Behind the Stays

Meet Dennis Goedheid, founder and CEO of Casiola — one of the hottest vacation rental management companies in the short-term rental space. Dennis is no stranger to entrepreneurship — he started and sold two companies in his native Belgium before moving to Silicon Valley to find inspiration for his next big thing. And while he couldn’t have known it at the time, that next big thing would be a vacation rental management company based in Orlando, Florida that is helping to write the book, in real time, on how to build such an exceptional hospitality brand that short-term rental managers from around the world want to franchise. In this episode, Dennis and I discuss: Why Casiola builds their own software in-house Why Casiola is quick to grow regionally, but slow to grow nationally Why he’s bullish on franchising in the STR and vacation rental spaces The entrepreneurial opportunities he sees for founders in the hospitality industry Learn more about Casiola Connect with Dennis on LinkedIn This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team 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. Sign up today at bnbping.com Meet Zach in Person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite Zach to come speak at TFVCONon SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and he can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. Zach would love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Justin Hauge, Co-Founder and CEO of Storied Collection — a collection of castles and historical stays across the UK and Ireland. While Storied Collection is Justin’s first rodeo as a founder, it’s not his first rodeo working in startups. Back in 2009, Justin was hired as the 13th team employee at a little start up that had just graduated from the most prestigious of startup accelerators, Y Combinator. And, yes, you guessed it — that startup was Airbnb. In this riveting and insightful conversation, Justin talks about the 10+ years he spent working at Airbnb and how he helped build the company into the memorable brand that it is today. Justin also shares: - The story behind the founding of his new company Storied Collection, from a slightly different perspective than what his co-founder, Michael Goldin shared a few weeks ago on this very podcast - His ideas for the opportunities he sees to build great companies in the hospitality tech space - His thoughts on memberships and loyalty programs in STRs - Some spicy takes on the future of travel and hospitality as a whole. 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. Sign up today at bnbping.com Meet Zach in Person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite Zach to come speak at TFVCONon SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and he can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. Zach would love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

In this special podcast episode, Zach Busekrus, host of the Behind the Stays podcast and co-founder of Sponstayneous shares the stories behind the inception of both brands. - Uncover the story of how Zach and his wife broke their lease in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2020 to live full-time on Airbnb - Discover how Sam Parr, Founder of The Hustle and host of the My First Million podcast, played a role in Sponstayneous' early growth - Hear how Guy Raz from NPR's How I Built This inspired Zach to start Behind the Stays - And get a behind-the-scenes look at what Zach and the team at Sponstayneous are building (and why they're building it!) Reach out to Zach with questions, comments, and ideas at [email protected] Subscribe to Sponstayneous Sign up for Ping Join the Sponstayneous Host Partner Program Meet Zach in Person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite Zach to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and he can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. Zach would love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Daniel Johnson, founder of Deacon Stays — a collection of curated stays near Wake Forest University. Daniel has always been interested in real estate and investing and started his hosting as many do in the Airbnb arbitrage arena back in 2018. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience of hosting and was impressed by the returns STRs could generate compared to other real estate investments (Daniel is also a financial advisor that specializes in working with real estate investors). In this episode, Daniel and I discuss: The surprising pros about building a collection of STRs near a college campus How to build a brand for your STR business ON the Airbnb platform His thoughts on REITs and other more passive investment opportunities in STR funs And how he’d approach buying right now amidst a more challenging market Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn Book a Stay at Deacon Stays This episode is brought to you by OwnerRez — the property management software most-loved by professional vacation rental mangers. If you’re in the market for a better platform to help you manage your STR portfolio, OwnerRez is offering Behind the Stays listeners 30% off the first 3 months…all you gotta to is mention Behind the Stays when talking to a team member at OwnerRez! Also, in about 15 minutes from now, you’ll get to hear an exclusive chat I had with Tyann Marcink, an industry leader who LOVES OwnerRez. So head on over to ownerreservations.com and give OwnerRez a good lookover! I want to meet you all in person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite me to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and I can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. I’d love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Sébastien Long, founder of Lodgeur — a furnished living, on-demand product that gives traveling professionals and digital nomads the service and consistency of a hotel with the spaciousness and function of a stylish home. While Sébastien has spent the better part of his professional career working big corporate jobs he actually grew up immersed in hospitality entrepreneurship — his parents owned and operated a vacation resort on the island of Corsica, just off the coast of France. After traveling around the world working in banking for HSBC, in 2017 Sébastien was recruited to help launch Sonder in the UK. He got a front row seat to the big opportunities and big challenges of launching and scaling a consumer-facing property-management brand. Tune in to hear the exciting story of the series of events that led him to write his master’s thesis on hospitality interior design at Cambridge, leave the UK and move to Houston, Texas, and how he built and scaled Lodgeur. Connect with Seb on LinkedIn Book a Stay with Lodgeur This episode is brought to you by OwnerRez — the property management software most-loved by professional vacation rental mangers. If you’re in the market for a better platform to help you manage your STR portfolio, OwnerRez is offering Behind the Stays listeners 30% off the first 3 months…all you gotta to is mention Behind the Stays when talking to a team member at OwnerRez! Also, in about 15 minutes from now, you’ll get to hear an exclusive chat I had with Tyann Marcink, an industry leader who LOVES OwnerRez. So head on over to ownerreservations.com and give OwnerRez a good lookover! I want to meet you all in person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite me to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and I can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. I’d love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Taylor Jones, Head of Acquisition at Techvestor, one of my favorite STR thought leaders to follow on social media, and a good friend of the Behind the Stays podcast. After losing his sales job during COVID, Taylor spent hundreds of hours watching YouTube videos to learn all that he could about short-term rental real estate investing and the growing trend of experiential hospitality. Today, he leads acquisitions at Techvestor, and in our chat, Taylor talks about everything he and his team have learned while building a portfolio of over 100 Airbnbs over the last 17 months. Techvestor focuses on transforming run-of-the-mill single-family homes into unique, curated short-term rentals and Taylor shares the success they’ve found in sticking to and being bullish about this model. Follow Taylor on Twitter Connect with him on LinkedIn Learn more about Techvestor here. This episode is brought to you by OwnerRez — the property management software most-loved by professional vacation rental mangers. If you’re in the market for a better platform to help you manage your STR portfolio, OwnerRez is offering Behind the Stays listeners 30% off the first 3 months…all you gotta to is mention Behind the Stays when talking to a team member at OwnerRez! Also, in about 15 minutes from now, you’ll get to hear an exclusive chat I had with Tyann Marcink, an industry leader who LOVES OwnerRez. So head on over to ownerreservations.com and give OwnerRez a good lookover! I want to meet you all in person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite me to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and I can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. I’d love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Michael Goldin, Co-Founder of the Storied Collection — an exclusive collection of historic estates, castles and other unique residences-turned-accommodations, situated across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Michael and his wife were searching for a much needed vacation as covid rules across the world began to subside. They dreamed of staying in a beautiful castle, but the search was rather difficult and the historic properties were particularly hard to find. After hours and hours of research, Michael finally found the perfect property… a property his family lineage could actually be traced to! The decision to book that property was a no brainer. Tune into how this experiential feeling at the intersection of exploration and history led him to find co-founders to start Storied, a collection of the most richly historic and enjoyable places to stay in the world. Michael is also one of the hosts of Good Morning Hospitality — stream the weekly morning show here or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to meet you all in person! Annette and Sarah from Thanks for Visiting were kind enough to invite me to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and I can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. I’d love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level. 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.

