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 May 21, 2024
Tuesday May 21, 2024
Meet Alex Alioto, Co-Founder and Head of Growth at Whimstay, the Hotel Tonight for Vacation Rentals.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Alex had dreamed of being a wide receiver for the 49ers — he was the kind of kid you’d find walking around the grocery store sporting a helmet and a jersey even when it wasn’t game day.
While his dreams of playing in the NFL never came to fruition, Alex did wind up playing in another arena — he studied theatre at the University of Michigan and spent nearly a decade as an actor in New York City.
And, believe it or not, this was all a precursor to Alex finding his way back to the Bay area to work at early-stage, high-growth startups. After 7 years of helping Yelp become a household name, Alex met his cofounder, Ben Jamshahi, and the duo began building Whimstay.
In this conversation, Alex and I discuss:
- The massive market that exists for last-minute travel
- The locations that Whimstay sees the most spontaneous travel to
- The biggest differences between Whimstay and other OTAs like Airbnb and Vrbo
- How Whimstay negotiates exclusive discounts with professional property managers
- What the next generation of travelers is looking for from travel brands
- And so much more
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Can Monkey — the Uber for Trash Service for your Short-Term Rentals.
Can Monkey ensures that the trash cans at your Airbnbs are moved to the curb and back promptly on collection day so that if you’ve got a same-day turnover your new guest arrives to a clean and empty trash bin.
And for those unexpected situations, like a guest leaving behind excess trash or an unexpected mid-week turnover, their OnDemand trash removal enables you to book a CanRunner (cool name huh?) to immediately come and remedy the situation.
For just $49/month per property, Can Monkey will pick up and return both your trash and recycling cans on your home’s pick up days No hidden costs. You are never locked into a contract. And whether you’ve got one property or 100, Can Monkey can have you up and running within a week.
To learn more about why hosts love this Uber for trash solution, head on over to CanMonkey.com and submit the form on the home page to get more information about how Can Monkey can help you. Oh, and if you do, be sure to mention that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way and you’ll qualify for an exclusive discount off of your first month of using Can Monkey.
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 May 17, 2024
Friday May 17, 2024
Meet Justin and Rebecca Rush, the creators of the River Rock Cabin on the Toccoa River in Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Justin and Rebecca are real estate photographers who had always dreamed of one day building their very own Airbnb…long after they had built their primary dream home, of course.
One day Justin got a text from one of his clients about a piece of land that was for sale along the Toccoa River. Justin assumed the call was a request to go take pictures of the lot, but his client asked him if HE wanted to buy it…he knew how much Justin and Rebecca loved the area…
Once Justin figured out he wasn’t joking he immediately said, “yes”...
There was only one problem — the home was only permitted for a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom which was too small for the primary residence they were hoping to build.
But the land was WAY too beautiful to pass up and that’s when the idea of building a unique cabin into the side of the mountain that overlooks 300 feet of private river frontage was born.
In this conversation, you’ll discover:
- How Rebecca and Justin build a stunning cabin on the side of a mountain during COVID
- How they got inspiration from Levi Kelly’s YouTube channel for their build — and the story behind how Levi wound up coming to the cabin the month after it opened
- How they financed the build
- Their honest thoughts on the cons of direct booking
- Some ideas they have for modernizing RV parks as a next project
- And so much more
Book a stay at the River Rock House
Follow the River Rock House on Instagram
This episode is brought to you by our friends at AirDNA
Want to see if a Treehouse resort in Dubai pencils? You can do so in AirDNA.
Want to buy land in Ontario to build a Glamping resort? AirDNA will show you how other, comparable products are performing in the region.
Or maybe you’ve already got your stay up and running and you want a better understanding of how your Airbnb compares to others in the market? You can connect your listing to AirDNA and get accurate nightly pricing recommendations based on real-world, real-time demand.
AirDNA is the key you need to unlock the insight behind what it’s going to take to bring those big dreams you have to life.
Pay just $25/month and access ANY market in the world — AirDNA is cheaper, faster, better, and stronger to use than ever before.
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 May 14, 2024
Tuesday May 14, 2024
Mike Hicks, the founder of Wander Chatt, a collection of unique stays across Chattanooga, TN and beyond.
Mike started his entrepreneurial journey at just 19 years old after dropping out of college to learn how to work for himself.
