Latest / The Modern Hotelier / #325: Hospitality Hot Topics August 2026: Airbnb & Lark Hotels, Hilton & Marriott New Soft Brands, & More! | with Richard Sandoval
Transcript
- The Modern Hotelier #325: Hospitality Hot Topics August 2026: Airbnb & Lark Hotels, Hilton & Marriott New Soft Brands, & More! === Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality Hot Topics. This is episode where we talk about what happened in the past month in hospitality. Don't forget to follow, like, subscribe, and let us know what you think about today's episode. Today we are joined by Richard Sandoval, CEO of Spire Hospitality. Thanks for joining us, Richard. How you doing today? Richard Sandoval: Excellent. Thanks for having me, Steve and David. Really appreciate the time Steve Carran: You bet. You bet. So the first topic we're gonna talk about today is Airbnb furthers their hotel strategy with Lark Hotel partnership. The pair signed an agreement that will make Lark's portfolio comprising of 75 boutique hotels across the US available on Airbnb as it scales its hotel business. Richard, coming from the hotel side, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this. Richard Sandoval: Yeah. Well, you know, my first reaction, I guess, is that this really isn't much of a surprise, right? I mean, their CEO said they were gonna aggressively move into hotel space. You know, obviously they'd already had individual distribution with individual properties, mostly boutique properties. So to move into a whole portfolio of boutique-type properties kinda makes sense for them, right? In, their market position. So it really isn't much of a surprise, right? I think the interesting thing from a hotel standpoint, right, is in our industry we talk a lot about the cost of acquisition and owning your own customer, but then the lure and the shiny opportunity to be first in a new distribution zone it's hard to avoid or, and hard to say no to, right? So, you know, it's interesting, LaQuercia did this strategically. I think what the real call to action from a hotel side is, what does this mean? Does Airbnb really start becoming a competitor with Expedia, you know, and Booking and, and all the others? And, and then how do we react to that, right? So, and going back to that cost of acquisition, right? This is a whole nother distribution and commission structure. So, you know, what do you do? We're all fighting the margin game in this industry and, and yet we're adding another commission structure to the table. So it's the push-pull, right? You know. So I think really it's, not only the obvious elements that that represents, but also for them it's gonna be a new guest expectation to manage, right? And, you know, we all talk about the guest journey as well, and now we're-- you know, we have that guest journey starting in so many different spots. You know, how do you really deliver consistently and, touch the individual traveler, as hospitality should? So it'll be interesting to see how it evolves, but not a surprise. Steve Carran: Yeah. Well said. Well said. David, what are your thoughts? David Millili: Yeah, I kind of had a little inside baseball when I was at the Hotel Data Conference. I knew this was happening, you know, and I actually knew a little bit before that. But so exactly what you said. This is really no surprise. It is kind of feeling a little weird because, you know, like for myself, if I'm gonna book an Airbnb, that's what I want. I don't want a hotel, so I'm not going to Airbnb. So now I'm gonna start seeing stuff that I really probably don't wanna see. So it will be interesting, but to your point, it's really economics and I think, you know, Lark's trying to maybe get ahead of it and figure out, as you said, another cost, but I'm sure it's less than an Expedia or a Booking.com booking, so All right, so Oyo takes bookings for fake rooms. This does not surprise me personally only because when I took a trip to India, there was Oyo, signs on empty buildings, to kind of fluff up their count of properties, and I just don't understand how they thought they were gonna get away with it. Steve, what do you think? Steve Carran: Yeah. So this, and this hotel is in Las Vegas. It's actually funny, I saw this story when it first broke on Instagram and saw the perspective of the person who booked this room, and it's pretty crazy. They, that Oyo Hotel, that guest was specifically not looking to stay at that hotel. And they, I believe it was a Pallet or Collection O hotel they were looking at, and when they booked, it had the old signage in the front desk and, some of the listings were actually, done with AI, so it looked a lot more nicer than the actual rooms did. And the people who booked that room actually didn't even-- They drove around looking for the right hotel and didn't realize it was the right hotel until they walked up and saw the sign above the front desk that was the same as when they booked. So, I mean, this is pretty crazy that, you know, we're using, A, old photos or it kinda seemed like they were trying to dupe their guests. Totally unethical in my opinion, and I hope we don't see more of this with AI where people are, you know, refurbishing pictures or making the pictures look better than they actually