Meet Annette Grant and Sarah Karakain from Thanks for Visiting — one of the most popular, if not THE most popular short-term rental podcasts out there. Sarah is an actress by trade and was hustling on Broadway when Airbnb first became available in NYC. She somehow convinced her husband to let her list their basement on Airbnb and, well, it wasn’t long before Sarah traded securing auditions for home acquisitions that she’d transform into short-term rentals. Annette is an entrepreneur by trade who has helped launch and scale multi-million dollar businesses in and around Columbus, Ohio. Today, she partners with real estate investors to help them launch and scale their short-term rental portfolios. In the episode you’ll hear the story of how Sarah and Annette met, the founding story of Thanks for Visiting, their thoughts on building a brand, and everything you can expect from their event TFVCON happening in Columbus, Ohio Sept 24th - 26th. Annette and Sarah were kind enough to invite me to come speak at TFVCON on SEO Strategy for STR Hosts and I can’t wait to participate in this dynamic event. I’d love to meet all you listeners in PERSON…so please consider coming to the event. You can use the discount code “BTS” as in “Behind the Stays” at checkout for $150 off any ticket level.

Today you'll re-meet Emily Padan, Ben Wolff, and Isaac French, founders of Hinter, Onera, and Live Oak Lake respectively — all three of these fine people were gracious enough to come BACK onto Behind the Stays. In this first-of-its-kind panel podcast, this dynamic trio shares their experiences of working with hundreds of influencers and creators to promote their hospitality brands. You’ll learn what they think does and doesn’t work when collaborating with influencers, how they structure their agreements and partnerships with folks, what they think about free night stays and giveaways, the gaps they see in the Airbnb creator space, and so much more… Connect with Emily Padan on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn Connect with Isaac French on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn Connect with Ben Wolff on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you their way! 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Julia Rossi — a Shark Tank alum turned hospitality entrepreneur. Julia has spent the better part of her career working in corporate sales and marketing for a myriad of SaaS companies. Back in 2015, Julia had an idea for a fairly niche product…that product was NeatCheeks — flavored face wipes for children. As a mom of young children, Julia knew how difficult it was to get kids to sit still while wiping their faces after a gooey snack, and that’s when the idea of NeatCheeks was born. After securing an investment for Barbara Corcoran and building the brand over the next couple of years, Julia wound up exiting from the business so she could pursue her other passions of design and hospitality. In this episode, Julia shares the founding story of her design consultancy Grey Domain, how she brought McKenzie Corner, an intelligently designed and fully-shoppable Airbnb, to life, and how Julia thinks STR hosts can leverage their spaces as more than just places to stay. Connect with Julia on Instagram Explore Grey Domain Book a Stay at McKenzie Corner 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.

Please give a quick thank you to our sponsor for today’s episode, OwnerRez — the most loved and trusted property management software by professional vacation rental managers on the market. Some of my best friends in the industry swear by OwnerRez so I’d highly encourage you to check them out and be sure to tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you their way and they’ll give you an exclusive discount when you decide to purchase their software. Meet Kevin Reardon, founder of The Shore House Hotel — a beachside lifestyle retreat built from a mid-century motel in North Wildwood, NJ. Kevin grew up in a blue collar family. His idea of “success” looked like working on Wall Street, become a doctor, or becoming a lawyer, so after graduating from undergrad, he decided to pursue law and wound up getting his JD from the University of Pennsylvania. After a couple of years working at a very prestigious firm, Kevin decided that what he really wanted to do was get into hospitality…becoming a hotelier was what he’d dream about on nights and weekends in-between very late nights at his firm’s office. And then an opportunity to buy a fairly rundown motel on the Jersey shore presented itself. And there was something about this particular motel that seemed to speak to Kevin…so, he raised a little bit of money from friends and family and decided to take the plunge. Tune in to hear the story of how Kevin build The Shore House Hotel, why he thinks STR owners and operators can make great hoteliers, and what his hot takes on the future of travel and hospitality look like. Follow The Shore House Hotel on Instagram 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.

Meet Adam Norko, a former marine turned hospitality marketer extraordinaire. Adam has spent the last two decades working in sales and marketing for a number of hospitality brands — everything from the PropTech side of the house to leading growth at vacation rental and STR management companies. In this conversation, Adam and I talk about how marketing has evolved in the vacation rental industry, what shifts the smartest hosts are making right now to prepare for the next generation of guests, the opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs to build new brands and companies in the space, whether or not the future of hospitality is boutique, and so much more. Adam is a wicked smart, wonderfully dynamic, and humbly passionate guy — y’all are going to love this episode. Oh, and before we dive in, I want to give a quick thank you to our sponsor for today’s episode, OwnerRez — the most loved and trusted property management software by professional vacation rental managers on the market. Some of my best friends in the industry swear by OwnerRez so I’d highly encourage you to check them out and be sure to tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you their way and they’ll give you an exclusive discount when you decide to purchase their software. 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Samantha Pike, founder of The Hosting Societe — a private club for hosts who have mastered the art of experiential accommodations. Back in 2018, Samantha launched her first vacation rental in Ontario — she had poured so much love and intention into the space that when she opened her calendar it booked out for 6 months almost immediately. Samantha was stunned by the response and began wondering whether she had scratched an itch that the next generations of guests had for highly-curated short-term stays. Sam started posting about her approach to hosting on Instagram and, before she knew it, folks with a similar heart for elevated hospitality began asking her to swap ideas and connect to share stories. And it really was these requests that got Sam thinking about what it might look like to design a space where these exceptional creators of some of the world’s most beloved stays could come together. Tune in to hear the inspiring story of how Sam built The Hosting Societe and what she thinks the future of travel and hospitality just might look like… Learn more about The Hosting Societe Connect with Samantha on Instagram 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.

