Dec 19, 2025
We got something cool for episode 1001!
Props to Katie Cline at the
Skift Suite Success: Masters of
Hospitality
podcast for this one. I joined an end-of-year roundtable with some
of the most thoughtful voices in hashtaghospitality media to reflect on what actually
mattered in 2025 and what could reshape 2026.
Huge thanks to everyone who brought real perspective (and
disagreement) to the table:
🎙️: Katie Cline — Suite Success
🎙️: Josiah Mackenzie
— Hospitality Daily
🎙️: Zach Busekrus —
Behind the Stays
🎙️: David Millili &
🎙️Steve
Carran — The Modern Hotelier
On hashtagNoVacancyNews, I focused on two things that kept
showing up in every conversation this year — and won’t go away in
2026:
• the confusion and overconfidence around AI, and
• the growing economic bifurcation between ultra-luxury and
everyone else.
I also shared why I think profitability pressure, critical
thinking, and realistic expectations will define the next cycle —
and why hospitality needs to stop parroting talking points and
start asking harder questions.
A big thanks to Actabl — Actabl
gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com.
What this roundtable covers:
🧠: Where hashtagAI helps — and where the industry oversells
it
💰: Why protecting profit mattered more than top-line growth in
2025
🏨: The growing gap between ultra-luxury and the rest of the
market
🤝: Why loyalty programs face an identity crisis
🎤: Why conferences, panels, and media need real voices — not
scripts
🔮: What each of us sees coming in 2026 (and what worries us)
Question for you:
Which 2025 trend do you think hoteliers misunderstood the most
heading into 2026?