Final Episode of GMH Hotels: A Big Week for Hotel AI and Resort M&A.

0:02Hello and good morning. Welcome back to Good Morning Hospitality. I'm Will Slickers, the director of video and audio strategy here at Skift. And this is a special episode as we are closing out Good Morning Hospitality Hotels Edition. It does not mean the show is ending, but this is Steve and Sarah's last episode with us as their businesses are growing and we want to support them and let them basically be free, be free from the show. And it's been a crazy ride. We've had three years, over 150 episodes, hundreds of stories and breaking news captured through these two voices in the industry that have really led the charge and merging what we would say the lodging audience from hotels and short-term rentals together.

0:46And so without further ado, I'm going to hit the intro, but we just have so much love and appreciation for Steve and Sarah. They've given so much to the show. They've dedicated three years of weekly attendance of a live broadcast, which is no easy task. There's been lots of early mornings for Sarah. There's been a lot of traveling, a lot of schedule changes, a lot of special guests like Katie Klein coming in to fill in for some spots when we need her. And so we're just super thankful for the last three years. And so without further ado, let's bring on our two amazing hosts.

1:45Sarah Dandashy: Why you gotta do that? Hold on. No one told me. This is our last show. Stop it. happening what's going on what's going on hold on hold on hold on oh my gosh oh my gosh will thank you for that we were not expecting yeah we were not expecting that at all viewers uh listeners and if you're listening man sarah did it got us a little emotional we were talking a little bit backstage three years of something that's constant in your life every single wednesday joining you all that jump in every single time having will back here you know in my life i was looking back at the last three years, I was like, man, a lot has changed in my world.

2:26Good things, bad things. But the highlight every week, I really love coming out here with you, Sarah. I'm so glad we got to become so close after all these years. It really means a lot to me. And Will, you know, I think we can tell you a little history. I want to give a shout out to him because he called me. We don't think we ever shared this. You know, I was doing a show. Yeah. Why don't we share how

2:48Sarah Dandashy: we came together. And he called me, he's like, Hey man, you know, I have the good morning hospitality show. You know, we do a lot of short-term rental, but we're looking to do some hotel. And I thought you'd be great. You know, would you be interested? I was like, I don't know if I have time. You know, this is a live commitment every single week. And he's like, well, I have this woman, Sarah Dandeshe. She's really cool. And she's out there, she's connected and she's looking to potentially join. I was like, let me look up Sarah here. Oh, stop. We had met once before prior to that. She was very mean to me.

3:18Sarah Dandashy: Yeah, I was just about to say, tell everybody what you actually thought. It was funny because I met her at a conference and she, you know, I don't know Sarah. And we were at a conference. I said, hello. And she was with another podcast host. They had the number one show at the time. And they were like, look at me and Will. They're like, we're the number one show. Remember that, guys. I don't know about any of that, but okay. I think that memory. And I was like, oh, yeah. All right. But anyhow, I'm so glad that he put us together. I said yes, and then we really connected on the first show, and that was three years ago.

3:53So it's just amazing what's changed. I've started companies. I've written a book. We've given speeches together. We've gone to conferences. We've done so many, so many cool things. So it's amazing what you can do when you're consistent every single week for three years. So I'm grateful to you, Sarah. It really means a lot that you show up every week with all the energy, and I love doing it with you.

4:13Sarah Dandashy: As we started calling it very early on, that early morning energy. Because for those that know, I'm on the West Coast. And yeah, I mean, like, got to be all ready by 6.45. So we go live by 7 a.m., which, you know, 7 may not seem that early. But to be, like, fully ready to go and jazz, there's a lot of early morning. Ah, Steven Sinclair, by the way, joining us from Chicago. please you know we haven't done this in all of the last shows but again as we started this so many years ago we always started with like tell us where you're joining us from so please um in honor of starting that tradition tell us i love this again christopher thank you i know our paths have crossed in person um so we also have help in the background that kind of like putting the show together and kelsey i have to give a shout out to kelsey because she's always done a fantastic job putting together uh our outlines and she she kind of put together a little like opening potential monologue i won't necessarily go into the whole monologue but i want to be part of it because it actually was very cool um so for the i mean to kind of put perspective it was three years ago august 30th 2023 that we started um this show kate yay thank you so much for joining um steve had his biscayne coffee i was still catching up because of course it was so early and we were actually shocked because we in that first show we had people joining us from germany israel dominican republic all of that everyone tuned in on that first day so that's why again like tell us where you're joining us from um this was kind of cool remembering like the specific memories i guess steve was talking about sweating through 112 degrees at disney world the different cast members who showed up anyway because they understood that they were making memories again these are real life hospitality lessons um i talked about how i called the yacht company in newport beach and i praised the guy who picked up the phone because i already knew my name which was special oh then i laugh because something's never changed with that um we talked about we were debating resort fees i mean i think that debate will be evergreen um we told everybody to book direct.