Meet Matt Landau, the founder of VRMB — a vacation rental marketing blog and community for the world’s most innovative vacation rental professionals. When Matt was a senior at the University of Richmond, he stumbled upon an alumni magazine that wound up changing his life. On the cover of this magazine was an alum sitting in a hammock while on a beach in Costa Rica. While Matt had no idea what this guy did that enabled him to chillax in such a pristine aesthetic, he made up his mind then and there that he wanted to do whatever it was that this guy did. And as it turned out, this guy had started the top luxury travel agency in Costa Rica. So Matt decided to shoot his shot and ask this guy to get together for a coffee next time he was in town…and, to Matt’s pleasant surprise, he did. This opportunity was Matt’s foray into travel and hospitality and, while he didn’t know it at the time, this job would enable him to buy his own vacation rental management agency and, eventually, build a prolific online platform and membership community that thousands of professional operators all around the world would one day come to learn from and be inspired by. This episode is brought to you by OwnerRez — the smartest property management software for vacation rental hosts. You can get a 30% discount on your first 3 months by mentioning Behind the Stays after booking a call or requesting more information from their team. Learn more about OwnerRez here. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Learn more about the VRMB Community Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

Meet Bunim Laskin, Founder and CEO of Swimply — the Airbnb for Pools. Bunim grew up in Israel and moved to the states with his family when he was 15 years old. He is oldest of 12 children and the idea for Swimply came to him when he was looking for a way to entertain his younger siblings in the heat of a New Jersey summer. His next door neighbor had a pool that she didn’t use much and Bunim asked her if his family could use the pool when she wasn’t using it they agreed to pay 25% of the pool’s annual costs…to his surprise, she agreed. Tune in to hear the remarkable story of how Bunim raised his first million dollars, wound up pitching Swimply on SharkTank, how he and the team navigated COVID, and what the next 12 months for the company will look like (hint: it includes being able to book more than just pools!). This episode is brought to you by OwnerRez — the smartest property management software for vacation rental hosts. You can get a 30% discount on your first 3 months by mentioning Behind the Stays after booking a call or requesting more information from their team. Learn more about OwnerRez here. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Issac French, Creator of Live Oak Lake, joins Zach for a chat about his latest project — a Masterclass on Experiential Hospitality. This 9-hour, 45-videos-course, is your complete guide to financing, designing, building, marketing, and automating a boutique hospitality experience. I’ve interviewed over 100 hospitality entrepreneurs on my podcast, Behind the Stays, and I’ve never met someone in this industry so committed to excellence in ALL he does. Isaac is humble, smart, and has zero tolerance for ‘just OK.’ What he’s built at Live Oak Lake is truly extraordinary and I for one can’t wait to see what he does next. A few decades ago, a young entrepreneur named Issy from Canada had a simple vision for creating exceptional experiences…that vision became Four Seasons. If I was a betting man, I’d bet that the creator of the “next generation” Four Seasons might come from Waco, Texas…and chances are his name will be Isaac. Sign up for the course here. 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Hector Hughes, Co-Founder of Unplugged — a collection of off-grid cabins around the UK designed and optimized for guests seeking a digital detox. Hector started his career working in sales at a start-up, but it wasn’t really his thing. So, he gave product management a try and, well, that wasn’t much better. So he was REALLY excited when he finally got the opportunity to join the growth team…but, as it turns out, that wasn’t really his thing either. So Hector did the only thing he could do…he went soul searching at a two-week silent retreat in the Himalayas. Tune in to hear how that retreat inspired him and his now-Co-Founder Ben to build a hospitality business focused on helping young professionals from the city escape the matrix for a couple of days by locking up their phones, disconnecting from the internet, and booking a stay in an impeccably-designed tiny cabin nestled in nature. 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.

In this episode Zach shares some exciting new updates on what we're building at Sponstayneous and asks for feedback from listeners on how to improve Behind the Stays. Got ideas for Zach? Reach out to him direct at [email protected] or find him on Twitter @zboozee or on LinkedIn at @zacharybusekrus. 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.

Meet Paul Waldschmidt, Co-Founder and CEO of OwnerRez — one of the industry’s most beloved property management platforms. Paul is a software developer through and through. He has always loved leveraging technology to solve problems. So, when he and his business partner Chris began experiencing problems with their property manager on their recently purchased vacation rental in the Blue Ridge mountains, the technical duo saw an opportunity. Tune in to hear the story of how Paul and Chris bootstrapped the creation of one of the most respected, loved, and powerful PMSes for STR owners and property managers. In this episode, Paul and I discuss: The history of PMSes in the vacation rental space Why Airbnb invests tens of millions of dollars each year on UX/UI design Why so many direct booking websites suck The opportunities that exist to build new software and tooling in the industry And much more. Finally, Paul and his team have generously offered a 30% discount for new customers for their first 3 months. Just mention Behind the Stays after booking a call or requesting more information from their team. Learn more about OwnerRez here. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

This episode is brought to you by StayFi! StayFi makes it easy to collect data from and market to every single person staying in your short-term rental. StayFi lets you create a custom branded WiFi splash page similar to what you might experience when logging onto the WiFi network at your favorite coffee shop. This means you can collect the name, email address, and phone number from every guest staying with you, not just the one who booked…because who doesn’t need to use the WiFi. Learn more about StayFi at StayFi.com and be sure to use the code “BTS” at checkout for 50% off your first 3 months. Meet Jessica Foster, the creator of Ironton Island — a collection of unique glamping stays in Ironton, Minnesota. Jessica is a product designer by trade and has always had a love for the outdoors — something she and her husband Chad have in common. Jessica and Chad have always enjoyed working hard and dreaming about ways to create valuable assets that enable others to encounter the natural world in more meaningful ways. So, when the opportunity presented itself for the couple to begin designing and building unique, but affordable, Airbnb escapes, they jumped at it. Tune in to hear the story of how Jessica and Chad have strategically acquired overlooked land, built simple but memorable unique stays — with little-to-no financing — and how they plan to take a more “bootstrapped” approach to building their collection of insta-worthy short-term rentals. Follow Ironton Island Follow Lazy Loon Properties Learn more about StayFi Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

