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 Nov 03, 2023
Friday Nov 03, 2023
Meet Max Gagliardi — founder of Mountain Fork Resort, a 140-acre waterfront development in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
Max is an entrepreneur who builds businesses across energy, real estate, & technology — he has a knack for finding opportunities in places others are convinced no opportunity exists.
After stumbling upon an incredible piece of land in Broken Bow, one of the hottest up and coming vacation destinations in the southeast, Max began dreaming about how he could build a next generation resort that would become a destination in and of itself.
In this episode, Max and I discuss:
- What inspired him to start a hospitality brand
- Some unpopular opinions he has about the current state of the short-term rental industry
- The biggest opportunities you see to build thriving businesses in the space
- And what’s he learned by hosting a popular entrepreneurship podcast called “Always Be Building”
This episode is brought to you by Hostlabs — Say goodbye to the daily hassle of running your short-term rental business. Free up your time and watch your business thrive with Hostlabs. Learn more and qualify for an exclusive discount here.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- The Future of Vacation Rental Management Companies — Stories and Ideas from a Former VRMA President
- A Panel Discussion on the Future of Short-Term Rental Investing with Wander, Techvestor, and Arrived
- How They’re Building a New Hotel Brand from Scratch
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
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.
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Meet Brooke Pfautz, founder and CEO of Vintory, the only sales and marketing platform on the planet exclusively dedicated to helping professional vacation rental managers grow their inventory.
Brooke is one of the industry's most respected experts, so it was an honor to get him back on the podcast to discuss his new book, Vacation Rental Secrets, which is a collection of the short-term rental industry’s top experts disclosing their biggest mistakes and sharing their hard-earned wisdom.
Brooke and I discuss some of the most meaningful lessons garnered from these interviews, some unpopular opinions he has about the current state of the industry, the opportunity he sees for entrepreneurs to build new businesses in and around hospitality, and some hot takes he has on the future of the industry.
Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn
This episode is brought to you by Hostlabs — Say goodbye to the daily hassle of running your short-term rental business. Free up your time and watch your business thrive with Hostlabs. Learn more and qualify for an exclusive discount here.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- The Future of Vacation Rental Management Companies — Stories and Ideas from a Former VRMA President
- A Panel Discussion on the Future of Short-Term Rental Investing with Wander, Techvestor, and Arrived
- How They’re Building a New Hotel Brand from Scratch
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
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.
Friday Oct 27, 2023
Friday Oct 27, 2023
Meet David and Andy Heyman — the two brothers who brought one of the newest and most unique glamping sites in the Blue Ridge Mountains to life, which they call Glamp Blue Ridge.
David has a background in finance and Andy is a graphic designer by trade. The guys had long dreamed of being able to work on a business venture of some kind together but the timing and the idea never seemed right…
That is, of course, until the idea of building a collection of unique Airbnbs on an actual waterfall in Cherry Log, Georgia began to percolate. David is the idea guy and Andy is the creative who brings the ideas to life.
The brothers purchased dozens of acres of land that will eventually be home to a number of unique units like treehouses, a-frames, and maybe even airplanes, but the first iteration of Glamp Blue Ridge is a collection of 7 massive domes that all have their own brand, character, and unique furnishings.
In this conversation we discuss:
- Lessons learned trying to build unique Airbnbs on-top-of a waterfall
- How they generated over 100k followers on Instagram in their first few months
- Why they’re bullish on direct bookings
- Why their occupancy rate is over 90% even as travel slows down a bit
- And so much more
Follow Glamp Blue Ridge on Social Media
This episode is brought to you by Hostlabs — Say goodbye to the daily hassle of running your short-term rental business. Free up your time and watch your business thrive with Hostlabs. Learn more and qualify for an exclusive discount here.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- How British Airways and an Airbnb in Istanbul Inspired Him to Build a Glamping Destination in the Catskills
- Forget Vacation Destinations — He Builds Collections of Branded Airbnbs Near College Campuses
- He Was Airbnb’s 13th Employee — And Here’s What He Thinks the Future of the Hospitality Industry Will Look Like
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
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.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Meet Mike Harrington, a true legend among vacation rental managers.
Mike’s career in hospitality started by accident. After graduating from business school, Mike received a call from a recruiter to join a vacation rental management company on Hatteras Island.
