Best of Business Wars Daily | Room Service | 6

0:04Pack your bags, y 'all, because summer travel is in full swing, and by all accounts, it is booming this year. Vacations that were delayed by the pandemic and then delayed again are finally happening. Maybe you've seen the surge yourself while waiting in airport lines or surrounded by a crush of people at major tourist spots. Or you felt the hit to your wallet when making those hotel reservations. Americans are flocking to Europe this summer, and the price of hotels there has jumped, according to the travel agency Hopper. The average price of a European hotel is up 37 percent from last year, Hopper reports.

0:38And in some of the most popular cities, like Rome, that jump is up to 63%. So does all that, the hassle, the expense, point to Americans staying closer to home next year? Or has the hotel industry come roaring back? Here to talk about all that and a whole lot more, journalist Sean O 'Neill and comedian Liz Barrett. Stick around for the best of Business Wars Daily.

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3:20From Wondery, I'm David Brown, And this is the best of Business Wars Daily, where we talk about trends, controversies and how they affect you, the consumer. And joining us today, Sean O 'Neill and Liz Barrett. Liz, you're based in New York City, right? Yeah, I certainly am. I think Time Out New York described your comedy as dark, batty stand-up. What do you take away from dark and batty? Well, my humor can be very dark and it's a little out there. People never know where I'm going to come down on a topic, and it's not usually where you think I'm going to lead to. Yeah, I understand you just released a new full-length comedy special called Getting By.

4:02Could you tell us more about the special? Yes, SiriusXM has an exclusive on it, and then it'll be open to the public on August 11th, and you can get it anywhere you get your comedy. What are you just getting by? getting by is my philosophy where uh a lot of people are trying to be perfect there's oprah there's gwyneth and i'm like you don't have to be perfect sometimes my philosophy is sometimes just enough is good enough for instance there you know there's my you know today i tried to wear a shirt and i had to figure out how many cheese stains on it uh were too many before i couldn't wear it.

4:42What did you come to? I decided three was okay, four is too many. Well, you have much higher standards than me, I must say. Sean, you're the senior hospitality editor at Skift. Tell us about that and how you got into this area. Sure. Skift is the most read news site focusing on the business of travel, the travel industry, and the future of travel. Wow. And I am far from perfect too. I have two ketchup stains in my shirt. So I think I'm in good company here. I've been a full-time reporter since college. And in my 20s, I really loved traveling on a budget, did a lot of couch surfing. And I've been lucky enough in the past six years to be with Skift, which really gets into the, you know, what goes on behind the scenes, how travel gets made.

5:31And it's a little like a soap opera, a wondery podcast series. You know, you start getting interested, who's going to merge with whom, who's metaphorically sleeping with whom, how does it all get done. So I'm enjoying my time at Skiff. So you developed this approach when you were in college, hopping from one hotel to the next, huh? Gee, who would have thought something like that would have happened, Sean? Absolutely. And I think one of my favorite parts of the job is getting to see some of the innovations ahead of time before they go in front of everyone else. Marriott, for example, has this hotel in Bethesda where if you check in as a guest, it turns out they have a couple of rooms off to the side that are their test rooms, their prototypes for future designs.

6:15And so they'll say, you know, in exchange for filling out a survey, we'll make it worth your while if you stay in these. And I've gotten as a reporter to see some of these future designs so that I enjoy that kind of thing. Nice. Now, you know, talking about future, I have to turn back to the past because I know that I'm sort of a fan of great vintage hotels. And I know that there's one in Richmond, the Jefferson, I believe, that I'm particularly fond of. Do either of you all have a favorite hotel? Liz, do you have a favorite hotel? Oh, gosh. I mean, I have aspirations of staying at certain hotels.

6:51hotels, but I like a hotel where the maid service comes anymore. That seems to be a treat. Oh, yeah. Well, that's a rarity. Any hotel with maid service. Sean, what about you? You have a favorite hotel? I love the Empress, which is in Asbury Park. It's sort of like a fun, old-timey kind of motel right on the sea. It's kind of fun. Oh, that sounds lovely. Well, now we started off this episode talking about the hospitality industry, hotel short-term rentals, everything in between. And for the past few years, that industry has been on something of a redemption tour. Sean, let's talk about these numbers.