This episode is brought to you by StayFi! StayFi makes it easy to collect data from and market to every single person staying in your short-term rental. StayFi lets you create a custom branded WiFi splash page similar to what you might experience when logging onto the WiFi network at your favorite coffee shop. This means you can collect the name, email address, and phone number from every guest staying with you, not just the one who booked…because who doesn’t need to use the WiFi. Learn more about StayFi at StayFi.com and be sure to use the code “BTS” at checkout for 50% off your first 3 months. Meet Mark Simpson — the founder and CEO of Boostly, the leading direct booking website builder for STR and vacation rental hosts. Mark literally grew up immersed in the hospitality industry. His family lived on a 200 acre farm in Scarborough, England where they ran a bed and breakfast and farm-to-table restaurant for folks around the UK looking for a relaxing getaway from the city. After a career as a football, or as we call it here in the states, soccer coach, Mark wound up returning to the farm to help usher the family business into the 21st Century. And while he couldn’t have known it at the time, this move would wind up laying the groundwork for Mark to become one of the most trusted and inspirational voices in hospitality. Tune in to hear the story of how Mark recognized a massive opportunity to help STR owners and operators build and scale their businesses, reduce their reliance on OTAs like Airbnb, and increase their portfolio’s revenue. In this episode we talk about: How Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Work Week inspired Mark’s entrepreneurial spirit Why he bought a billboard in Times Square with has face on it and the words “I’m the guy Airbnb doesn’t want you to know about” His content marketing playbook which has garnered him tens of thousands of followers across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram His hot takes on the future of travel and hospitality Discover Boostly Follow Mark on Instagram Learn more about StayFi Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

This episode is a special one! Wil Slickers from Slick Talk invited our host, Zach Busekrus, to come and share his story on Wil's top-rated hospitality podcast. Enjoy this rebroadcasted episode! Be sure to subscribe to Wil's show here or wherever you get your podcast. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

This episode is brought to you by StayFi! StayFi makes it easy to collect data from and market to every single person staying in your short-term rental. StayFi lets you create a custom branded WiFi splash page similar to what you might experience when logging onto the WiFi network at your favorite coffee shop. This means you can collect the name, email address, and phone number from every guest staying with you, not just the one who booked…because who doesn’t need to use the WiFi. Learn more about StayFi at StayFi.com and be sure to use the code “BTS” at checkout for 50% off your first 3 months. Meet Katie Cline, creator of Trout Landing in Lake George, New York. While new to the STR space, Katie comes from a background of luxury hospitality PR, having worked for brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, St. Regis, JW Marriott, Edition, and Le Méridien in both New York and London. In this episode Katie and I discuss what STR hosts designing, building, and hosting luxury stays can learn from some of the most highly-regarded hospitality organizations in the world. We chat about how the communication tone and style differs within Marriott's luxury collection, some of the most noteworthy experiences Katie had while working in PR, how she’s applying her learnings from luxe hospitality to the building of her own hospitality brand, and some lessons she thinks STR owners and operators can learn from luxury hotels. Book Your Stay at Trout Landing Behind the Stays is brought to you by Sponstayneous — a carefully-curated newsletter that sends subscribers 150 of the best last-minute deals and upcoming steals on Airbnb twice a week. You can subscribe for free at www.sponstayneous.com. Behind the Stays is hosted by Zach Busekrus (@zboozee) — Co-Founder of Sponstayneous. If you know of an Airbnb host you think we should have on the show, please reach out directly to Zach at [email protected] and he'd be happy to talk with them.

So there’s been a LOT happening over the last couple of months and I wanted to give you all a quick update on some exciting happenings at Sponstayneous and Behind the Stays... Say hi to Minoan Sign up for Minoan Subscribe to Behind the Stays on YouTube Follow Behind the Stays on Instagram Say hi to DEN Outdoors Join the Sponstayneous Host Partner Program Subscribe to Sponstayneous Say hi to Uplisting ’m going to call this episode and future episodes like it “housekeeping” so if you’re just here for the guests I bring onto the show and don’t care too much about what we’re building at Sponstayneous or the community we’re cultivating through Behind the Stays, I am not offended, just ignore these episodes when they pop-up into your feed. But, if you ARE cheering us on and curious about what’s been happening behind the scenes of Behind the Stays, then lend me your ears for the next few minutes On the agenda for today: New ways for y’all to stay connected to Behind the Stays A big update to Sponstayneous How hosts are using our Ping product to increase their nightly rates The expansion of our host partner program 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Hans Lorei — Head of Design at Investmet.com and one of the most beloved designers in the short-term rental and boutique hospitality corners of the internet. Hans was working at a bar in Nashville when he overheard a couple of real estate developers discussing a new luxury build they were working on nearby, and something about their conversation sparked inspiration in Hans. He asked if he could come and check out their project and the duo said yes. And while Hans couldn’t have known it at the time, this would prove to be a pivotal moment in his life and the first step in his journey to becoming a realtor, learning the ropes of development, and applying his creative talents to the hospitality space. In this conversation, Hans and I discuss: - Why STR hosts should invest way more in design - Why hosts should think about their yards as an extension of their homes - How to ensure that every item you buy for your STR is aligned with your brand - And loads more. Get excited for a riveting and inspirational conversation with one of my favorite follows on Twitter. Follow Hans on Twitter Create your free Minoan account 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Jason and Monique — the founders of The Vermont A-Frame…one of the OG instagram famous A-Frames in New England. Jason grew up vacationing in Vermont, but it wasn’t until he took Monique up from Jersey for a weekend that the couple realized how special this part of the country really was. Soon after that trip, Jason and Monique began dreaming about how they might own a vacation home in the area that they could escape to on long weekends and perhaps rent out to others on occasion. Tune in to hear the story of how the couple found the perfect A-Frame (after visiting more than 20 others!) and transformed it into one of the most desirable vacation homes in the Green Mountain State. In this episode, I chat with Jason and Monique about: What it was like owning a unique stay back in 2017 and how their business has been impacted since the covid boom The best and worst experiences they’ve had with creators and influencers Why they often ignore their dynamic pricing tools in favor of attracting the core guest avatar And so much more. Book Your Stay at The Vermont A-Frame Follow The Vermont A-Frame on Instagram 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! Meet Nate Vietz, founder of Content House — one of the most exciting media agencies serving the short-term rental community. After graduating from high school, Nate began working as a line cook. He loved the creative outlet that cooking offered so much so that he wound up starting his own meal prepping business. And then covid hit…and, overnight, Nate’s entire business model had to shift. It was stressful to say the least, but it was this world-changing moment that inspired him to pause and think about what he really wanted to do in the next chapter of his life. Tune in to hear the story behind the opportunity Nate saw to help hospitality entrepreneurs build their brands on social media through a unique approach to content creation, social media strategy, and audience development. In this episode, Nate and I discuss: How he convinced internet-famous Airbnb personalities like Levi Kelly and Isaac French to work with him How he’s helped dozens of clients go viral on Instagram and TikTok The key to creating great content that doesn’t break the bank How to measure the value of your Airbnb’s following on social media and much more Discover Content House Follow Nate on Instagram 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. 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.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! About the Episode: Meet Sani Djaya, the creator of Moonbase — a next generation luxury campground designed to help make stargazing accessible to all. Sani is a product manager by trade. After graduating from University of Maryland College Park, he traded the east coast for the west coast and has spent the last few years working for tech startups. Sani has always loved the outdoors, so when he learned that his girlfriend had never been stargazing, he knew he had to change this reality as quickly as possible. But there was one BIG problem…his girlfriend wasn’t thrilled about sleeping in a sleeping bag in a tent on top of a mountain. And that’s when Sani had an idea…what if he could design a luxe camping experience that would enable you to stargaze to your heart's content AND get the best night of sleep you ever had…and, that’s when the idea for Moonbase was born. In this episode, Sani and I chat about: How he ran a Google Ads campaign to validate his idea Why he launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise some initial cash for Moonbase The story behind how he discovered Jupe and his thoughts on the benefits of pre-fab structures And how he plans to scale Moonbase over the next 12-24 months. 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. 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.