He learned the ropes of the industry at this first gig, grew to love the art of the business, and eventually decided that what he really wanted was to own and operate his own vacation rental management company.
After working at one of the largest vacation rental managers in the Outer Banks, Mike decided to take the leap and founded Carolina Retreats, a vacation rental management firm that would grow to serve nearly 400 properties across the state of North Carolina.
Along the way he’d answer the call to serve his colleagues in the industry by becoming the president of VRMA, the largest professional trade association for vacation rental managers, and serving in that role for over 6 years.
While Mike had no intention of selling his business, in 2021 he got an offer from V Trips, one of the world’s most respected vacation rental management brands, that he just couldn’t refuse.
Tune in to hear the stories, lessons and insights Mike has garnered throughout his career and get an inside look at the company he’s building next.
This episode is brought to you by Hostlabs — Say goodbye to the daily hassle of running your short-term rental business. Free up your time and watch your business thrive with Hostlabs. Learn more and qualify for an exclusive discount here.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- How British Airways and an Airbnb in Istanbul Inspired Him to Build a Glamping Destination in the Catskills
- Forget Vacation Destinations — He Builds Collections of Branded Airbnbs Near College Campuses
- He Was Airbnb’s 13th Employee — And Here’s What He Thinks the Future of the Hospitality Industry Will Look Like
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
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.
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Meet Josiah Mackenzie, Founder of Hospitality Daily — a community, podcast, and email newsletter that helps hospitality professionals stay informed and inspired in this ever-changing and dynamic industry.
Josiah has spent his entire career creating, innovating and building in Hospitality. He founded a company called Hospitality Marketing Strategies which went on to become the #1 hotel marketing website in the world.
Josiah then spent several years working for hospitality tech companies leading go-to-market strategies and helping these start ups get off the ground, scale, and in some cases even get acquired.
In this conversation, Josiah and I discuss:
- What STR owners and operates can learn from some of the leading boutique hoteliers about brand building and marketing
- The most interesting insights he’s garnered from hosting a daily podcast
- Why he’s bullish on building his brand and the Hospitality Daily community on LinkedIn
- The biggest opportunities he sees for hospitality entrepreneurs today
- And so much more
This episode is brought to you by our friends at OptimizeMyBnB
I’ve been trying to find someone who I think understands the platform and marketing strategy better than me that I can refer you all to…
And I’m happy to say that I think I’ve found him.
Meet Daniel Rusteen — he’s a former Airbnb employee, full-time digital nomad, and author of “Optimize Your BnB” which has sold over 50,000 copies by word-of-mouth alone.
Daniel has lived on Airbnb for more than 2,500 nights and has helped hundreds of hosts via his consulting, his program, and his thought leadership, increase their listing’s rank on Airbnb.
If you’re newer to the STR space, or if your listings are starting to drop in rank, I want to encourage you all to do one of two things — if not BOTH — of the following:
- Buy Daniel’s new book, “Profitable Properties: Airbnb Insider Secrets” — you can get it on Amazon for just $10
- Join Daniel’s 9-week program and he’ll teach you everything you need to know about optimizing your STR for Airbnb, VRBO, Google Search, and beyond. You can use the discount code BTS for 40% off the program between now and the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Daniel will teach you what the top 1% of short-term rental owners and managers already know about how to fully optimize their STRs across OTAs and beyond.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- How British Airways and an Airbnb in Istanbul Inspired Him to Build a Glamping Destination in the Catskills
- Forget Vacation Destinations — He Builds Collections of Branded Airbnbs Near College Campuses
- He Was Airbnb’s 13th Employee — And Here’s What He Thinks the Future of the Hospitality Industry Will Look Like
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
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.
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Meet Tanner Cummings — Co-founder and Owner of Thin Spaces, a new hotel brand that’s building its first micro-resort called Cypress at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Jasper, Georgia.
Tanner has always loved finding issues and solving problems, which is why he spent most of his professional career working in quality assurance engineering for software companies like Calendly.
But in 2021, Tanner was bit by the entrepreneurial bug and decided to join the e-commerce start up his wife Melissa founded called, Cedar and Ink. And while the couple couldn’t have know it at the time, this venture would ultimately inspire them to dream bigger.
Tune in to hear the exciting story of why Tanner and Melissa decided to go all in on building a brand new hotel brand and what their first project, Cypress, a remarkably intentional micro-resort with luxurious and unexpected amenities will look like when it launches next year.