are through AI. But pretty wild story, coming out of Las Vegas. Richard, what do you think about this? Richard Sandoval: Well, it's hard to react to it, right? I mean, there's a lot of things coming to mind. I mean, on kind of the funny side, this is like one of those ideas you come up with in a room where, you know, no one's listening and then laugh at it and move on, right? But, to actually then follow through and execute on it is, you know, a little baffling. Obviously from the hotel side, I think what really you move off the story and into the impact, right? And, you know, it really exposes the verification process, on the OTA channels. And you move into this arena where one bad actor calls into question the trust and verification process that is critical to maintaining our link to our customer, right? and then you bring in a whole bunch of things that most of us don't really want, which is, you know, gosh, where's the integrity? the trust? Where's the verification process? And then this is just right to, you know, to, open up to regulation and, you know, a cry for action, right? So all those things that we don't want to talk about comes into play after you get done with the chuckle and the bafflement of the approach, right? So I think that's really the bigger story for us, and a call to action for the OTA's and a call to action to hoteliers and owners to say, you know, trust and integrity always counts. We all have assets in different eras of, life cycle, and condition, but honesty wins the day at the end of the day. And you market to, you know, the customer you can satisfy. And, you know, this brings in a host of other issues. So that's really the story to me, more so than the, than the headline Steve Carran: Agree. And this story went pretty viral, so the reputational damage, is not gonna be forgotten soon. So I agree with you 100% on that, Richard. So a couple big brands launched, new types of hotels. Hilton launched a fitness and recovery concept called Signia Restore. It's set to debut in Indianapolis in 2027. It combines advanced fitness and restorative technology. And then the Luxury Collection, which is part of Marriott, announced the launch of the Luxury Collection Expeditions, which is a collection of journeys extending the brand's long-held role as destination authority beyond the hotel stay and into the culture and character of destinations. Richard, what are your thoughts on this? Are we gonna be seeing more of this where these brands are gonna be expanding into wellness, you know, and the experience side of hotels? Richard Sandoval: Well, I mean I think it's an obvious evolution, right? At the end of the day. I mean, there's a couple things at play here, right? You know, the segment that has shown the growth is the luxury and experiential travel. You know, when you run multiple brands, how does each brand start resonating with, you know, the target customer? And, and then we just covered a couple stories, right? Airbnb's entry into, you know, into being a distribution channel for portfolio, right? You know, the fake listing in Vegas, you know, these elements, right? Part of this, quite frankly, is building a moat against short-term rental competition and other entries into the, into the hotel space, right? The other part of this is absolutely leveraging, you know, what the traveler wants, which is something unique, something that's, unique to the space in which you're traveling to, and also the restorative element, right? The mental health, the ability to bounce back on the road, right? So, and by the way, I'm not representing any expertise into any one of these brands or concepts, but the way I understand it, right, you're gonna have, you know, a kinda a floor recovery, a floor to maintain your workout space, right? You know, so you don't get off track of your personal journey away from your either vacation or professional, trip. So I think this all makes sense. I think the, you know, always comes into question when you start talking about these multiple brands, multiple offerings, multiple guest journeys is how does the consumer keep track of it, and who do you, you know, who's the call to action really to, right? So Steve Carran: Agree 100%. David, what about you? David Millili: Yeah, so I think as we've seen a lot of these brands acquire independent brands or companies, there's been this effort to keep them kinda siloed and not force the brand down people's throats. And I think this is just that evolution where it's almost like they're trying to, or they are creating what are more independent like look and feels in properties. And obviously you hit on it, Richard. The money's there in the luxury section, so wellness is big money. And we talk about on this podcast so much about personalization and when is that coming, and the idea of having a brand that's embracing that personalization and localness. It just makes common sense, but like you said, I'm not an expert either, but I'm very curious to visit one of these, both of these type of properties that are coming out. So there's big money in data. So Google buys Spirit Airlines data for $10 million. So I don't know what the going rate is for data, but what do you think about that, Steve? Steve Carran: What a