Download the full free report . Oh, and be sure to start your 14-day free trial of Uplisting at at https://www.uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout. Welcome to Episode 3 of a special 3-part podcast series on The State of the Short-Term Rental Industry brought to you by my friends at Uplisting — one of the most powerful property management systems on the market. In this episode, Zach and Vinny (founder and CEO of Uplisting) chat about how to market your short-term rental portfolio in 2023 — and the approach different property managers take to promoting their listings. About the series Airbnb hosts and short-term rental operators often work independently without much intel as to how their peers are marketing their properties, increasing their booking rates, and how much money folks are actually making from their portfolios. In order to address this issue, the Uplisting team took it upon themselves to collect and analyze data from their own customers as well as hundreds of other STR owners and operators in the industry. This special podcast series will unveil some of the more interesting findings from this report and equip you with insight into how your business compares to others. Stream Episode 1 here Stream Episode 2 here This episode and 3-part series is brought you to by Uplisting. Whether you have a single property or hundreds of properties, Uplisting is designed to help you accelerate growth with incredible reliability, critical marketing automation and the most powerful direct booking engine on the market. Start your 14-day free trial at uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout — but act fast, because this offer expires on June 30th, 2023 at midnight! 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.

Meet Hayden Laverty, Founder of CHJ Development, a real-estate developer in Portland, Oregon focused on acquiring, designing, and constructing the city’s most significant short-term-rental residences. Hayden learned pretty early on in life that he wasn’t cut out for the traditional 9 - 5. After working at two internships during his junior and senior years of college at Intel and Price Water Cooper, Hayden realized that he loved working hard, pushing the envelope of convention, and didn’t have much patience for bureaucratic friction. So, after graduating from Arizona State University, Hayden decided to shoot his shot by starting his own business. Follow Hayden on Twitter Connect with Hayden on LinkedIn In this episode of Behind the Stays, Hayden shares: 1. The story behind the opportunity he saw in the short-term rental real estate development and management game 2. How he’s scaled his business to over 200 units under management 3. Why he thinks OTAs like Airbnb should charge hots more 4. What he’s learned as a young entrepreneur about the importance of focus, grit, and differentiation. This episode is brought to you by DEN Outdoors. You’ve seen them all over Instagram… You may have also seen them in Dwell Magazine…. And if you love design, travel, and hospitality, chances are you’ve even dreamed about what it would be like to build your very own A-Frames, Cabins, or Barnhouse with their designs. DEN Outdoors began because its founders knew that building a cabin changes who you are, having a cabin changes how you live, and sharing a cabin changes how you engage with others. I’ve met so many incredible hosts in the short-term-rental community who have used DEN designs to build their bespoke escapes, many of whom have been guests on this podcast. And now, it brings me SO much joy to announce that we’ve partnered with DEN to bring you an exclusive discount on their digital design plans. By using the discount code SPONSTAY50 at checkout, you can get ANY of DEN’s digital plans for 50% off…that’s right…5-0. 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.

Download the full free report . Oh, and be sure to start your 14-day free trial of Uplisting at at https://www.uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout. Welcome to Episode 2 of a special 3-part podcast series on The State of the Short-Term Rental Industry brought to you by my friends at Uplisting — one of the most powerful property management systems on the market. In this episode, Zach and Vinny chat about how much money you can actually make from short-term rentals based on new data uncovered by the aforementioned report. About the series Airbnb hosts and short-term rental operators often work independently without much intel as to how their peers are marketing their properties, increasing their booking rates, and how much money folks are actually making from their portfolios. In order to address this issue, the Uplisting team took it upon themselves to collect and analyze data from their own customers as well as hundreds of other STR owners and operators in the industry. This special podcast series will unveil some of the more interesting findings from this report and equip you with insight into how your business compares to others. Stream Episode 1 here This episode and 3-part series is brought you to by Uplisting. Whether you have a single property or hundreds of properties, Uplisting is designed to help you accelerate growth with incredible reliability, critical marketing automation and the most powerful direct booking engine on the market. Start your 14-day free trial at uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout — but act fast, because this offer expires on June 30th, 2023 at midnight! 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.

Meet Robin Craigen, Co-Founder and CEO of Moving Mountains —a luxury collection of lodging properties in Steamboat Springs, Beaver Creek, Vail, and Breckenridge, Colorado. Robin began his hospitality entrepreneurship journey alongside his wife Heather at sea. Yes, you heard that right, the Craigens ran a luxury yacht charter business around the British Virgin Islands. And while sailing the stunning waters of the BVI was nothing short of a dream, Robin and Heather had higher aspirations. The couple moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and decided to open up a ski chalet business. And that business? Well they called it Moving Mountains and today, they manage more than 200 properties across in Colorado’s most desirable ski towns. In this conversation, Robin shares: - His musings on the current state of the vacation rental industry - His thoughts on how to best leverage OTAs - How he’s scaled a team to manage 200+ properties with the kind of service and attention to detail of a 5-start resort - Why he thinks Moving Mountains generates so many returning guests - How he’s thinking about growing in other vacation destinations with his soon-to-be-launched sub-brands Moving Beaches and Moving Oceans. Book your stay at a Moving Mountains property. Connect with Robin on LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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. 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.