Connect with Tanner on LinkedIn
This episode is brought to you by Minoan!
Want to save 30-40% off West Elm purchase for your Airbnb? Or hundreds off of instagram famous mattresses from Bear or Purple? Then you'll want to create your free account with our partner 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! Sign up and tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way.
If you liked this episode, you might also like:
1. He’s An Accountant, Artist, and Airbnb Superhost — Meet Isaac French the Creator of Live Oak Lake
2. How to Build a Portfolio of 100 Single-Family Airbnbs and Transform Them into Unique Experiences
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
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.
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Meet James Varley — Founder of the Holiday Cottage Handbook and Varley Media.
James has had an impressive career in media — taking jobs around the world to work in print, TV, radio, digital advertising and social media organizations large and small.
For the last ten years, James was living in Qatar leading corporate communications for last year’s FIFA World Cup organizing committee — how cool is that?
James first got into short-term rentals as he’d rent out his flat in London when traveling abroad for lengthy work assignments. He was amazed by how much he loved the experience of hosting and by how lucrative this asset class could be.
After the World Cup finished in Qatar, he saw a gap in the STR media space for practical, helpful content that would help property managers grow their businesses.
And, while he couldn’t have known it at the time, this observation would lead to the founding of a new platform for STR owners, operators, and media partners to connect, learn and grow.
This episode is brought to you by our friends at OptimizeMyBnB
I’ve been trying to find someone who I think understands the platform and marketing strategy better than me that I can refer you all to…
And I’m happy to say that I think I’ve found him.
Meet Daniel Rusteen — he’s a former Airbnb employee, full-time digital nomad, and author of “Optimize Your BnB” which has sold over 50,000 copies by word-of-mouth alone.
Daniel has lived on Airbnb for more than 2,500 nights and has helped hundreds of hosts via his consulting, his program, and his thought leadership, increase their listing’s rank on Airbnb.
If you’re newer to the STR space, or if your listings are starting to drop in rank, I want to encourage you all to do one of two things — if not BOTH — of the following:
- Buy Daniel’s new book, “Profitable Properties: Airbnb Insider Secrets” — you can get it on Amazon for just $10
- Join Daniel’s 9-week program and he’ll teach you everything you need to know about optimizing your STR for Airbnb, VRBO, Google Search, and beyond. You can use the discount code BTS for 40% off the program between now and the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Daniel will teach you what the top 1% of short-term rental owners and managers already know about how to fully optimize their STRs across OTAs and beyond.
Recent episodes you might enjoy:
- How British Airways and an Airbnb in Istanbul Inspired Him to Build a Glamping Destination in the Catskills
- Forget Vacation Destinations — He Builds Collections of Branded Airbnbs Near College Campuses
- He Was Airbnb’s 13th Employee — And Here’s What He Thinks the Future of the Hospitality Industry Will Look Like
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
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.
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Meet John Andrew Entwistle, Founder and CEO of Wander, Sief Khafagi, Co-Founder and CEO of Techvestor, and Cameron Wu, VP of Investments at Arrived.
I invited these incredible gentlemen onto the podcast for a panel discussion on the future of fundraising, portfolio building, and passive investing in short-term rentals.
I’ve been curious, as I’m sure many of you all have been, how these short-term rental funds, REITs, and other forms of fractional ownership of vacation rentals businesses are panning out, and thought I’d bring some of the finest folks in the arena to share their stories and insight with you all.
In this vibrant chat you’ll learn:
- How these business overlap and how they are distinct
- How the strategies for each business have evolved given the changes we’ve seen in macro economic environments over the past year
- Why today’s consumers are ready for altgernative forms of real estate investment
- What exit strategies for each of these companies might look like
- And loads more
Moderating discussions with such incredible people is always so hard — and while we didn’t get to half of the questions I had hoped to because of time, I believe there’s so much value to be garnered from this discussion around how the industry as a whole is evolving and what these entrepreneurs believe the future of travel, hospitality, and vacation rental investing, just might look like.
This episode is brought to you by Minoan!
Want to save 30-40% off West Elm purchase for your Airbnb? Or hundreds off of instagram famous mattresses from Bear or Purple? Then you'll want to create your free account with our partner 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! Sign up and tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way.