6:31Sarah Dandashy: That's right. You heard it here. Always book direct. We called extended stay hotels, not necessarily sexy, but profitable. That sounds like a line that I would say. And we closed that episode with, I loved it when we used to do these quotes, but we closed that episode with our very first quote, and it was by Eleanor Roosevelt. True hospitality consists of giving the best of yourselves to your guests. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, Will Suckers was also in our ear telling us that, hey guys, you're over time. Like, gotta wrap it up, gotta wrap it up. So yeah. So thank you guys, by the way.

7:06Sarah Dandashy: A lot of great memories. And I think before we wrap, we should also share some of our favorite, like, actually, do you want to just do it now? Do you have some favorite, like, little moments that, like, whether it was little segments or whatever? Oh, wow. I'm not, you put me on the spot here. Yeah. Okay, how about that? You want to think about that when we come back? I have some. I would say that my favorite parts are really seeing the people that show up every single week into our live chat. I can think of many of you that show up every single week and leave us nice notes. It means the world to us that anyone cared what we were saying, was watching.

7:41That was some of my favorite. And I think just when you and I have our coffee chats, it was definitely my highlight. We really were just catching up on air, everyone. So when you saw the coffee chats, we were just like hopping on, getting everything connected and learning about what we had going on in our world. So those are the highlights I'll take. I mean, we have so many news stories and so many things that we covered. I think the yearly predictions I felt pretty good about as well.

8:03Sarah Dandashy: You like that? You like that? I love the wild stories of the crazy things that were happening in travel. Yeah, the ones that they used the underwear and the coffee maker. I think that was the most popular. Oh, I forgot about that one. Yes. Yes. Didn't have the filter. The info dirty underwear. That was nice. Exactly. There were so many crazy stories I'll never forget. We talked about the one who was an off-duty pilot. I think it was an Alaska Airlines flight and how he decided to go and try and get into the cockpit. And I think I referred to him as like, homie was having a bad day and decided to go and try and ruin things for everybody.

8:40Sarah Dandashy: Which I think, yeah, you could see a real side of Sarah when she starts referring to somebody. By the way, if I refer to somebody as homie, you know I mean business, okay? I can vouch for that. It may not seem on brand, but homie means business. Gangster backstage. Yeah. Those are some of them. I think, too, you know what I like is seeing emerging technology, too. We had just started talking about AI at the very, very beginning. And to see where it came now and where it will continue to go is just unbelievable, too, for me. I listened back to some of the old episodes like, wow, it was just like coming up and we didn't know what it was.

9:13It's like, you know, when you look back at today's show talking about the Internet and email for the first time.

9:18Sarah Dandashy: Right. Yeah. It sounded like you and I talking about it. So it was interesting to see that too. Well, let us know. I know there's so many great faves. Let us know as you're tuning in, like if there were some favorite moments that you remember or something ridiculous, something fun, something informative, whatever it was, like just drop that in, in the comments. Like we want to make sure. Yeah. We want to keep it interactive and fun. And we so appreciate you all joining us every week when we go live. I think that to me was the coolest part because we're not just in an echo chamber. We're really like interacting with you.

9:54Sarah Dandashy: So please continue that on today. And I promise, or I can't promise actually that I won't cry before the end. But should we talk about some news just because like that's also the point of it? I think we should definitely talk about some news. And listeners and viewers, you know, listen to Sarah. If you're something you want to say, say it here. Listen, give a shout out to your company here in the chat. Let's give a free sponsorships to everyone. Put your company in. Whoa, whoa, Steve. I think that's what we should do. Let's go. Give everyone a shout out. Whoa, who let him out? Whoa, whoa, guys.