Download the full free report . Oh, and be sure to start your 14-day free trial of Uplisting at at https://www.uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout. Welcome to a special 3-part podcast series on The State of the Short-Term Rental Industry brought to you by my friends at Uplisting — one of the most powerful property management systems on the market. Over the next three weeks, join Vinny Breslin, Co-Founder and CEO of Uplisitng, and yours truly, Zach Busekrus from Behind the Stays, as we unpack Uplisting’s latest trends report . Airbnb hosts and short-term rental operators often work independently without much intel as to how their peers are marketing their properties, increasing their booking rates, and how much money folks are actually making from their portfolios. In order to address this issue, the Uplisting team took it upon themselves to collect and analyze data from their own customers as well as hundreds of other STR owners and operators in the industry. This special podcast series will unveil some of the more interesting findings from this report and equip you with insight into how your business compares to others. Uplisting invites you to download the full, free report via the link in the show notes below. Alright folks, without further ado, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite evening cocktail and settle in for an informative and timely 3-part conversation. This episode and 3-part series is brought you to by Uplisting. Whether you have a single property or hundreds of properties, Uplisting is designed to help you accelerate growth with incredible reliability, critical marketing automation and the most powerful direct booking engine on the market. Start your 14-day free trial at uplisting.io/bts-podcast and, once you’ve fallen in love with all that this platform has to offer, get 20% off of your first year of Uplisting when you use the code BTS20 at checkout — but act fast, because this offer expires on June 30th, 2023 at midnight!

Meer Eric Moeller, Founder + CEO of Freewyld — a curated collection of properties designed to inspire awe and bring people together launching this summer in Idyllwild, California. Eric is no stranger to hospitality entrepreneurship. He is the co-founder of Overnight Success which is the engine behind short-term rental educational brands like Legends X 90-Day STR Accelerator, STR Legends Mastermind, Get Paid For Your Pad, and the Airbnb Profit Club. Eric was also the co-founder and CEO of Koda Homes — a real estate investment, management and professional tenant company in San Diego. In this lively conversation, Eric and I chat about the major opportunities that exist in the boutique hospitality space right now, why impeccable design is table stakes when it comes to short-term rentals today, the challenges of building membership programs as a highly-curated collection of stays, and much more. Learn more about Freewyld Connect with Eric on LinkedIn This episode is brought to you by DEN Outdoors. You’ve seen them all over Instagram… You may have also seen them in Dwell Magazine…. And if you love design, travel, and hospitality, chances are you’ve even dreamed about what it would be like to build your very own A-Frames, Cabins, or Barnhouse with their designs. DEN Outdoors began because its founders knew that building a cabin changes who you are, having a cabin changes how you live, and sharing a cabin changes how you engage with others. I’ve met so many incredible hosts in the short-term-rental community who have used DEN designs to build their bespoke escapes, many of whom have been guests on this podcast. And now, it brings me SO much joy to announce that we’ve partnered with DEN to bring you an exclusive discount on their digital design plans. By using the discount code SPONSTAY50 at checkout, you can get ANY of DEN’s digital plans for 50% off…that’s right…5-0. 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.

Meet Amy Dourson from Red River Gorgeous, a collection of unique cabins, treehouses, and instagram-famous cliff houses in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. Growing up, Amy wanted to be a doctor. So, she spent a lot of her time studying as she was determined to go to medical school. But, after a series of adventurous and serendipitous events, Amy fell in love with carpentry and decided to exchange her dreams of becoming a doctor with a new dream to become a builder. When Amy met her husband Aaron, his family owned a few cabins in the Nada Tunnel Road in the heart of the gorge. The business — if you could call it that — was hanging on by little more than a wing and a prayer. As Amy saw it, the couple had two options — let the family business run its course or adopt a new vision of building a collection of unique stays that would introduce the world to the geological wonders of the Gorge that she had fallen in love with. The couple chose the latter. Tune in to hear how Amy transformed a side-hustle family business into a thriving hospitality brand, how she’s strategically partnered with folks like Canopy Crew to build one-of-a-kind treehouses, how she’s built the right team to support the company’s growth, and her vision for the future of travel and hospitality. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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.

Meet Ben Wolff — Founder and Creator of Onera — a truly one-of-a-kind collection of unique escapes in the Texas Hill Country. Ben is no stranger to hospitality entrepreneurship. Prior to starting Onera, Ben founded and grew ProTripper, a property management services platform, and Blink Hospitality, a data-driven, vacation rental company with hundreds of properties across the US. But then something happened in early March 2020 that changed everything. Ben was overseas celebrating the prior year’s successes with a team he had built in the Philippines when his phone began vibrating uncontrollably. Guests were canceling their stays as news broke that the WHO had announced that COVID-19 was now a pandemic. And while COVID crushed Ben’s core business, which primarily focused on STRs in urban locations, it inspired him to think bigger, bolder, and more creatively than ever before. Tune in to hear the story behind how this set of seemingly-doomsday day events led to the creation of an innovative hospitality company offering luxury, eco-focused, unique stays in beautiful, natural landscapes. Book a Stay at Onera Follow Onera on Instagram Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Follow Ben on Twitter This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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.

Meet Chelsea Dunckley — the Founder of Digs Co, a hospitality company that specializes in creating elevated vacation rentals in Central Washington and the Greater Phoenix area. Chelsea and her husband Luke have always loved real estate. After getting married, you’d often find the couple working on nights and weekends flipping homes while discussing the latest trends in design, real estate, and hospitality. But it wasn’t until Chelsea received some unexpected news from the tech company she worked at that she and her entire unit were to be let go that she decided to try her hand at transforming Digs Co from a fun side hustle into her full time gig. In this conversation, Chelsea and I discuss the power and importance of brand building, why Chelsea is so discerning about the properties she chooses to manage for clients within the context of the Digs Co. brand, how and why she’s structured her portfolio into thematic collections, and much more. Book a Stay at Digs Co. Follow Digs Co. on Instagram This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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.

In this special episode, Zach sits down with Amy from Allbelongco to discuss the viral story behind her missing painting. One of Amy's recent Airbnb guests stole a painting and then REPLACED it with one of his own. Amy posted about this on Instagram and TikTok...and it went viral! Tune into the riveting, somewhat unbelievable story behind this mystery unfolding (in real time) in Lynchburg, Virginia. Follow Allbelongco on Instagram. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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.