steal. $10 million for all of Spirit Airlines' data. Are you kidding me? When I saw that number, I could not believe it. I mean, think about Google. They're coming out, they just launched their AI engine where you can book hotels through Gemini. So it takes you through the whole booking process. Can you imagine all the traveler data they received from Spirit Airlines and how many years of data they just received for $10 million? Like, an absolute steal. Apparently they didn't get everything, but they got Microsoft Team messages, which I would pay to see those messages from Spirit Airlines, spreadsheets, calendars, as well as marketing, productivity, and operations data. I think the operations data is huge. They're getting into the travel space, they're getting into the booking space, and they got all this years and years of data for $10 million. That's a drop in the bucket for Google. So I couldn't believe it. The rich get richer, I guess. Richard, what are your thoughts on this? Richard Sandoval: Well, in case you missed the headline that we're moving away from who books the rooms to who owns the data, I mean, this just really solidifies it for you, right? It just puts it in bright lights, right? I mean, to your point, Steve, I thought it was a bargain, right? You know, the years of data. And the other interesting part here, and this is where we get into territory, once again, where I'm not gonna profess any expertise, but, they said they're buying this for their AI training material, right? That opens up a lot of doors obviously, and they're not just buying the customer data, to your point, but they're buying all the email interaction, the teams' messagings, all of those things, right? So now you really get into this element where a failed business turned value to data. The next question becomes, what if you have a small portfolio of hotels that are failed but have long history? At what point do they have value, at exit through data, which is an element that they hadn't looked at beforehand. All of a sudden, if there's a value proposition there for, to your say, the rich get richer, who can afford to buy it, like, where's that data at? Especially if we're talking about maybe like 25-year-old resorts that have history and then that annual revenue stream's at 400 million. Like there's a bunch of nuance here that gets super interesting, right? And in some ways, super scary. So yeah, no, it's an amazing story. This AI training element of this as well, right, is just, we all can only guess about how this is gonna be used. Steve Carran: Yeah. What timing as well. This happened like a month or so before they launched their AI booking platform, and now, all this data goes right into it. I mean, well played by Google. I'm a little shocked that another airline wouldn't buy this. $10 million just is so cheap. I would think other airlines would want that data and information, but who knows? Maybe Google's gonna start an airline soon. But Richard, this has been great. We appreciate you joining us today. Tell us what's new at Spire Hospitality and what's been going on lately? Richard Sandoval: Well, I think any leader who considers themselves people first, right? Hates talking about themselves, but, what's new with Spire is I've been elevated to the CEO seat, right? That's the headline of August, right? So, yeah, hard to get away from the topic. But, when I think about that, a lot of things come to mind, right? I mean, obviously, one, appreciate the trust from AWHL Partners, in giving me the opportunity to guide the next evolution of Spire Hospitality. Obviously a commitment to continue the absolute process of finding partnership in every interaction that Chris Russell has started. And then obviously, you get a little reflective about your journey, right? I've been in this business 30 years. I've had different opportunities to wear so many different hats, right? And been labeled many things. Some I like and some I don't, right? But, whether it was as a GM or a change agent or a turnaround specialist or any of those things, right? You now start looking at, like, how are we gonna bring that to bear? Couple my experience with the great people that we have within Spire, and you start talking about what's gonna change. But I think, we start with what's gonna stay the same, right? And what's absolutely gonna stay the same is, that spirit of partnership that I referenced that Chris Russell has instilled in all of us. The other thing that's gonna absolutely stay the same is our firm commitment to be an owner/operator, right? I mean, that is the heart of what we do. We think value creation at every turn, right? And we look at the life cycle of our industry, the life cycle of individual assets. We look at our financial partners say, "How do we deliver?" Of course, we do that within the hospitality space, right? Now, with that said, I mean, we do have third-party contracts, and we value those relationships, and we will continue to look to those opportunities, but it has to be strategic. You know, we're not gonna be a management company first. We're always gonna be an owner. We're always gonna attack it that way. We're gonna do it through that lens, and we're gonna be aggressive in maintaining our discipline