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
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Meet Debbie Todd, creator of The Woodlands at Hocking Hill.
Debbie is a physical therapist and mother of three by day, and an STR host by night.
Debbie and her husband Jeff were looking for a vacation home that they could get away to a couple of weekends a month. The idea of renting it out wasn’t totally off the table, but certainly wasn’t a priority.
Then one weekend, in the spring of 2020, the family decided to list the property on Airbnb. And, well, it instantly took off…so much so, in fact, that the Todd family was rarely able to stay there!
This traction inspired Debbie and Jeff to start searching for another home in Hocking Hills.
Tune in to hear the inspiring story of how Debbie and Jeff found the property which they’d transform into the Woodlands Lodge and how they’ve designed their budding STR business to give back to the community.
Alright, without further ado, get ready to meet Debbie.
Book The Woodlands at Hocking Hills.
This week's episode is brought to you by Wander.
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Meet Madison Rifikin — Founder and CEO of Mount, a platform designed to help short term rental hosts upsell their guests.
Madison has always been a tinkerer. In 5th grade, she had the opportunity to enroll in an innovation program…and she was pretty much hooked on building things after that.
One of the first products she built was a smart bike lock, which she’d go on to sell to some of the most well-known scooter brands in the industry.
Tune in to hear the fantastic story of how selling locks to the Bird’s and Lime’s of the world led to Madison building a platform for STR hosts to turn just about anything into a rentable amenity.
Learn more about Mount by visiting their website.
Connect with Madison on LinkedIn
This week's episode of Behind the Stays is brought to you by Ping — the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available.
Ping is a simple widget that lives on your website (or direct booking site) and allows your fans and followers to sign up to be notified if their preferred dates become available.
Here’s how it works.
Jimmy sees that you’re booked the whole month of October, but he wants to be notified if any 3-night window in the month becomes available.
Jen is a returning guest and wants to be notified if any week in June, July, or August becomes available.
In a matter of seconds, Jimmy and Jen fill out the simple form and will be Pinged if their requested dates become available.
And as a host, you will immediately get pinged via email with Jimmy and Jen’s contact information and requested dates enabling you to build up your own database of guest email addresses.
Ping — it's what the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Sign up for free at www.bnbping.com
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Meet Jack Buck — a hospitality entrepreneur working on his first luxe vacation rental concepts in Sedona, New Orleans, and The Boulders in Arizona.
Buck fell in love with travel after taking a motorcycle trip across Vietnam a few years ago. The beauty and adventure the country offered, coupled with the community he found while traveling, inspired him to work on projects in and the travel industry.
Discover his thoughts on the democratizing of hospitality brand building, why he thinks the future of travel will be communal, and how he’s designing highly-experiential stays for the next generation of travelers.
Follow Buck on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/buckshotio
This week's episode of Behind the Stays is brought to you by Ping — the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available.
Ping is a simple widget that lives on your website (or direct booking site) and allows your fans and followers to sign up to be notified if their preferred dates become available.
Here’s how it works.
Jimmy sees that you’re booked the whole month of October, but he wants to be notified if any 3-night window in the month becomes available.
Jen is a returning guest and wants to be notified if any week in June, July, or August becomes available.
In a matter of seconds, Jimmy and Jen fill out the simple form and will be Pinged if their requested dates become available.
And as a host, you will immediately get pinged via email with Jimmy and Jen’s contact information and requested dates enabling you to build up your own database of guest email addresses.
Ping — it's what the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Sign up for free at www.bnbping.com
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
In just a moment, you’ll meet Justine Palefsky, co-founder of Kindred — a members-only community for home swapping.
Growing up, Justine loved to read, ideate, and create. Her parents originally moved to San Francisco to follow the Grateful Dead and encouraged Justine to dream big and take bold risks even if others didn’t quite get it.
Justine has always loved to travel. When COVID hit, Justine, like many folks, started dreaming about what it would look like to live in different cities throughout the year.