Meet Jacob Halverson, the General Manager of Mendocino Grove — a luxury glamping resort on 32 wooded acres in Mendocino County, California. After studying hospitality management at Lakeland University, Jacob started his career as a front desk manager at Custer State Park Resort in South Dakota. Since then, he’s helped launch luxury boutique hotels, started his own hospitality consultancy, and, currently, serves as the General Manager at Mendocino Grove. In this lively conversation, Jacob and I discuss the massive opportunity that exists in the luxe camping space, how to increase revenue and profitability when you’ve reached the ceiling for your nightly rate, and the future of experiential travel. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Minoan. If you have more than one short-term-rental, chances are you use a system for your property management — something like Guesty or Uplisting. Well, Minoan is a TOTALLY FREE system that hosts use for furnishing and refreshing their homes. Minoan provides hosts with a one-stop-shop to get hundreds of discounts on the world’s leading brands, and a system where you can manage all of the ordering, tracking, returns, etc. in one place. Saving you time and money! Create your free account here and be sure to tell the team that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way! 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.

Meet Jenny Power, the creator of The Cornerstone Cottage, a carefully restored historic home near Acadia National Park in Lamoine, Maine. Jenny wasn’t looking for a vacation rental — and while she enjoys hosting at her home in Houston, Texas the idea of becoming a short-term-rental host wasn’t remotely on her mind. Jenny’s family are long-time Mainers and she grew up spending lots of time in The Pine Tree State. And so when Jenny and her husband Allan visited Maine in the latter half of the pandemic, they were reminded just how magical this part of the world really is…and mere moments after this realization while on a walk down the street, they stumbled upon a For Sale sign on an impeccable waterfront property. Tune in to hear the vibrant story of how Jenny and Allan acquired The Cornerstone Cottage, which had once been a part of a hotel that families like the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers used to stay in on their way to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, and carefully brought it into its next chapter of life. Follow The Cornerstone Cottage on Instagram This episode is brought to you by DEN Outdoors. You’ve seen them all over Instagram… You may have also seen them in Dwell Magazine…. And if you love design, travel, and hospitality, chances are you’ve even dreamed about what it would be like to build your very own A-Frames, Cabins, or Barnhouse with their designs. DEN Outdoors began because its founders knew that building a cabin changes who you are, having a cabin changes how you live, and sharing a cabin changes how you engage with others. I’ve met so many incredible hosts in the short-term-rental community who have used DEN designs to build their bespoke escapes, many of whom have been guests on this podcast. And now, it brings me SO much joy to announce that we’ve partnered with DEN to bring you an exclusive discount on their digital design plans. By using the discount code SPONSTAY50 at checkout, you can get ANY of DEN’s digital plans for 50% off…that’s right…5-0. 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.

Meet John Stokinger — Co-Host of the No BS Short-Term Rental Podcast and the Director of Sales at Direct, a SaaS platform for short-term rental property and reservation management. In this wide-ranging conversation, John and I talk about his time at the popular start-up, Hopper, how to build better technology platforms for short-term rental hosts, the pros and cons of industry events, and the powerful network effects of podcasting. Connect with John on LinkedIn Check out The No BS Short-Term Rental Podcast Learn more about Direct. This episode is brought to you by DEN Outdoors. You’ve seen them all over Instagram… You may have also seen them in Dwell Magazine…. And if you love design, travel, and hospitality, chances are you’ve even dreamed about what it would be like to build your very own A-Frames, Cabins, or Barnhouse with their designs. DEN Outdoors began because its founders knew that building a cabin changes who you are, having a cabin changes how you live, and sharing a cabin changes how you engage with others. I’ve met so many incredible hosts in the short-term-rental community who have used DEN designs to build their bespoke escapes, many of whom have been guests on this podcast. And now, it brings me SO much joy to announce that we’ve partnered with DEN to bring you an exclusive discount on their digital design plans. By using the discount code SPONSTAY50 at checkout, you can get ANY of DEN’s digital plans for 50% off…that’s right…5-0. 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.

Meet Travis Wilburn and Rebecca Lombardo — the founders of The 100 Collection, a curation of the best properties from trusted vacation rental brands on a mission to set the gold standard for hospitality. Travis has built and run companies in travel and hospitality for well over a decade. His working knowledge spans every level of his organizations, from operations to business development, to maintenance. And Rebecca is seasoned marketing executive with 15 years of experience developing brands and content for travel publications like Yahoo Travel and Orlando Magazine as well as several Fortune 100 companies. In this episode, this dynamic duo unpack their vision for a new era and standard of hospitality for the short-term and vacation rental markets and discuss crucial topics like: How to build a loyalty program in the vacation rental market How to fight back against the market-share owned by OTAs like Airbnb How to grow a meaningful, consumer-facing hospitality brand And much more Discover the 100 Collection Connect with Travis and Rebecca on LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you by DEN Outdoors. You’ve seen them all over Instagram… You may have also seen them in Dwell Magazine…. And if you love design, travel, and hospitality, chances are you’ve even dreamed about what it would be like to build your very own A-Frames, Cabins, or Barnhouse with their designs. DEN Outdoors began because its founders knew that building a cabin changes who you are, having a cabin changes how you live, and sharing a cabin changes how you engage with others. I’ve met so many incredible hosts in the short-term-rental community who have used DEN designs to build their bespoke escapes, many of whom have been guests on this podcast. And now, it brings me SO much joy to announce that we’ve partnered with DEN to bring you an exclusive discount on their digital design plans. By using the discount code SPONSTAY50 at checkout, you can get ANY of DEN’s digital plans for 50% off…that’s right…5-0. 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.

