Episodes

Think you need hotel operations experience to invest in boutique hotels? That belief may be the only thing standing between you and building serious commercial real estate wealth. In this episode, you'll discover how a Gulfstream pilot raised $1.5 million and became co-GP on a 130-room boutique hotel in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains - without managing a single employee or making a single bed. A private jet captain who flies billionaires by day reveals his exact framework for partnering on commer...

Most first-time hotel syndicators are already breaking the rules; they just don't know it yet. If you've ever taken money from friends and family without the right structure, you may have accidentally sold securities. And if you're paying someone just to raise capital? That's another violation waiting to happen. In this episode, you'll learn exactly how to raise money for hotel deals without putting yourself or your investors at risk. A securities attorney who's structured hundreds of capital...

Stop treating your front desk like an expense; it's costing you hundreds of thousands in property value. The biggest mistake boutique hotel owners make isn't about the property itself. It's ignoring the untapped revenue sitting right at your check-in counter. In this episode, you'll discover how to turn your front desk into a profit center that can add 5% to your bottom line and potentially $500,000 to your hotel's valuation. A hospitality revenue expert who helped pioneer the car rental upse...

Why do so many people dream about buying a hotel but never actually close one? In this episode, Michael sits down with Brian Resendez, CEO of SVN Northwest Hotel Advisors. Brian has been involved in hundreds of hotel transactions across the Pacific Northwest and brings rare insight into what separates buyers who close deals from buyers who stall out. You will learn: • The real reasons most buyers never get their first deal • How successful investors overcome fear, uncertaint...

Boutique hotel investors often lose money in the same place: they renovate what’s visible, and ignore what actually drives guest behavior. In this episode, we talk about design as a business tool, not a decoration budget. The goal is simple: create a guest experience that feels intentional, sells itself, and supports your NOI, even when you’re operating without brand-level resources. My guest is Scott Lamont, CEO of EDSA, a globally recognized design and planning firm. Scott and his team work o...

Is now a terrible time to buy a hotel, or the best buying window you will get this decade? In this episode, Michael sits down with Suraj Bhakta, CEO of NewGen Advisory, a national hotel brokerage that has closed deals in 44 states. Suraj explains what he is actually seeing in today’s market, from the SBA shutdown fallout to the quiet distress building under the surface. In this conversation, you will learn: Why are the 2021–2022 performance numbers misleading so many sellers and buyersWhere d...

Most boutique hotel investors are running lean. No analyst team. No data department. No six-figure tech budget. Yet the demands of buying and operating hotels keep getting heavier. In this episode, I sit down with Jake Heller, founder of the AI for CRE Collective, to break down the most effective AI tools that give small operators the firepower of a full investment team without hiring more staff or burning more hours. We workshop real tools you can start using today to: Research any hotel mar...

Turning an international hospitality dream into reality sounds exciting, until you’re standing on a swampy patch of land in Belize, wondering how many years it will take to shape it into something guests will love. That’s where today’s guest, Odis Martin, began. He and his wife spent nearly a decade transforming a remote island into Sindiri on the Reef, a private eco lodge built without outside investors and rebuilt multiple times after hurricanes. Odis and his wife went from small US multifam...

Ever wonder why some first-time hotel buyers close deals while others keep getting stuck? This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, Michael Russell sits down with Hunter Johnson, President of Investment Sales at US Hotel Advisors, who has worked on transactions from boutique mom-and-pops to $80M hotels. Hunter has been on every side of the table. He’s seen the deals that close, the deals that die, and the blind spots new investors never notice until it’s too late. In this episode, Hunter bre...

Want to know what it’s like to go from short-term rentals to owning boutique hotels while still maintaining a healthy relationship? This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, Michael Russell sits down with Mitch and Katie Ehly, the husband-and-wife duo behind Fresh Coast Motel and Spruce & Shore Motel in Door County, Wisconsin. They share how they scaled from Airbnbs to a full-fledged hospitality brand, revived two historic motels, and used automation to stay profitable without losing the guest...

Looking for hotel technology that can actually increase profit and reduce expenses without hiring an IT department? This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, Michael Russell sits down with Sue Graves, founder of Experience Alive, who has spent over 30 years in hospitality and now helps hotel owners implement practical, affordable tech solutions that make a real financial impact. In this episode, you’ll discover several technology use cases you can implement today, including: Offload up to 50%...

Ever dreamed of quitting your six-figure job to build real wealth through hotels? This episode shows you what it actually takes. Tim Ensmann, founder of the T.C. Hotel Fund, shares how he went from tech sales to owning a multi-million-dollar boutique hotel portfolio in under five years. He reveals the sacrifices, systems, and strategies behind turning a $1.5M property into a $4.5M success story. He then shares how you can follow the same path without losing your sanity. You’ll learn: The real...