7:32How's the hotel landscape actually looking this summer? Well, hotel owners have never dared to charge such high rates as they're doing right now. And vacationers are actually paying these sky-high rates in the most popular destinations. You mentioned some of the cities where you're seeing this. Another phenomenon is the Taylor Swift phenomenon. Every place where she is touring is seeing hotels sort of like pop. Even the Federal Reserve, when they were doing a report recently, they quoted that in Philadelphia, May was the strongest month for hotel revenues in a few years because of the T-Swift factor.

8:08Taylor Swift. That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable. Is there anything Taylor Swift can't do? Yeah. Save the hotel industry, perhaps. The one complicating factor is if you run a business hotel, this hasn't been a great summer for you because the business travelers aren't back the way they used to be. Or if you're in some places like San Francisco is a city that is really struggling and sort of falling out of favor with some tourists. So the irony is like the national average price right now is in the U.S. for hotels is about the same as was in 2019. but no one actually ever pays the national average.

8:44You pay whatever is in your local market. And some people are really paying through the nose. You know, and you're paying through the nose for what? A lot of places have done away with, as Liz was pointing out, daily housekeeping unless guests requested. And, you know, and this obviously has to do with staffing issues. Liz, did you notice any other changes? You seem to be more picky. That's what my husband says. I we were just in Vegas and we stayed at the Flamingo and also at MGM. They have some like weird condos in the back behind the hotel. That's sort of like a quasi hotel. But at one point they woke me up at like 830 a.m.

9:24and changed the lock on the door, which I would think that would be something you'd wait to do when the room was being turned over. yeah isn't this hospitality isn't that uh you know you want to be able to get in i would think but so did i did did did uh maintenance get the wrong message they thought you were leaving early or what happened to you no they were doing it for the whole floor it was very weird it was very odd so i feel like there's a lot of like you're lucky to even stay here attitude going up. I don't understand. Why were they changing the locks for the entire floor? Was it maintenance or did they ever give you an explanation?

10:08No, the guy wasn't too communicative, but then I had to get new cards too. It was very odd. I've never stayed in a hotel where that was going on when you were staying there. Yeah, that is very odd. Sean, where do you see hotels going right now? And I guess they're having to, a lot of them are having to skimp to save. Yeah, a lot are skimping. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that you had that experience, Liz. There is data on this. So if you look at all the hotel reviews that are out there, and there's a company called ReviewPro that scans all the ones in all the various sites, you'll see that the average hotel review score is lower now than it was in 2019, even though all of us are happy to be back out there, able to travel again.

10:51And I think that speaks to a lot of the hotels haven't been keeping up with property upkeep. Maybe they fell behind during the pandemic when they're struggling or they're understaffed or they're taking travelers for granted. What is the number one thing that you look for when you're staying at a hotel? Wait, put a pin in that. We're going to be back with more of the best of Business Wars daily, talking with journalist Sean O 'Neill and comedian Liz Barrett. Stay with us.

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13:25Hey, welcome back to the best of Business Wars Daily. We're talking with journalist Sean O 'Neill and comedian Liz Barrett. Let's talk about what it is that you look for first in a hotel. Room size, perhaps? Number of beds? Smoking versus non-smoking? Liz, where do you come down? What is your number one go-to when you're looking for a hotel? Well, price. Unless I'm going really on vacation or for fancy, then price not so much. I like non-smoking. And you can't tell until you get there, but cleanliness. But in the reviews, you can kind of tell beforehand, too. You know, I was reading something recently, Liz, about how attitudes have changed about places to stay.

14:13Back in the 50s and 60s, it used to be a lot of people who are going to stay. to be that hotels would try to have these soaring staircases, even if they went nowhere, right, just to sort of look opulent, you know, and I guess it's part of the whole, you know, velvet wallpaper kind of thing. But variations on that theme of being sort of resort-like were a big part of hotels, certainly in the latter part of the 20th century. What marks hotels today? I mean, especially given that there's so much competition in the Airbnb space, you know, with these sort of app-based rental programs, I guess, like Airbnb.

