Podcast
No Vacancy Live!
Hosted by No Vacancy Live · EN
No Vacancy is home to the hospitality industry's top podcasts. We speak to the CEOs, influencers and leaders to go behind the scenes of the hotel and travel business.
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FNA 216: Chex Marks the Spot
4d ago01:03:28Tap to summarizeDerek Pacqué drove three hours from Manhattan to The Haussman Resort, Pool Club and Smokehouse on Long Island for Friday Night Audit. In LIE traffic, you know it's bad when the cars start passing you, then a horse and buggy passes you, then an elderly woman with a walker passes you. That's Friday in the summer on Long Island. Derek made it anyway. He runs Chexology, the bag and valet check company you'll find at 1,200+ venues — the Mets, MoMA, Barclays Center, TD Garden, the O2 in London. It started as a coat check hustle in Indiana college bars, because drunk people are bad at holding onto tickets. Then he went on Shark Tank ABC and turned down the investors. Somewhere in there, my cat made a break for the front door. Breaking news, as we called it on air. His colleague Neil Upadhyay joined from #Vegas with the best line of the night: after a rival's bag-check system fell apart so badly staff walked off and police started holding people's Birkin bags, Chexology got the call. Nothing sells a hospitality product like "the last guys lost custody of designer handbags to the LVPD." We closed, as one does, with me cannonballing into the pool and someone threatening to throw the laptop in after me. #FridayNightAudit. Happy hour, hospitality news, zero dignity. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →Wyndham Beats Marriott for the #1 Hotel Rewards Program of 2026
5d ago00:09:09Tap to summarizeWyndham Hotels & Resorts just knocked Marriott International out of the #1 spot in U.S. News & World Report's 2026 hotel rewards rankings — and the reason comes down to something travelers are clearly reacting to: devaluation. I talked with senior travel editor Elizabeth Von Tersch about this year's rewards rankings, plus a brand new list for road warriors. A few numbers worth knowing: Wyndham held onto its category-based point system while Marriott's dynamic pricing model saw a 20% devaluation. Plus, Sonesta International Hotels cracked the top five for the first time — and it earns guests free nights almost twice as fast as some of the bigger names. On the business travel side, Marriott and Hilton go head to head for the top two spots, and the deciding factor isn't the one you'd expect. We also dig into why hotel loyalty programs are starting to look a lot more like airline programs — and what that means for how you earn your next free night. Full rankings and methodology here: https://travel.usnews.com/rankings/travel-rewards/?src=usn_pr Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →How AYANA's Midplaza Jakarta Stands Out in a Crowded Market
6d ago00:34:18Tap to summarizeMorris Tiedemann, General Manager at AYANA Midplaza Jakarta, joined Glenn and Suzanne from halfway across the world to explain how a hotel competes in a market flooded with luxury. Morris took a job in Urumqi in 2003 when he had to buy a book to figure out where it was. Twenty-two years in China taught him to move fast. Then AYANA came calling, and he had to slow down. Indonesia rewards patience. That tension is where his story gets interesting. The property sits in downtown Jakarta but feels like a beach destination — a pool, a tennis court, and gardens taking up real estate that most operators would have built on. The differentiator isn't the amenities. It's Indonesian hospitality baked into every touchpoint, backed by AYANA's larger story in Bali and Komodo. Also covered: how a new GM earns trust when he doesn't speak the language yet, why culture drives everything in a general manager's job, and the discipline of not "repainting the shop" in your first week. Visit ayana.com/jakarta. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →Guests Spend More When Hotels Make This Easy
1w ago00:13:23Tap to summarizeHotel technology shouldn't just look impressive. It should help guests enjoy their stay and help hotels make more money. The Hotel Communication Network Inc. CEO Kevin Bidner showed me how the company combines in-room tablets with AI to create a much more useful guest experience. Guests can request extra towels, explore room-service options, discover hotel amenities, research local restaurants and make reservations through one simple conversation. Kevin says hotels with room service can increase orders by 25% when guests use the tablet. Hotels can also promote restaurants, bars, spas, activities and other experiences that guests may never hear about at the front desk. The Hotel Communication Network provides the tablets without requiring hotels to buy them. The company also shares revenue from on-screen promotions and experiential marketing with participating hotels. The technology helps guests find what they want, encourages them to spend more across the property and gives hotels another revenue-generating tool. Watch the video and see the AI concierge in action. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →How Explore Minnesota Generates $25 Billion in Economic Impact