Ever wonder where the money actually goes in a hotel deal? In this episode, Michael Russell breaks down real estate syndications in plain English. How investors and operators really get paid, what fees are fair, and how to structure deals that build long-term trust. Whether you’re looking to raise capital for your first project or invest passively, this is the playbook for understanding the math behind every syndication. You’ll learn: The simple breakdown between LPs and GPs and how each gets...

When most people say they want to buy a hotel, it’s just talk. Jacobo Hernandez sold his entire $10M short-term rental portfolio, packed his car, and hit the road for 90 days to find one. He toured 35 hotels, underwrote 2,000 deals, and slept in random motels across the U.S. before discovering a hidden gem, a 59-room hotel on 10 acres in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for just $1.2 million. Now he’s turning it into Forest Springs Hotel & Spa, a wellness-focused retreat with saunas, cold plunge...

We’ve all dreamt of quitting our bland corporate jobs to buy a hotel in Costa Rica… well, today’s guest did that. After leaving a private equity career in San Francisco, Bill Graf traded suits for surf towns and founded Onda, a hospitality brand in Costa Rica that blends the style of a boutique hotel with the social energy of a hostel. You’ll learn: How to uncover hidden opportunities in small hotels that big players ignore What U.S. investors should know about buying real estate in C...

The hotel industry is changing: costs are rising, AI is here, and investors are getting more selective. This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, we sat down with Bob Rauch, better known as The Hotel Guru. From starting out as a dishwasher to building and selling a 20-hotel management company, then launching Brick Hospitality and managing nearly 1,000 rooms, Bob has seen it all. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to spot hot markets (and avoid the ones that eat your profits)The truth about us...

Where is the hotel market headed in 2026, and how can investors succeed in a challenging environment? This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, we sat down with Jan Freitag, National Director of Hospitality Analytics at CoStar. With over 30 years of experience analyzing hotel performance data, Jan is one of the most respected voices in the industry. Here’s what you’ll learn: How to use data and analytics to spot opportunities others overlookWhy conviction and strong operations can outperform ...

The most powerful part of a hotel stay isn’t the design or the amenities, it’s the feeling guests take home. That’s the philosophy of Bashar Wali, one of the most candid and creative voices in hospitality, who's spent 30+ years building, operating, and reinventing hotels around the world. In this episode of the Hotel Investor Playbook, Bashar shares: Why “give-a-shit-ability” beats corporate playbooks The power of emotional intelligence in hotel teams The biggest mistakes first-time owners ...

How do you turn a struggling hotel into a profitable asset? This week on the Hotel Investor Playbook, we sit down with Naveed Khan, co-founder of London Rock Partners, a hotel management and advisory firm that oversees everything from branded hotels like Holiday Inn to boutique independents and even a 650-bed hostel in London. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why the first step in turning around a hotel always starts with people, not P&LsThe advantages (and risks) of branded vs. independent...

Few people have left a mark on hospitality like Richard Kessler. He started his hospitality career by helping scale Days Inn into a household name as the early CEO Then he founded the Kessler Collection, one of the leading boutique hotel portfolios in the U.S., which ultimately helped launch Marriott’s Autograph Collection. In this episode, Richard shares the biggest lessons from his 50-year career, including: • How to lead through downturns and find opportunity in distress &nbs...

What if your first hotel deal could be funded almost entirely through Instagram? This week’s guest, Soli Cayetano AKA lattes.and.leases on Instagram, went from barista to building a $13M real estate portfolio in just four years. After exiting her residential investing business, she turned to hospitality and now co-owns a 13-key boutique wellness hotel in Palm Springs that’s already been featured in Forbes, Vogue, and Travel & Leisure. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Soli raised $2.5M i...

What happens when you buy a piece of land on a hunch and decide to build something that could last a thousand years? This week’s guest, Brandon Gore, has one of the most unique paths into boutique hospitality we’ve ever heard. After a career in corporate hotels, he built a name as a concrete craftsman, only to return to his roots in Arkansas with a vision: The Outlier Hotel, a 10-cabin luxury retreat designed with world-class architecture and adventure hospitality in mind. In this episode, you...

Think great marketing is only for big hotels with big budgets? Think again. In this episode, we talk with Steph Weber, a marketing and branding expert who helps boutique hotel and STR owners drive direct bookings. She breaks down how she finds her audience, tells a compelling brand story, and uses limited resources to drive big results. You’ll learn: How to identify your property’s unique selling pointsSimple marketing strategies that work for small hotels and innsWhy guest experience is your...

Think you need a perfect plan to start investing in hospitality? Think again. In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Mueller, an everyday investor who went from zero experience and a failed multifamily deal to buying a $250K roadside motel and building a growing hospitality portfolio. He didn’t have a background in hotels, didn’t have much of a strategy, and still made it work through pure action, problem-solving, and a willingness to pivot. You’ll learn: Why taking action beats waiting f...