10:22Sarah Dandashy: Yeah. Let us know where you're joining us from and what company you work for. Perfect. Yeah, I was going to shout out. Oh, my gosh. But, no, it is good to see all that representation. So, okay, let's go to our first topic here. Let's switch gears a bit. So, and I love that you kind of led into this. What hotel CEOs are actually doing with AI? This is a great piece. And by the way, if you see this little, you know, the, what we've got on the screen right now, or so I love that you can see us as well as that, but make sure if you have not been to the Skift website last Tuesday, they launched a Skift intelligence.

10:58Sarah Dandashy: Check it out. The format is, is, is new, different, new and improved. So check it out and you can kind of see a little bit of it here, how it looks a little bit different, but yeah. So what are hotel CEOs actually doing with AI? That's the whole, that's the whole thing. that was talked a lot about, that was talked a lot last week at the SCIF Global Forum. I will also give a quick shout out to that. And I go to a lot of conferences. It really is one of my favorite conferences. And I'm not saying that biased at all. I love the conversations that are happening in that room. So it's great. So put that on your calendar.

11:32Sarah Dandashy: So after two years of AI announcements, hotel CEOs are now talking about specific deployments with measurable results. Hyatt has built a digital twin of its CEO that models how the executive would approach key strategic decisions. That's wild. Giving leadership teams a tool for pressure testing choices at scale. IHG's voice agents are handling about 40 % of front desk queries in pilot hotels, reducing wait times and freeing up staff for higher value interactions. Do you want me to kind of continue here? you have what do you want to know i think it's really good that we're starting to talk about this at the ceo level because every ceo is doing different things you have some ceos that are very careful to say we're not replacing anybody don't worry this is enhancing the staff and they that's what they keep saying i'm a big believer and look i know i've been saying it since the beginning i went back and listen it's going to replace people it is it's just that nature of technology and what comes but then how do you use that money you're paying those people to put them into different areas and that's what i also like hearing like the core ceo mentioned that too so yes a lot of lot of jobs are going to get lost about, you know, he said, I think the stat was 50 % on the article, but they're going to be using that to go into other areas.

12:45So how do you make the ordinary that's automated and then the extraordinary with people out there?

12:50Sarah Dandashy: So I'm going to push back on that a little bit. And I, cause I, cause I've been listening to a lot of conversations on this and one of the podcasts that I always listen to, that's not ours because we're living ours is Diary of the CEO. And he had somebody on recently. And I think he brought a really interesting point. Whenever there's been technological advancements, there's been a shift in the job force. So yes, we might lose jobs, but then we're going to build back more jobs with different skill sets. And so it'll look different. I don't know. Yeah, that's what I'm going to stay with. Listen, all your phone operators, you don't have a job anymore, right?

13:32So what are they going to do? A bookkeeper and accounting in the back of house, gone. All your HR intake forms and scanning through things, gone. I know. And they'll evolve. Right. But it's hard when you're 50, 60 years old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm doing that for 20, 25 years, 30 years in a hotel. I've seen it happen to some of my friends already. So I've been saying it now to all of you. If you're inputting stuff and you're filling in spreadsheets and you're doing presentations and that's your sole job to reply to reviews, that job will not exist for you. you need to start working on some new skills like Sarah's saying get into the front of house learn how to create things for yourself so I just tell people that because I see it now in real life um happening so completely I hear you too we would have been podcasters 10 years ago that

14:15Sarah Dandashy: didn't exist what was a podcaster like yeah yeah of course it wasn't it was definitely not the same I mean my whole career is built off of social media like my independent career is built off of social media like there was no way when I was graduating college I was like oh I'm gonna start doing that. Like it just, it, it didn't, it just didn't exist. So I know. Um, but it's been, it's, it's an interesting time. I, I think, I actually think it's exciting because it's changing so many things. I had a conversation with somebody yesterday and they called me up and they asked me for something. And I had a moment where I was like, you could just use a, they wanted a favor from me, which I'm not opposed to that.