14:53What makes a good hotel? When you go there, Liz, what makes you think, huh, now that's a hotel? Well, I went once to St. Croix to stay at the Buccaneer. It was a famous hotel, like, in the 70s. And, like, Elizabeth Taylor would go. You know, it seemed better days. But I like that because there was like some nostalgia to the whole thing. But I also like modern, like carpet kind of freaks me out in a hotel, to be honest. So I like a modern flair, too. So I think, you know, and amenities and restaurants and spas are also helpful, I feel like, depending on what you're looking for. When you say carpet, that reminds me about pets.

15:35Let's talk about pets for just a second. great if you're working from home. Not so easy to take them on vacation, or at least that used to be the case. Now there's a growing number of pet-friendly hotels. Let's hear a little bit more about the race to win over dog and cat lovers with a clip from Business Wars Daily. Marriott is one of the hotel companies making a play for pet owners. The company's brands include W, Westin, and Renaissance Inns, among others. And the company's exclusive homes and villas by Marriott Bonvoy site, A premium home rental platform now offers pet-friendly properties. In November, the platform teamed up with Petco to highlight pet-friendly rentals and provide curated pet products like toys, beds, and other items shipped to the home for customers in advance of their stay.

16:22Pet owners can also get handy checklists and pet wellness information through the Homes and Villas site. Competitor Hilton is also serious about pets. Eighty-five percent of the hotel's U.S. properties are pet-friendly. The company has even aired television spots to share the good news with pet owners, including one with Paris Hilton. Hilton has also expanded its relationship with Mars Pet Care, a pet products and services company, the New York Times reports. Hilton guests at brands like Hilton Garden Inns, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, and others have access to free virtual support for their questions about pet health and behavior.

17:00And different Hilton brands have their own pet-friendly offerings. Stay at certain Canopy brand hotels, and your furry friend will get a cushy dog bed, water bowl, and a goodie bag with toys and treats. At certain Hilton properties, the amenities get a bit posher, Condé Nast reports. The Foundry, a Hilton property in Asheville, North Carolina, offers a paparazzi adventure package, which includes a one-hour photography session, a guided hike, and a swag bag complete with non-alcoholic dog beer, and a voucher for a free dog bath at a nearby pet groomer. Hilton's Baker's K Resort in Key Largo allows dogs to get in on all the fun, swimming in the water, walking on the beach, and even using dedicated dog tikis.

17:43They can drink and dine with their human travel companions and even enjoy a yappy hour with special drinks just for your pup. A dog day indeed. Sean, are we sure we're talking about motels still, or is this a dog park? What exactly, I mean, do you have pets? I don't have pets myself. I have trouble keeping my plants alive. But many of the hotel companies like Hilton have really been trying to become more friendly. And I've known for years friends who have pets, like one set of friends, you know, in California, they always need to go to Idaho for sort of like an annual trip to see family. And they would plan the entire itinerary around, you know, where are hotels that they actually can have for their dog.

18:28And so it is a very good thing that this is becoming more available. Liz, what about you? You have pets? I do have a pet. I have a cat who doesn't travel and a dog, Flapjack, and she's 12 pounds. So she's easily packable. However, when I go away... I'm sorry, something about the packing up of dogs just makes me laugh. But okay, all right. So she's like a glorified cat. Don't tell her this. But I still like when I go on vacation not to go with the dog. Don't tell her this because I like not walking the dog and and it kind of frees you up to do anything you want to do. It's vacation. Yes, yes. So I'm not into taking my dog on vacation with me, to be honest.

19:18Would there be something, though, that if a hotel offered it, you'd be like, yeah, that's enough to take Fido with me? I kind of like the bar idea. What's it called? The puppy? It's not the yappy hour, is it? I like the yappy hour. The yappy hour, yeah. Yeah, it could just be the name. But, you know, if I was having cocktails and she could have something in her water, I think that would be okay. Yeah, but at the same time, Sean, paparazzi adventure tour, dedicated dog tiki's. Yeah, with dog beer, dog tiki's. Well, is this a whole lot of who about nothing? I mean, or maybe this is Jump the Shark?