in delivering results for our partners. So, that's what stays the same. You know, what really changes, tell you, one of the big things that changes is just a really aggressive point to this AI revolution that we're going through, and evolution, right? It's just We can't run fast enough. But we are looking at this maybe slightly different than others, right? Of course, we're looking for automation, you know, and the efficiencies that it creates. I referenced earlier this real challenge that we have with margin management in our sector right now, right? The stress of revenues going up at under 3% and escalating expenses and cost. That's not news to anyone. Interest rates probably going up again rather than down. I mean, those are all stresses that are real, right? But, the big thing we're looking at is we want the opportunity to work on the business instead of in the business, and that's super exciting in this AI evolution. The other thing is, in the past, and when we say the past, we're not talking about 10 years ago. I mean, in the recent past. When you started talking about how to do these things, you started talking about outsourcing and contracting and real costs. Now with AI, we're taking the experts at any given task or process, and they can create the solution. Just can't tell you how exciting that is, right? And now you have the actual expert in the space creating the solution and then being able to share that out, right? And, the stage that we're at at Spire, we've had those wins and we've seen those successes, at a corporate level, and now we're moving into the individual hotel space. And when you start moving into the individual hotel space, that's where things get dynamic, right? Because at the end of the day, we are a hospitality company and will always be a hospitality company, and hospitality always comes back to people, right? And we are so looking forward to automating some of these processes and even forecasting and all of these elements that keep GMs in the office and get them back on the floor. Touching team members, touching guests. We talk about guest journey. Well, the guest journey starts with being a good host. You have to say hello, you have to welcome them with open arms. You have to take them through the process of feeling like they're in the right space, right? And all too often we get distracted from that, from the business of the day as opposed to the business we're in. You know, and that's where we're excited to return to that root of being the consummate host of the party that you wanna be at. And, regardless of scale of hotel, class of hotel, that always translates. And while automation and efficiencies, and whoever's first to the party is gonna have really huge opportunities, the sustained success is gonna be with the ones that do that and layer in a huge degree of emotional intelligence to know how to keep the connectivity. And when you keep the connectivity, a couple things are gonna happen, but the major one is this: as things become more AI-driven and automated, anything that feels crafted is gonna have huge value. Anything that feels real is gonna have value. And when that feeling of genuineness comes across to the guest, it's gonna be rewarded. There's a reason why people are looking for these experiences and this independent journey and all of those elements is 'cause they're trying to get in touch about what's important to them. We're trying to win the day one customer at a time for what's important to them and find the right hotel for them. Well, guess what? Respect, recognition, a feeling of warmth and home is important to all of us. And when that gets translated, that's gonna be the exciting stuff, right? So we're all in. We're gonna run fast. We're gonna do it. You know, we're looking for the efficiency and the cost savings, yes. But that's where it gets fun is when it actually touches the employees and the guests in a meaningful, tangible way, so.. David Millili: Well, that does it for this episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality Hot Topics. Richard, this is where you get to let people know how they can find out more about Spire, how they can get in touch with you. Richard Sandoval: Well, obviously, I mean, spirehospitality.com is the place to go. But, you know, I learned everything I need to know from my mother, about the hospitality industry, right? And that's by being a good host and welcoming people into your home, then giving them a reason to tell your story. And my mother always said, "Our story is gonna be a story of love." So, it doesn't take long to get ahold of any of us at Spire. Reach out on the website. I'm available. You know, that's the way we are. And, always welcome conversations. Love today, love to keep up about what's new in the business and hear other insights, right? But it's evolving fast. It's hard to keep up, right? David Millili: That's right. That's good to hear. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier and the most engaged podcast in hospitality. This has been Hospitality Hot Topics. So whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to be with you again soon. Thanks for joining us, Richard. Richard Sandoval: Thank you. Appreciate it. Steve Carran: Thank you.