14:57But I was like, you also could just use some sort of AI to

15:01Sarah Dandashy: help you with that. But it was kind of like the idea of, I think we've all been there in that situation where somebody asked you something and you're like, you could just Google that, right? Yes. And it's happening. And so I can say for our hospital management company, we realized I did a study. I had to go through all of our Slack messages and emails and see where the bottlenecks were. And a lot of the messages were very basic messages like, hey, can we give this discount? What should we do for this guest? How should we do this? And we update our SOPs. And then we had a study of all the answers we provided to our team, put that into a database and said, your first task is to ask AI now because it's been built out that way.

15:38And it answers just like we would 95 % of the time. and it's now reduced the workload and the mental workload for our leaders because now they can go and work on what we need them to work on, which is growing the business versus answering questions that now the team is empowered to do. So there's a lot of good things that they can do as well, as long as you're using it the right way. So if anyone has any questions, I've been testing out every AI bot.

16:00Sarah Dandashy: Oh my gosh. By the way, if you guys don't know this about Steve, Steve, literally, anytime there's any new announcement, any new addition to any of like the big like ai platforms steve is out there testing it every time before we come on the show he's like oh i did this this week and i did this this week oh i created what i like and i'm just like are you what this is but it's great it's i will say this it is very useful too because you've turned me you've definitely like turned me on to trying like certain certain things and products that maybe i was like a little bit late to uh and so and i i pass that along to other people so So Steve, you might be the, Steve, the digital, the AI influencer.

16:45No, but I like using it. It makes, cause I'm a creative person. And so if I used to have to call people, Hey, can you help me create this? Do this? I didn't have the technical skills. Now I can just use these tools to really make things the way I want to make it. So it's been a lot of fun.

16:58Sarah Dandashy: I love it. Get ready, hoteliers. Make sure you're using it. What does this say here from Christopher? Our chat bot has reduced the number of phone calls to the front desk so they can spend more time with guests in the front of them. Exactly. Yeah, 100%. Right. So that was someone answering that phone. So if you don't have to pick up that phone anymore, great. But if you're going to use that as dollars, that's where I would challenge hotels and operators. I'm doing it with myself, too. Like, all right, we saved money here. How can we use that money that we were spending and put it into something that helps us grow or help the guest experience?

17:25So I think that's the mentality moving forward.

17:27Sarah Dandashy: And I think another big thing to kind of like to wrap up this topic is like this gap between what the big brands are doing and then independence. As far as like AI capabilities, that gap is narrowing far quicker than maybe we might even realize. So I think that's an indication as far as where the industry is going as a whole and everybody's on board. So, yes. Up on the train. Up on the AI train. Up on the AI train. Oh, good. We had Desert Wind joining us from Las Vegas. That's my mom, by the way. Yeah, that's great. Thank you, Kay, for joining. The burner account. That's the one that leaves me all the messages.

18:11Okay.

18:11Sarah Dandashy: Oh, my gosh. I know. So let's talk about our other topic here. So we leave time for a little bit more reminiscing at the end. Let's do it. Royal Caribbean is in talks for 50 % stake in sandals. I think this was great. This was a big, big buzz. Everybody's like, really? Whoa, what's going on? So to kind of bring you up to speed, Royal Caribbean talks to acquire 50 percent, to acquire a 50 percent stake in Sandals Resorts International, which would be one of the most significant resort consolidation moves in years. Now, earlier this year, Sandals Chairman Adam Stewart shut down sales rumors. He said the company was not for sale, but a minority stake rather than a full acquisition might may actually be the structure to make this deal possible.

18:56Sarah Dandashy: What's interesting with this, because a lot of people are like, okay, wait, why do this? Why would Royal Caribbean be interested in this? But Sandals Caribbean Resorts, their footprint in the Caribbean is a natural complement to cruise itineraries. So passengers, for example, they can stay at Sandals Resorts before going on a Royal Caribbean cruise. these sort of combined land and sea packages to me it makes so much sense um and i mean because we've always talked about it it's like the idea of cruises being the sort of almost like all inclusive at sea um and there's complementary parts obviously there's far more uh nuances to that not saying that that is a blanket statement but there's absolutely um overlap in the type of travelers and how people can kind of approach their, their travel budgeting and strategy.