20:01I don't know, Sean. I don't know. You know, I mean, we're in an era where people are putting their dogs in strollers, you know. And, you know, we used to talk about emotional support animals, but every animal is an emotional support animal now. Everyone takes their pet. I see them in the hardware store. I do see them every time I go to a hotel, people with pets. So it's definitely, I think we've changed and the pandemic intensified sort of like our affection for pets. And so when you have a travel-sized pet like Flapjack, you know, I mean, why not hit the road? Well, you know, I will say this.

20:37We have had to check dogs at kennels recently, and this is for traveling in 2023, and it was exceedingly expensive, more expensive than the outrageous prices that they were. And this is reflecting – I mean, this is part of inflation. This is what's happening, you know, across our economy. me. But I'm wondering if maybe something more practical, like a kind of a basic kennel, I mean, I get yappy hours fun and all, but a basic kennel service, something like that that could actually help folks with their bottom line. Seems like to me, Liz, would that help? That would be interesting. Although my dog hates other dogs, so it wouldn't really work on flapjack.

21:20that. She's not a social dog. Anti-social dog, okay. Well, she likes my attention. That's about it. Sean, do you think that this is giving hotels an edge over Airbnb? Because I know a lot of homeowners don't like to have just random animals in and they'll screen for that. Yeah, I think it is. You know, Skiff Research, we have a research division. We did a survey of about a thousand travelers earlier this year and they were comparing when you're choosing between a hotel versus a short-term rental? What are your considerations? And reliability was the thing that made hotels appealing. And in this case, the reliability that you know when you show up, Flapjack is going to have a place to stay.

22:00So that is, I definitely think it gives them a potential advantage. A potential advantage. Is it working? So I talked with Hilton's chief of brands and they, who was sort of like helped lead their decision to really try to make Hilton's brands much more pet friendly. And they said it's turned out to be one of the best decisions they've made in the past few years. But I don't have hard data other than that. We're talking about hotels and what they're doing to lure customers. You're listening to the best of Business Wars daily, and we're going to have a whole lot more just ahead. Stay with us.

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24:15Hey, welcome back. We're talking with journalist Sean O 'Neill and comedian Liz Barrett for the Best of Business Wars Daily. We've touched on the rivalry between hotels and Airbnb, but it recently got even more heated. This past fall, Airbnb faced a wave of criticism after the Wall Street Journal published an article that shared guests' frustration with having to do a long list of chores and pay a cleaning fee on top. Hilton decided to capitalize on that frustration with a clever ad campaign. Let's hear a bit more about that with a clip from Business Wars Daily. One ad features a family unpacking in a haunted house with a long list of rules scrawled on the wall and marker, which honestly looks a lot like blood.

24:56Huh, they look different online. Geez. Wow, that's a lot of rolls. Now, to be fair, the campaign also takes aim at shoddy roadside motels. But the dagger at Airbnb, and Verbo for that matter, is clear and sharp. And the sentiment shared by disgruntled Airbnb customers could mean the needle is shifting ever so slightly in hotels' favor. After all, as the journal reported, long chore lists and increasing fees are causing some would-be Airbnb guests to just, you know, check into the local hotel. Alas, the battle between home-sharing giants and established hotel chains is ongoing, and there's no end in sight.

25:40But a couple of cheeky ads and a long, long list of chores could be swaying things. Liz, have you ever been slammed with a list of chores staying at an Airbnb? Oh, sometimes you're checking to an Airbnb and it's like you have to stay covert. They give you a note like nobody should know you're here. You know, go walk very quietly throughout the house. Clean up, you know, the closet. It's a little messy. I mean, the chores never end. And then don't get me started on the fees because whatever the Airbnb costs, the cleaning fee is like astronomical. You know, yeah, this is supposed to be a getaway.