She started looking into buying short term rentals in markets like Tahoe, but soon realized that, for her, it was less about owning real estate, and more about having the ability to live and work in different locations throughout the year.
And it was this revelation that sparked the initial idea which would become Kindred.
Follow Justine on Twitter here.
Learn more about Kindred by visiting their website.
This week's episode of Behind the Stays is brought to you by Ping — the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available.
Ping is a simple widget that lives on your website (or direct booking site) and allows your fans and followers to sign up to be notified if their preferred dates become available.
Here’s how it works.
Jimmy sees that you’re booked the whole month of October, but he wants to be notified if any 3-night window in the month becomes available.
Jen is a returning guest and wants to be notified if any week in June, July, or August becomes available.
In a matter of seconds, Jimmy and Jen fill out the simple form and will be Pinged if their requested dates become available.
And as a host, you will immediately get pinged via email with Jimmy and Jen’s contact information and requested dates enabling you to build up your own database of guest email addresses.
Ping — it's what the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Sign up for free at www.bnbping.com
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Meet Jami Jenkins — the creator of The Carpenter’s Cabin — a top-rated, luxe cabin stay in Southeastern Ohio's Scenic Wonderland - Hocking Hills.
Jami has always had a knack for the creative. She remembers drawing up floor plans of beach cottages in elementary school and building furniture for her Barbies.
A graphic designer and event planner by trade, Jami loves using design as a way to communicate the story behind a space, an idea, or an experience.
So, when it was time to build the first cabin on the 32 acre plot that Jami and her husband Scott had purchased, Jami knew she wanted an eco-friendly escape that was truly special — that had a soul if you will.
And that’s when the idea of building a space to honor the memory and legacy of her father, a lifelong carpenter, was sparked.
Book your stay at The Carpenter's Cabin
Follow The Carpenter's Cabin on Instagram
This week's episode of Behind the Stays is brought to you by Ping — the secret tool the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Ping makes it easy for guests to be notified when their favorite Airbnbs become available.
Ping is a simple widget that lives on your website (or direct booking site) and allows your fans and followers to sign up to be notified if their preferred dates become available.
Here’s how it works.
Jimmy sees that you’re booked the whole month of October, but he wants to be notified if any 3-night window in the month becomes available.
Jen is a returning guest and wants to be notified if any week in June, July, or August becomes available.
In a matter of seconds, Jimmy and Jen fill out the simple form and will be Pinged if their requested dates become available.
And as a host, you will immediately get pinged via email with Jimmy and Jen’s contact information and requested dates enabling you to build up your own database of guest email addresses.
Ping — it's what the best Airbnb hosts use to maximize bookings.
Sign up for free at www.bnbping.com
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Meet Jeff Wilson, the founder and CEO of Jupe.
Jeff is a serial entrepreneur in the real estate technology industry. If you were to have asked Jeff as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would have either said a “garbage man”, “a doctor”, or “a builder of solar-powered cars” — so, yes, his interests have always been quite varied.
Before founding Jupe, Jeff founded the award-winning micro housing company Kasita, which was named one of Inc’s 25 most disruptive companies in the World (alongside the likes of SoFi and Hyperloop).
Jeff is also known as ‘Professor Dumpster.’ He lived in a 33 sq. ft. modified trash dumpster for a year as part of a minimalist living and housing experiment during his time as a professor in the University of Texas System.
In this interview, you’ll learn how Jeff sees the world, why he’s so passionate about using Jupe as a vehicle to make offgrid living accessible and enjoyable, and how STR hosts can join the Jupe platform and design unforgettable, soul-enriching experiences for their guests by placing a Jupe on their property.
Alright, without further ado, get ready to meet Jeff Wilson.
This week's episode is brought to you Guesty for Hosts — the bestie of top-rated Airbnb hosts.
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
In just a moment, you’ll meet Billy Chu — owner of The Blue Bungalow, a chic escape in Palm Springs, California.
Billy and his wife Becky are both doctors who live in Los Angeles and parents to young twin girls.