19:53Sarah Dandashy: Right. Yeah. I love it. I think it's a great move. Have you been to Coco K? I forget to ask you, have you been on Royal Caribbean ships? Are you, are you only a Cunha? I haven't been on a Royal Caribbean. Call your girl. I have not been on a Royal Caribbean ship. I've been on many, many others. Yeah. So I'm a big fan of Royal Caribbean, especially with family. You know, it's great for more generation and all the fun and the games and the restaurants. I'm a big fan of theirs, especially the mega ships. I'm a fan of those big mega ships when you're out there. But Coco Cay, their island, I always say, is the best resort I've ever been to without an actual hotel on it.

20:25They do such great things. They have so many cool things going on on their island that they bring people to. And they're really good about making money, but also about making sure you have a great guest experience while you're there. So we've talked about Sandal. I remember when we talked about that, I don't know if it was a couple months ago or a year ago. But they were rebranding, trying to go a little bit more upscale.

20:46Sarah Dandashy: Totally. Caribbean can now bring that mentality to those resorts that are island-based and how to plan for you and how to do a great experience for them and how you can give value to them. I think I was reading somewhere online that it's also like a hedge against the rising of fuel costs as well. So not as many people are spending money and the cruise ships are getting a little more expensive. So if you can just have your destinations and have 50 % invested and really have a say in how that operates, I think it's a great match for them. And I'm sure those travelers on those cruise ships somehow are going to end up at the ports that have sandals as well.

21:19So completely. So I think that will be a good outing as well for them. I'm actually kind of surprised this hasn't happened yet or unless it has.

21:29Sarah Dandashy: And I don't know about it. I will say that. Right. We don't want to get in any trouble here on our last episode. but we'll have to come back on. Come back. Sorry, Cruz. No, but I think what's interesting about it is that it's new that people are starting to build their islands, right? So Royal Caribbean has their island. Disney has the island. Norwegian is starting to make their... Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they have their own islands, but like the actual full was, you know, like... Yeah, but I think that's what it is, right? I think that's where their thing is like, all right, let's look at these resorts.

21:58We can have a bigger footprint with them. Get the mix in, promote Royal Caribbean and Sandals together, which are two well-known brands. I like it. I think it's good. I've never stayed at a sandals, but if there was a promotion through Royal Caribbean, I probably would.

22:09Sarah Dandashy: Oh, I mean, it's also great as far as just getting new exposure to, to different, different travelers that again, like, as you said, you are a big fan of Royal Caribbean and you haven't stayed at sandals yet. So let's just say through Royal Caribbean, that would introduce you to the whole sandals brand and experience. And I think vice versa, like, Oh, cool. I like this idea. Why not? Yeah. All right, chat. Who's staying at Sandals now? Give me a yes or a no. I'd be curious to see if this moves the needle for you. Yeah. No, this would be really, really, really cool. So anyway, let us know your thoughts on that.

22:47I know it's, yeah, it's interesting.

22:50Sarah Dandashy: I mean, it's a complimentary consolidation. Yeah, it helps. It works. I like it. It's a good investment by Royal Caribbean. I think it's really smart. And Sandals, I haven't heard their name brand in a while i think this is a good good thing for them i know they have diehard fans but this will open up a whole new new area for them yeah no definitely um all right well why don't we go to your favorite part my favorite part sarah wow wow that dramatic pause i was like what what just happened um whose brand is it anyway okay the game show where we put up on the screen a sub brand and you have to guess the parent brand that owns that sub brand we have a very bad record at this game sarah you and i i think uh we're batting below oh you're gonna join us for this i was gonna join you to let you know i totally dropped the ball and didn't grab a brand so we're gonna do this live while we chat but uh wait that's hilarious i was gonna bring you on after but like hey let's go ahead and like come in here for the game okay yes yes but i'm gonna I'm a little biased because I want to know the answer.

23:59So I'm going to kind of just kind of fill in the gap here for some, for some quick listeners and viewers. I want you to put up some sub brands and we're going to choose one of them to be the game. If you get it in here quick enough, give me a sub brand. Let's go. Paul Manzi. I know you're watching live. Give us a sub brand real quick.