Like this episode? Here are a few others you'll love:
How to Build a Portfolio of 100 Single-Family Airbnbs and Transform Them into Unique Experiences
How to Build a Franchise-Worthy Hospitality Brand — The Story of Casiola
How AI Will Enable Hospitality Entrepreneurs to Scale Their Brands (and Portfolios)
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
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.
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Meet John Sutton — Co-Founder and CEO of Mansion, a new fractional ownership offering for those looking to get into short-term rental investing without needing to own or operate an Airbnb.
Before starting Mansion*, John was the Chief Digital Officer at Red Ventures — the parent company for brands like Lonely Planet, The Points Guy, Reviews.com, and many others, so it’s safe to say John knows his way around building and scaling brands at the intersection of travel, hospitality, and technology.
In this conversation, John talks about:
- Mansion’s vision of making real estate investing more accessible and exciting — fun fact, you can own a piece of your own Mansion for as little as $9/share.
- Some of the learnings he garnered while at Red Ventures about the future of travel and hospitality
- How Mansion’s approach is different from that of Techvestor’s, Here, or Wander who have similar offerings.
- And what he predicts will happen over the next 5-10 years as more of these branded, professionally managed STR funds continue to grow.
Follow John Sutton on LinkedIn
This episode is brought to you by Minoan!
Want to save 30-40% off West Elm purchase for your Airbnb? Or hundreds off of instagram famous mattresses from Bear or Purple? Then you'll want to create your free account with our partner 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! Sign up and tell them that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way.
Like this episode? Here are a few others you'll love:
How to Build a Portfolio of 100 Single-Family Airbnbs and Transform Them into Unique Experiences
How to Build a Franchise-Worthy Hospitality Brand — The Story of Casiola
How AI Will Enable Hospitality Entrepreneurs to Scale Their Brands (and Portfolios)
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
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.
*The Issuer is conducting public offerings pursuant to Regulation A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, through this Website. The most current offering circular for Mansion Collection I is available here. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments such as those on the Mansion Group platform are speculative and involve substantial risks to consider before investing, outlined in the respective offering materials and including, but not limited to, illiquidity, lack of diversification and complete loss of capital. Key risks include, but are not limited to, limited operating history, limited diversification, risk of asset damage or theft and lack of voting rights. An investment in an offering constitutes only an investment in a particular series and not in the underlying asset(s). Investors should carefully review the risks located in the respective offering materials for a more comprehensive discussion of risk.
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Meet Jake Tucker, founder of Roav — a collection of urban and luxury retreat STRs located in the Pacific Northwest
Jake began co-hosting Airbnbs while in college as a side-hustle. He had no experience in real estate or hospitality whatsoever, but after Googling "how to make a lot of money as a college kid", he stumbled upon the plethora of rental arbitrage content on YouTube and began to binge.
When he graduated, all of his friends started getting real jobs and Jake felt pressured to do the same.
But as he thought more and more about it, the idea of working for someone else seemed untenable to Jake…
So, he decided to trust his gut and go all in on building his STR property management business. And now, just a few years later, Roav is one of the largest short-term rental hosting companies in the Inland Northwest.
Tune in to hear Jake share how he got started with his first few properties, how he navigated COVID, his tips for acquiring new property owners as customers, the pros and cons of managing both traditional STRs AND unique stays, and much more.
This episode is brought to you by our friends at OptimizeMyBnB
I’ve been trying to find someone who I think understands the platform and marketing strategy better than me that I can refer you all to…
And I’m happy to say that I think I’ve found him.
Meet Daniel Rusteen — he’s a former Airbnb employee, full-time digital nomad, and author of “Optimize Your BnB” which has sold over 50,000 copies by word-of-mouth alone.
Daniel has lived on Airbnb for more than 2,500 nights and has helped hundreds of hosts via his consulting, his program, and his thought leadership, increase their listing’s rank on Airbnb.
If you’re newer to the STR space, or if your listings are starting to drop in rank, I want to encourage you all to do one of two things — if not BOTH — of the following:
- Buy Daniel’s new book, “Profitable Properties: Airbnb Insider Secrets” — you can get it on Amazon for just $10
- Join Daniel’s 9-week program and he’ll teach you everything you need to know about optimizing your STR for Airbnb, VRBO, Google Search, and beyond. You can use the discount code BTS for 40% off the program between now and the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Daniel will teach you what the top 1% of short-term rental owners and managers already know about how to fully optimize their STRs across OTAs and beyond.
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
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.