Mike got a job with a real estate developer helping to clear lots and doing an array of labor-intensive construction tasks. Mike worked long hard days for this developer but after work Mike and the rest of the crew would be invited out to go fishing.
And it was during these moments that he started asking questions…how do you determine a good deal? What should you look for when purchasing a lot? Etc.
In this conversation Mike and I discuss:
- How he bought his first house as a 19 year old
- Why he moved into short-term rentals after nearly two decades of buying, renovating, and renting traditional long-term rentals
- Why he pivoted away from traditional vacation rentals and went all in on unique stays when founding Wander Chatt
- How he “interviews the land” before buying a lot
- His thoughts on the biggest opportunities for hospitality entrepreneurs today
- And so much more
Follow Wander Chatt on Instagram
Connect with Mike on Instagram
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Turno.
Turno is the smartest way to schedule, pay, and find vacation rental cleaners — think of Turno as an Uber or Task Rabbit for STR hosts.
Simply create an account, describe your listing’s cleaning needs, and Turno will match you with cleaners near you.
Turno offers simple, affordable pricing for STR hosts of any size. Single property accounts and Marketplace users get access to all the platform’s tools and features for FREE. And they make working with your existing teams easy too, with plans as low as just $6/month per property.
Learn more and earn a $150 Amazon Gift Card after you complete your first cleaning.
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 May 10, 2024
Friday May 10, 2024
Meet Brian Meyer and Selly Butler — the founders of FLOHOM a new hospitality start-up that offers stunning, on-the-water stays in marinas across the mid-Atlantic.
Selly is a serial entrepreneur whose latest venture is in the marina business. One day Selly received a call from an enthusiastic entrepreneur who asked to place Oysters in his marina as part of a water purification and protection nonprofit that he was running.
This enthusiastic entrepreneur? Well, yes, it was Brian Meyer.
And while the two couldn’t have known it at the time, this one phone call would change the course of both of their lives forever.
In this conversation, you’ll hear Brian, Selly, and I discuss:
- Where the idea for FLOHOM came from
- How hard it was to get the necessary permits to be able to rent a floating home that’s also a houseboat as a short-term rental
- What their go-to-market strategy for FLOHOM has looked like so far
- The new economic potential businesses like FLOHOM can generate for marinas
- How they’re thinking about franchising and brand licensing
- Why they are vertically integrated
- The kinds of investors they’re looking for to join them on this journey
- And so much more
This episode is brought to you by Posh Outdoors.
Posh Outdoors supplies owners of iconic properties and stunning land with high-end glamping accommodations and backend support, at no up-front cost to the landowner — and the way they make their money is through an attractive revenue share model once your unit is ready for hosting.
Posh Outdoors is doing something really revolutionary — they are making it easy for you to invest in luxury glamping as an entire asset class rather than an individual glamping resort.
As a Behind the Stays listener, you can become an early investor in this company for as little as $100.
You can learn more about Posh and all the deets surrounding this early investment opportunity by visiting https://posh.dealpage.io or sending an email to nick@posh-outdoors.com.
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 May 07, 2024
Tuesday May 07, 2024
Meet Mark Lumpkin from STR Cribs — the leading one-stop-shop for renovating, designing, and fully-furnishing a short-term rental.
Mark is an innovative entrepreneur who has worked on nearly 600 renovations transforming run-of-the-mill homes into bespoke, scroll-stopping stays.
In this conversation, Mark and I discuss
- How thematic short-term rentals can be a great way to compete against unique stays when your STR is a condo or single-family home
- Why more hospitality entrepreneurs should create experiential stays for families not just couples
- The most impactful and least impactful renovations you can do when getting your home ready to list on Airbnb
- The most under-rated markets for thematic stays
- Hot takes on AI and the role it should and shouldn’t play in hospitality
- And loads more
This episode is brought to you by Posh Outdoors.
Posh Outdoors supplies owners of iconic properties and stunning land with high-end glamping accommodations and backend support, at no up-front cost to the landowner — and the way they make their money is through an attractive revenue share model once your unit is ready for hosting.
Posh Outdoors is doing something really revolutionary — they are making it easy for you to invest in luxury glamping as an entire asset class rather than an individual glamping resort.
As a Behind the Stays listener, you can become an early investor in this company for as little as $100.
You can learn more about Posh and all the deets surrounding this early investment opportunity by visiting https://posh.dealpage.io or sending an email to nick@posh-outdoors.com.