A couple of years ago, Billy and Becky joined an online community of medical professionals who invest in real estate in order to learn more from their peers about the industry.
In early 2021 they stepped into the longer-term rental game by purchasing a couple small multifamily properties.
But the couple really wanted to try their hand at short term rentals and had been eyeing properties in Palm Springs.
Here was the problem — getting into the short term rental game in the fall of 2021 when the real estate market was going bananas seemed all but impossible.
But after consuming dozens of hours worth of STR podcasts, losing out on multiple bids, and almost throwing in the towel, they discovered the home which they now call theirs.
Tune in to hear the story behind how Billy and Becky bought a 4 bed, 3 bath property 5 minutes from downtown Palm Springs and transformed it into The Blue Bungalow.
Book your stay at The Blue Bungalow
Book your stay at The Salty Saguaro
This week's episode is brought to you Guesty for Hosts — the bestie of top-rated Airbnb hosts.
Tuesday Jun 07, 2022
Tuesday Jun 07, 2022
Meet Stephanie Hays and Peter Woolcock — winners of Airbnb’s Live Anywhere contest.
Last summer, Airbnb announced that they were looking for 12 individuals who’d be willing to live full-time via stays booked on their platform for a year — and over 314,000 applicants from all around the world applied for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
One of the 12 selected was Stephanie Hays. Stephanie and her husband Peter are no strangers to travel — in fact the couple first met each other in a bar in Shanghai!
Since then, they’ve traveled to more than 70 countries and lived abroad on a number of occasions.
Most recently, Steph and Pete were living in Chattanooga, Tennessee along with their toddler son, Hays. When she heard about the contest something told Stephanie that she just had to throw her hat into the ring.
And, well, that something was right.
Tune in to hear the incredible story behind what this young family has learned after 9 months of living around the globe on Airbnb.
You can follow their travels on Instagram here
You can watch their travel vlogs on YouTube here
This week's episode is brought to you Guesty for Hosts — the bestie of top-rated Airbnb hosts.
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Meet Isaac French, the creator of Live Oak Lake, a collection of seven stunning cabins nestled around a small lake in Waco, Texas.
Isaac is what you might call a curious creator. He was homeschooled growing up and his parents enabled him the freedom to pursue a plethora of interests — from art, to architecture, and accounting to entrepreneurship.
Isaac comes from a family of entrepreneurs and learned a lot about business, architectural design, and general contracting from his grandfather who built luxury homes all across the state of Texas.
And it was this influence of his grandfather’s, in part, that emboldened Isaac to purchase an overgrown, 5 acre plot of land just outside of Waco, Texas and transform it into an Insta-worthy vacation destination.
Tune in to hear the remarkable story of how Isaac brought Live Oak Lake to life.
Book your stay at Live Oak Lake.
Follow Live Oak Lake on Instagram.
This week's episode is brought to you Guesty for Hosts — the bestie of top-rated Airbnb hosts.
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
In just a moment you’ll meet Taylor Jones, Head of Acquisition at Superhost Labs.
Taylor was working in sales when COVID hit. A few weeks after the world shut down, Taylor’s job was put on a two-month pause and he knew he had to start looking for a new frontier.
Taylor had always dreamed of getting into real estate but had never quite known where to start. With newfound time on his hands, and with nowhere to go, he began Googling.
After watching more than 200 hrs of YouTube videos, streaming a plethora of STR podcasts, and reading through dozens and dozens of blog articles, Taylor finally pulled the trigger on his first-ever short-term-rental.
And while he didn’t know it at the time, this decision would ultimately upon up an entirely new career trajectory for Taylor.
Tune in to hear the story behind how Taylor Jones became the Head of Acquisition at Superhost Labs, a short-term-rental investment startup, and became one of the leading voices on all things STRs on Twitter @MrJonesSTRs.
This week's episode is brought to you Guesty for Hosts — the bestie of top-rated Airbnb hosts.