24:20Sarah Dandashy: By the way, like for example, we had motto on here. not too long ago. And I totally walked by the motto this last weekend when I was in New York City. Actually, that ends up being an auto production meeting. That's happening right now. This is what happens before we go live, by the way. Yeah, but this is perfect for our last one. And this is why we like doing this show so much. This is why it was so much fun because there's teamwork, there's energy, there's positivity, and we've had fun doing it. So you guys get to see a lot of caffeine consumption, at least on my part. On mine too. I'm drinking some Biscayne coffee right now.

24:57I think my favorite has been the times that Sarah, we made a joke about this at Skip Global Forum, but shows up with her like monster energy drinks or not the Alani or is it Alani? The other one? Yeah, Alani. I do Alani.

25:11Sarah Dandashy: I rotate. By the way, just to be very clear, I am energy drink agnostic. So a little bit of love for everyone just so long as they're sugar free. Okay, just going to put that out there. Has to be sugar-free. It does have to be sugar-free. All right, we got one. You guys ready for our sub-brand of the week? Yeah. Yes. Let's see it. I like that we're doing this on it. Whose brand is it anyway? Brought to you by Will Slickers. Let's see. Here we go. What's the brand? See if you guys get this one. Here we go. Okay, okay. Canopy Hotels. I got this. I know the brand. I don't know who owns it, though.

25:52Canopy Hotels. by all right i'm putting my guess in i'm going with hilton me i was hilton hilton hilton what are you thinking oh wait you know i was gonna say i know the answer but all right don't put it in so everyone put listeners put it in there got paul okay paul manzi he said marriott paul also

26:10Sarah Dandashy: gave us a hotel brand that we should i caption hotels we should come back to that one we'll do Brian Fish, welcome. Welcome to the last show. Brian, thank you. Thank you. I had Brian Fish on the podcast. All right, let's see. The big winners. Get your answers in. Five, four, three, two, and one. The winner of today's show. What is the brand, Will? The winner. Oh, my gosh. A double win on the last show. We go out winners. We had to go out winners. Had to. And this was not pre-planned listeners and viewers. No, clearly. Yeah. Clearly. So I want to make sure that they didn't think I was doing anything.

26:56Shout out Lowe's Hotels.

26:59Sarah Dandashy: We're just doing all the shout outs. So wait, wait, hold on. So we have to – what did – did we address – which one did – caption hotels. Oh, caption, yeah. Let's look it up. Should we – Let's do one for Paul Manzi. That's our loyal listener, friend. Let's see, Paul Manzi. Jamie! Jamie gets Hilton too. Jamie, thanks for joining us. Can you guys guess who captions by? I'll give you like 10 seconds. I'm surprised who is by. Caption hotels? I'm going with Marriott. Me too. Marriott. What is it? What do we think? You ready? I don't have the logo because I'm not that quick. No, that's fine. Hyatt. Oh!

27:48it's the other h hotel oh and then there's an ihd and then there's like all these h's h for hotel that was my favorite part yeah i couldn't believe that was one of my favorite parts playing these games i think you love that game i just like having something fun to do every week it was cool to learn i got to learn about all these brands i didn't know about well first like sarah said in the beginning it was the quote of the week and then we did real time recaps and yes i loved our real time recaps we still do those and then uh on the guys it was

28:18Sarah Dandashy: real time recaps what's happening on the streets of hospitality okay all right i gotta put my street cred out there all right yeah homie it means business but will you put us together i'm curious how you all thought about this we don't know that story from the point of view i think it's great for us and the listeners to hear like when you thought of sarah and i three years ago how did this all come together yeah yeah honestly it was kind of an easy from like you look at the landscape of the influencers and the podcasts that are happening in the space um yes you guys had your individual stuff i think sarah you were doing a show out in la steve just started his uh podcast a hospitality mentor uh with us at hfm previous to skift um and i was just seeing i was like man who are the hotel voices i know and trust and that aren't already on the podcast like you know there's modern hotelier there's um no vacancy there's other podcasts out there already kind of cranking out uh tons of hotel content so i was like oh i know steve i know sarah sarah and i've worked together on other stuff in the past too um so it was kind of a easy marriage where i was like if i can just convince them to do a live show that was the hard part where i was like because steve as you said i was like oh you know that's a big commitment every week and i was like yeah but we can pre-record every now and then you know we do that with the monday show sometimes we'll pre-record on a friday if we have to travel on a monday or whatever um i just remember it's like oh please please please please please please please please um and then the first episode i think we're like before the first episode aired we were talking about how we're like oh just give it a try right like we'll see what happens right if it doesn't work no worries you know we'll we'll find someone else but yeah the first episode is a no-brainer i was like yeah they're well they're staying that first episode, I remember as we were approaching it, I was like, okay, we got to have a show format.

