Eat something that you have a positive experience about, then that influences your experience... So it does increase the cost, but I think it will also increase the revenue.” — Matt

• Matt’s activism (LinkedIn posts about apples and service) has prompted some hotels to change, showing the potential for small details to ripple through the industry.

  • [32:41] “People can associate with this thing and this was one of those things that people really connected with... seeing just a couple of hotels ...with a bowl of the Pink Lady apples... makes me really, really happy.” — Matt

8. Beyond Apples: Other Hospitality Grievances & Pleasures

• The conversation expands to other hospitality frustrations like bad in-room coffee options and the disappearance of room cleaning. Matt keeps his own set of standards, even tasking his assistant with finding hotels that meet his requirements (open gym, apple supply, decent coffee).
  • [28:05] “Coffee in the bedroom drives me up the wall... I don't want to go downstairs in my underwear to get a free cup of coffee at 6 am... So why can't we just have good coffee in the room?” — Matt
  • [29:26] “She has a rule book that I go by... Thank God for ChatGPT because without that I don't know how she would ever find me a hotel that I would like or meet my minimum standard.” — Matt

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Childhood Inspiration

  • [04:12] "I stepped into my first hotel... and I realized, okay, this is my life, this is what I want to do." — Matt

• On the Decline of Personal Service

  • [07:00] "I miss the manager at the front line... There's just less care for service." — Matt

• On the Ubiquity and Pointlessness of Bad Apples

  • [13:53] "Why do hotels always stock the worst apples?" — Alex
  • [17:16] “The decision was made by an accountant, not by someone who deeply cared about the experience of their guests.” — Matt

• On What Good Hospitality Feels Like

  • [10:46] "The best hospitality experiences... it's the person that serves you the drink at the swimming pool that does something really unique." — Matt

• On Wasted Opportunities and Personalization

  • [18:31] "When I travel, I'm not looking for exactly what I have at home. I'm looking for something special that's memorable." — Matt

• On Cost Cutting Post-Covid

  • [31:06] “It does at some point get too much where you're like, what am I actually paying for a room with a door and a bed? And that's about everything that I get.” — Matt

Important Timestamps

• [02:17] – Matt describes the goal of improving every part of the hotel stay, from check-in to housekeeping.
• [06:11] – Matt explains the “asset light product” evolution of hotels and why this erodes service.
• [08:39] – Matt shares the omelet-at-breakfast fiasco and how these frustrations fuel his online advocacy.
• [11:53] – The apple “scandal”: why hotels pick fruit nobody wants and the logic behind it.
• [13:18] – The impact of accountants making guest-facing decisions, and why that feels wrong.
• [17:16] – The deliberate use of uneaten apples as a “win-win,” and Alex’s “anti-hospitality” reaction.
• [20:08] – On why apples became a default and why true hospitality is about thoughtful gestures.
• [22:42] – The potential payoff of investing in guest experience, even if costs rise.
• [28:05] – Matt’s take on in-hotel coffee, personal standards, and the role of technology in trip planning.
• [31:06] – Broader trends in cost-cutting: cleaning, minibars, quality amenities.
• [32:41] – The real-world, positive change from Matt’s apple advocacy.

Tone & Language

The episode blends Alex’s wry, curious narration with Matt’s passionate, earnest expertise. The tone is conversational, funny at times, and deeply informed by real-world industry experience. Humor emerges from their fixation on the apple topic, self-aware nerdiness (“I eat apples every day. I just love them.” — Matt [27:36]), and relatable hospitality gripes.

Summary

This episode turns a universal nuisance—the bad hotel apple—into a lens for viewing bigger trends in hospitality: the loss of personal touch, the consequences of cost-cutting, and why the “little things” matter. By the end, listeners will never look at a hotel fruit bowl the same way again—and might find themselves researching hotel reviews more closely or longing for a Pink Lady apple at check-in.

"Anything that brings a little bit of life in the room is definitely adding value to the experience."
—Matt Vella [25:55]

Useful for listeners who want:

• To understand why hotels make the choices they do (and why it often feels underwhelming)
• Insights on how guest experiences could be improved, even with small changes
• A behind-the-scenes look at how hospitality really works, one apple at a time