1w ago00:30:57Tap to summarizeLauren Bennett McGinty, Executive Director of Explore Minnesota, sat down with Glenn to explain how a state agency generates $25 billion in economic impact and what hoteliers can learn from it. The state welcomed 81 million visitors in 2024 and generated nearly $15 billion in visitor spending. Lauren breaks down how Explore Minnesota subdivides 5 major regions into 11 micro-regions to distribute visitors beyond the major cities, why campaigns filmed from the visitor's perspective outperform anything AI can generate, and how a state DMO supports independent operators — from family-owned resorts passed down for a century to boutique hotels in small towns. She also explains why tourism delivers immediate ROI in ways other economic development can't. Long-range business attraction takes years. Tourism marketing shows results within months. For hotel operators wondering how DMOs can actually help their business, this is the framework. Visit exploreminnesota.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
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FNA 215: This Show is Spot On
2w ago01:01:30Tap to summarizeJames Hansen showed up with a Paloma. Sarah Becherer poured a digestif. Craig Sullivan had his beer. Glenn was doing whatever Glenn does. This is how you open a conversation about parking. They're from Ocra, which turns empty hotel parking lots into cash. We got there eventually. First we had to sort out Chicago cocktail pricing, why Sarah wants to launch a podcast about parallel parking, and the moral crimes of putting ketchup on a hot dog. Pour something. Press play. Visit getocra.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →Why Hospitality Should Study Retail (And Vice Versa)
2w ago00:30:22Tap to summarizeLiza Amlani, The Chief Merchant, spent 20 years as a merchant at Ralph Lauren. She now studies what retail can teach hospitality. The parallels are closer than you think. Both industries live and die by customer experience. Both rely on frontline workers whose voices too often get ignored. Both are trying to figure out how to bridge strategy from the corporate office to what actually happens on the floor. Liza translates retail's playbook for hoteliers who want a fresh perspective on customer experience, employee voice, and what the future of guest engagement actually looks like. Visit retailstrategygroup.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →How This Hotel Group Is Winning (And What Others Can Learn)
2w ago00:31:23Tap to summarizeJulie Kee, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Belize Collection, just revealed why her hotels are winning. It's not what you'd expect. The Belize Collection owns real estate. Spans jungle to reef to private island. Partners with local communities in ways that feel authentic because they are. And that's become their competitive advantage. But how do you actually turn that into a business model that works? That's the conversation worth watching. Visit thebelizecollection.com. Actabl, they give you the power to profit. Visit actabl.com. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
Transcribe →Your Phone Is Your Room Key Now (And It Works)
2w ago00:09:43Tap to summarizeYour guests are done waiting in line at check-in. Wallet key technology just made that line disappear. 🔑 Tap your phone to your room. It opens. That's it. No app. No Bluetooth. No waiting. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, Apple Watch — NFC technology that actually works. 📱 The old digital keys had 2% adoption because they were clunky. This one? Glenn tested it at Harrah's Las Vegas and it was so smooth he's already demanding it everywhere. Caesars is rolling it out now. ⚡ Here's the mind-bender: your phone dies, you're good for 5 more hours. Express mode reserves power on your iPhone and treats room access as mission critical. So you can unlock your door even after your battery quits. 🏨 Branigan Mulcahy, CEO at Virdee, says this is the loyalty driver the industry has been waiting for. Hotels that deploy it first are going to see guests actively prefer their properties. Glenn already tested this at Harrah's. Watch that video here: https://novacancynews.com/no-keycard-needed-i-used-apple-wallet-at-harrahs-las-vegas/ Visit virdee.ai. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
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The Guest Canceled, So We Roasted My Travel Day
3w ago00:31:25Tap to summarizeWe had a guest cancel at the last minute, so Craig, Suzanne, and I opened drinks and talked about my absolute disaster of a travel day. I'm not giving away the whole thing, but yesterday involved delayed flights, a plane too hot to board, a jammed wheelchair, Atlanta airspace doing Atlanta airspace things, a sick flight attendant, a Popeyes dream that died quickly, a late-night LIRR miracle, and the crushing realization that I wasn't getting Taco Bell at the end of it. Suzanne somehow turned our text thread into a blues song, Craig did Craig things, and I tried to explain the whole mess without reliving too much trauma. We also got to the important business: 🍾 Identical Dispenser Bottles beat Breakfast Buffet Hunger Games 🐴 The Four Horsemen of Hotel Misery are officially set 🧠 Glenn Knows Stuff returns with Jets misery, peacoats, landlines, and cars ☎️ Craig apparently still lives in a world where landlines matter ✈️ Delta and I need some time apart Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.
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