In just a moment you’ll meet Doug Heestand, the owner of the Desert of Maine, a unique and intriguing roadside attraction located in Freeport, Maine. In this podcast interview, Doug shares his journey of transforming the Desert of Maine from a simple tourist attraction to a thriving hospitality company. We explore the origins of the Desert of Maine, its unique geological features, and the challenges Doug faced when taking over the business. He shares how he implemented innovative strategies and creative ideas to rebrand the attraction and turn it into a destination that offers a range of exciting activities and experiences for visitors. Throughout the conversation, Doug emphasizes the importance of taking risks, embracing change, and following your passion when pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams. Doug's inspiring story and valuable insights will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own entrepreneurial dreams and make a positive impact on the world. Discover the Desert of Maine Book a Stay at the Desert of Maine Follow the Desert of Maine on Instagram This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Janice Stitzer, the creator of The Back Country A-Frame in Kremmling, Colorado. One afternoon Janice was flipping through a Dwell magazine when she stumbled upon a piece about a new start-up called DEN, which was selling plans for some of the most beautiful cabins she had ever seen. Janice was so impressed by the gorgeous DEN designs, particularly their designs for A-Frames, that right then and there she decided it was time to put her dream of building a short-term-rental from the ground up to life. In this podcast, Janice shares her journey of how she was first inspired to build an A-Frame Airbnb, the challenges she faced during the process and we delve deep into the topic of budgeting for a new A-Frame build and discuss the actual cost of building an A-Frame near Rocky Mountain National Park. Follow the Back Country A-Frame on Instagram Stay at the Back Country A-Frame This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Andrew Kitchell, a hospitality and proptech entrepreneur currently leading the team at Wheelhouse — a technology platform that helps you manage your short-term rentals as professionally and efficiently as major hotels—from understanding performance to better nightly pricing. Andrew is no stranger to tech or hospitality…in fact, he was building companies in Silicon Valley while a then-small start-up “Air Bed and Breakfast” was working their way through Y Combinator, the most exclusive of startup accelerators in the world. In this episode, Andrew and I discuss: - The revenue management strategies that the best hospitality entrepreneurs use to scale their brand reach as well as their revenue and profitability -new business opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to build in the ever-dynamic industry of hospitality - and what the future of travel, workcations, and experiential stays just might look like. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn here or on Twitter here. Learn more about Wheelhouse here. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Jen and Michael Penchansky, the creators of Casa Nevana, the first short-term rental in the couple’s newly founded portfolio, Nevana Properties. Michael and Jen met while working in the fashion industry in New York City. Michael founded a software company in fashion tech and Jen was employee number one, so the couple know a thing or ten about how to work together. Michael grew up going to Hunter, New York in the Catskills with his family and always had an appreciation for the reprieve the mountains offered from life in the city. So, when Michael and Jen began dreaming about starting a boutique hospitality brand centered around building a collection of luxurious, but accessible, short-term rentals, the couple new that the first home in their collection just had to be in Hunter. Tune in to hear the story of how Michael and Jen leveraged the local community to build their home in record time, the careful consideration that went into the founding of their hospitality brand, and what they have planned next. Alright, without further ado, get ready to meet Michael and Jen. Book Your Stay at Casa Nevana This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Wil Slickers — founder of Hospitality FM, the largest network of hospitality podcasts, and the co-founder of Recreation Rentals, a boutique collection of vacation rentals with luxury hotel-like operations. While working as a hotel manager in the pacific northwest, Wil stared a podcast called Slick Talk — a show that explores the dynamic nature of the hospitality industry — from short-term rentals and boutique hotels to Michelin star restaurants and five star resorts. Now this show Wil started as a fun side project? Well, a lot of people liked it…and before too long, Wil quick his job as a hotel manager and decided to build a niche media company dedicated to the professionals in the industry. Tune in to hear the inspiring story of how Wil founded and scaled Hospitality FM into the leading digital professional development space for hospitality entrepreneurs and what his hot takes on the future of the industry will look like. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Michael Albaum — a professional remote real estate investor, Airbnb superhost, and fellow podcaster. After getting an engineering degree and moving to the Bay Area, Michael stumbled upon a book that would forever shift his perspective on work and wealth…and that book was Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In this episode of Behind the Stays, Michael shares candidly about how he’s been able to grow a portfolio of short-term and longer-term rentals that are mostly remote — as in, he doesn’t live in close proximity to his properties. Michael and I chat about: the pros and cons of using a property manager the importance of balancing perspectives and decisions from both an investment and hospitality lens the future of OTAs like Airbnb how to get a crash course on real estate investment on Twitter and much more. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Meet Jonah Hanig, Founder and CEO of Rove — a premium portfolio of luxury Airbnbs designed for discerning travelers. Jonah grew up in the Chicago suburbs and always had a knack for tinkering with business ideas. After going to school in New York, Jonah decided to pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur and was fortunate enough to get accepted to Y Combinator — the most prestigious of start-up accelerators in the world. Fun fact — Airbnb is a YC company! Soon after being accepted to YC covid hit…and, well, Jonah’s startup wasn’t immune to the disruption that all of us felt in those early days. But it wasn’t long before Jonah had another idea…and that idea was to offer a Ritz-Carlton-like experience within the context of a collection of highly-curated short-term rentals. Tune in to hear the story of: Where the idea for Rove came from How Rove is building the Ritz-Carlton of STRs Why Rove is also building a Zillow for STR investors How Rove has thought about differentiation in an increasingly-crowded marketplace This episode is brought to you by our friends at Guesty for Hosts... Will you send them a quick message thanking them for being a sponsor? You can email them here or DM them on social media here! While there are many property management softwares on the market, I always encourage our listeners to check out Guesty For Hosts. Guesty's channel manager centralizes reservations across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com to stay on top of your listings without having to hop back and forth between channels. Guesty’s automation tools enable you to connect with guests in a meaningful, creative, and instant fashion. Guesty’s new and improved Website Builder allows you to create your own branded booking website in just minutes…allowing you to grow your brand and increase your direct bookings. And finally, Guesty is positioned well to grow with you. As your business grows, you can grow with Guesty For Pros, unlocking new features and offerings designed for larger portfolios. So here’s the deal. If you’re an. STR host without a PMS system or a host looking at exploring a new one, I’ve got a treat for you. The team at Guesty is giving Behind the Stays listeners and Sponstayneous subscribers $20 off an annual or monthly plan of Guesty For Hosts when they use the discount code “SPONSTAYNEOUS” when signing up for a free 14 day trial - no credit card, set up fee, or commitment required — and cancel anytime if you don't love it. Guesty For Hosts — they’re the bestie of top-rated STR super hosts! 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.

Welcome to Marketing Mondays — a new, weekly segment on the Behind the Stays podcast that covers specific marketing strategies and tactics that Airbnb hosts and hospitality entrepreneurs can immediately use to promote their stays. On this third episode Zach covers all things Email A/B testing! Email A/B tests are incredibly important...yet many Airbnb hosts and hospitality entrepreneurs fail to conduct them regularly. I did a recent poll with some of the hosts in the space whose brands I respect the most and asked if they’ve run A/B tests to their email lists and 95% of them said no! Testing is INCREDIBLY important if you want to grow as a hospitality marketer — and, as far as I’m concerned, if you’re collecting guest emails to increase your direct bookings or to communicate with them after their stay, you are, in fact, a hospitality marketer. Now the reason folks don’t A/B test their emails typically comes down to time… Well folks, I’ve got some great news for you! I've taken the time to come up with 10 different email A/B tests that you can (and should) test out. These are fun! And pretty creative(ish) — if we do say so ourselves. If you use any of them, be sure to let us know which version won! Let us know what you think about this new segment by sending us a DM on Instagram @sponstayneous, shooting our founder a DM on Twitter, or sending him an email at [email protected] . 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.