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 May 03, 2024
Friday May 03, 2024
Meet Whitney Hansen, the creator of The Flower Pot, a truly spectacular, one-of-a-kind experiential stay in Burley, Idaho.
Whitney has always been entrepreneurial — she owns her own consulting business, she hosts a podcast on investing and financial freedom called The Money Nerds, and is now also a hospitality entrepreneur.
After building one of Idaho's only geodesic domes and seeing it perform remarkably well on Airbnb, Whitney began dreaming of what her next build might look like — would it be an A-Frame? A Treehouse? A Pirate Ship?
And then she had a crazy idea…her family owned some farm land in Burley and her mother nurtured a beautiful flower garden on the plot. What if, she thought to herself, what if we created a giant flower pot that folks could stay in?
And while the idea sounded totally crazy at the time it didn’t sound that crazy to Airbnb. That’s right, Whitney wound up being a winner of Airbnb’s OMG fund and got $100,000 from the company to help her bring the project to life.
In this conversation Whitney and I discuss:
- How she heard about and ultimately won Airbnb’s OMG contest
- What it cost to bring this unique stay to life
- Some of the hardest aspects of owning and operating unique stays that not enough people talk about
- How the Flower Pot has performed as an investment so far
- Ideas she’s cooking up for her next build
- And so much more
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Meet Derry Green — the creator and visionary behind The Secret Garden Glamping — the UK's most booked, most wished-listed, and most viewed glamping site with a 2+ year waiting list.
Derry has always loved the outdoors – growing up, he and his family were avid campers. Some of his childhood memories involved playing in the woods with his brother and sitting around the campfire telling stories.
When Covid hit, Derry and his children were, like most of us, stuck inside a lot. On one particular day when his kids were going a bit stir crazy, Derry asked if they wanted to camp in their garden. His kids were ecstatic and he began building them a fort.
And while he didn’t know it at the time, building this fort would give him an idea that would change the course of his life forever. You see Derry and his kids loved the experience so much that they decided to build an experiential glamping stay for the whole world to enjoy.
Tune in to hear Derry and I discuss:
- How he landed on Dragon’s Den (the UK’s version of Shark Tank) to pitch his idea
- How he’s leveraged influencers and creator partnerships to amass a 2+ year waitlist with thousands of booking requests every week
- Why he’s bullish on building an experience that prioritizes outdoor amenities rather than obsessing over the unit design
- What he’s learned about leveraging content and social media to build a brand
- How he’s thinking about franchising his brand to expand internationally
- And so much more
Visit the Secret Garden Glamping Website
Follow Secret Garden Glamping on Instagram
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Hostfully.
Hostfully Digital Guidebooks are the easiest way to help your guests get to know your property and discover just how special the community that surrounds it is.
Hostfully Guidebooks give you a dynamic place to store every bit of information you might want your guests to have — from the wifi password to how to work the hot tub to where to take the best selfies at golden hour.
Hostfully empowers you with easy-to-use tools that help you feature a totally curated list of your favorite eateries, pubs, hiking trails, and more — OR Hostfully can automatically create a list of experiences through their Guidebook Wizard if you’ve got dozens of properties and just can’t afford to curate a custom set of recommendations for each one.
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 Apr 26, 2024
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Meet Boris Mordkovich, who created Lumen Nature Retreat — a luxury waterfront glamping resort nestled in the heart of New Hampshite’s White Mountains — in partnership with his wife Susan.
The idea for Lumen was born while Boris and Susan traveled from Boston to Argentina over a 6-month road trip for an extended honeymoon. During this trip, their Toyota Land Cruiser car had a rooftop tent that allowed them to camp at some of the most spectacular places — from bush camping in the middle of the salt flats and next to volcanoes to little campgrounds and campsites all over North, Central and South America.
Upon their return, they dreamed of being able to offer a nature-immersive experience that enabled folks in their hometown, Boston, to escape the city for a long weekend retreat. And, while they couldn’t have known how it would all work out at the time, that dream wound up becoming Lumen.
In this conversation, Boris and I discuss:
- How they found the perfect 20-acre plot of land for Lumen
- How they decided on the types of units they’d offer at Lumen
- Which of their unit types perform best and why
- Lessons learned when building a luxury product offering in a shared space
- How they’ve differentiated themselves from other offerings in the market
- What they’re planning next
- And so much more
Alright friends, without further ado, get ready to meet Boris.
