Welcome to Behind the Stays — a podcast that shares the stories behind your favorite boutique hotels, short-term rentals, and hospitality brands and the hosts, operators, and entrepreneurs who’ve brought them to life. Every Tuesday and Friday you’ll meet the military veterans, retired flight attendants, tech entrepreneurs, school teachers, single moms, hoteliers, and real estate investors who are all, in their unique ways, shaping the future of travel and hospitality. Discover how these visionaries — from all over the world — have built stunning landscape hotels in the mountains, designed bohemian bungalows on the beach, erected eclectic off-grid and nature-immersed escapes, and so much more. Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world’s top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more. Behind the States is hosted by Zach Busekrus, Head of the Journey Alliance.
Episodes
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Meet Jeff Iloulian — Founder and CEO of HostGPO, a buying group for the short term rental industry.
After graduating with a degree in Economics from Columbia, Jeff thought he wanted to be an attorney, so went to Law School.
But after practicing law for a few years, Jeff was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug so he founded a real estate and technology investment company called Winthorpe Valentine which grew to manage over 250 short-term rentals.
Managing more than 250 properties meant that Jeff spent a lot of time buying furniture and other furnishings for his homes. While the homes he managed certainly varied in style and size, Jeff often found himself buying 100 of the same broom or 50 of the same bookshelf all at retail price.
And that’s when the idea, which would eventually become HostGPO was born. Tune in to hear the story of how Jeff founded HostGPO and scaled it to be the largest buying group of short-term rental hosts in the country.
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.
Comments (0)
To leave or reply to comments, please download free Podbean or
No Comments
To leave or reply to comments,
please download free Podbean App.