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Can Monkey — the Uber for Trash Service for your Short-Term Rentals.
Can Monkey ensures that the trash cans at your Airbnbs are moved to the curb and back promptly on collection day so that if you’ve got a same-day turnover your new guest arrives to a clean and empty trash bin.
And for those unexpected situations, like a guest leaving behind excess trash or an unexpected mid-week turnover, their OnDemand trash removal enables you to book a CanRunner (cool name huh?) to immediately come and remedy the situation.
For just $49/month per property, Can Monkey will pick up and return both your trash and recycling cans on your home’s pick up days No hidden costs. You are never locked into a contract. And whether you’ve got one property or 100, Can Monkey can have you up and running within a week.
To learn more about why hosts love this Uber for trash solution, head on over to CanMonkey.com and submit the form on the home page to get more information about how Can Monkey can help you. Oh, and if you do, be sure to mention that Zach from Behind the Stays sent you there way and you’ll qualify for an exclusive discount off of your first month of using Can Monkey.
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 Apr 23, 2024
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Meet Kristie Wolfe — the entrepreneur and builder behind some of the world’s most famous Airbnbs including the Big Idaho Potato Hotel, The Big Island Treehouse, The Hobbit Inn, and several others.
Growing up, Kristie always wanted to do her own thing – she convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school because she felt like she could learn more about business outside of the classroom.
Kristie is a true creative — she gets an idea in her head and just has to execute it…even if, and arguably especially if, it doesn’t make sense to other people.
In this conversation, Kristie and I discuss:
- Why she built her first unique Airbnb — long before anyone else was doing it
- How she forged an early partnership with Airbnb as the company started dreaming up would would eventually become “categories”
- How she creatively financed each of her builds
- Why she thinks what she builds resonates with folks
- What she’s working on next
- And so much more
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Hostfully.
Hostfully Digital Guidebooks are the easiest way to help your guests get to know your property and discover just how special the community that surrounds it is.
Hostfully Guidebooks give you a dynamic place to store every bit of information you might want your guests to have — from the wifi password to how to work the hot tub to where to take the best selfies at golden hour.
Hostfully empowers you with easy-to-use tools that help you feature a totally curated list of your favorite eateries, pubs, hiking trails, and more — OR Hostfully can automatically create a list of experiences through their Guidebook Wizard if you’ve got dozens of properties and just can’t afford to curate a custom set of recommendations for each one.
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 Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Meet Nick Purslow, who is both the Co-Founder of Glampitect North America, an incredible educational and consulting resource for setting up a glamping site, and also the co-founder of a new start-up called Posh Outdoors, which supplies owners of iconic properties with high-end glamping units and backend support, at no up-front cost to the landowner, through an attractive revenue share model.
Growing up, Nick wanted to be a lawyer — but after graduating from university with a law degree he realized that being an entrepreneur would be a heck of a lot more fun and rewarding.
Nick has always loved to travel so when an opportunity presented itself to work for a glamping start-up in the UK emerged, he jumped at the opportunity and started working there for free!
In this conversation, Nick and I discuss:
- The booming glamping industry in North America
- Why more landowners should consider augmenting their hospitality businesses with glamping units
How Nick teamed up with some incredible serial entrepreneurs to launch Posh Outdoors - Posh Outdoor’s unique model of supplying Instagram-worthy glamping units to hospitality entrepreneurs with no upfront costs
- And how you, my friends, can invest in this exciting new start-up
I highly encourage y’all to check out this investment opportunity via the link in the show notes below…Posh Outdoors is making it easy for you to invest in luxury glamping as an entire asset rather than a glamping resort that's in one specific geo.
Learn more about investing in Posh Outdoors.
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Turno.
Turno is the smartest way to schedule, pay, and find vacation rental cleaners — think of Turno as an Uber or Task Rabbit for STR hosts.
Simply create an account, describe your listing’s cleaning needs, and Turno will match you with cleaners near you.
Turno offers simple, affordable pricing for STR hosts of any size. Single property accounts and Marketplace users get access to all the platform’s tools and features for FREE. And they make working with your existing teams easy too, with plans as low as just $6/month per property.
Learn more and earn a $150 Amazon Gift Card after you complete your first cleaning.
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.