30:12Sarah Dandashy: And so I remember working on that. And we were trying to find a third person because the Monday show has three people. So we're like, hey, let's get a third person. And yeah, we were trying all these different things. But I think it worked out with just the two of us and put together that outline. I remember going in like we didn't really have much time to chat. There was no rehearsal. There was no time to chat. And then I remember before we went and Steve was like, you just go ahead and lead. And I was like, oh, well, okay. but that's the thing like you you two have always leaned on each other's strengths right like so like steve is always like sarah you lead and then he'll come in with a great commentary and then spirals into a an absolute great conversation um which obviously has has proven over the last three years so um that's one thing like not to get sentimental or emotional because i told myself i wouldn't cry yeah but you two like truly do have such a phenomenal not only friendship outside of like for the listeners just fyi we are all friends and still will be we text each other very often and so yeah just to see the friendship blossom from it but then like like i said you guys really lean into each other's strengths which i think you know in an industry that can have a lot of ego not to like throw any names or anything out there but it's just like there there was no ego working with you guys it was very much like hey i could do this i could do this and um hey we should bring up like the creative ideas that you guys had and have all the time.

31:43Yeah. It just is really special. I was like, ah, it's so easy to work with people like you guys that are just so willing to collaborate and have fun.

31:51Sarah Dandashy: So when it comes to being creative, I think it's like, it's all about how do we just keep it fresh? And like, if we keep it fresh for us and we're excited about it, like that, that trickles down to people that are tuning in and, and just know that like we always were trying to like, how do we keep it fresh and cool and like and get inspired by different things um but yeah i mean steve and i discovered that we're practically birthday twins yeah that we also discovered that we could change a tire together that was a more recent discovery but that was team building teamwork team building exactly but i would say for everyone listening the viewers and listeners of what i taught me is um you gotta say yes to certain things in life even though if you're uncomfortable right because if i didn't say yes to this i wouldn't have had three years of all this fun and experiences and opportunities that this show has brought me and getting to meet so many cool people at conferences or out in the streets that listen and thank us.

32:44And, you know, it just means the world to me that we did this. And I take it now as a really good wisdom and learning lesson to teach my kids and anyone I work with is take those chances in life because you just never know what will happen. Yeah, it might be hard to wake up and do something every single week consistently and put in effort and rent an office and get good equipment and do all these cool things because it really does pay off in the end. So that's my message for the listeners and viewers and just for myself and for all of you. I'm just grateful that we had all this time and we're going to continue doing all cool things, I'm sure, in life together again.

33:18But in this format, I can't believe it's the last day, the last show, but I'm really thankful for everyone that's been a part of it.

33:26Sarah Dandashy: Yes. As Brian said, I love this because we just talked about it. This was actually in my book, Hospitality From Within, follow the yeses. and like in a, in a, yeah, in a world where we're constantly hit with no's. And sometimes you might have to, you know, it's up to us to decide whether, okay, if we get a hit with a no, do we find another way around to still make that thing happen? Or is that the universe telling us like, maybe that's not the way. And then you start paying attention to where the yeses are coming from and you're like, let me follow the yeses. Because, you know, that could lead you down a path of that you wouldn't expect.

34:06Sarah Dandashy: So just as Steve was saying that, like, you wouldn't necessarily expect and like all the things that have happened over the last three years. It's, it's wild. Well, for the for listeners and viewers, I do want to like some some housekeeping before I want to ask you guys like i want to give you guys the opportunity to share what you're doing outside of the show moving forward and um for the listeners fyi the show's not going away like i said in the beginning so the monday crew is now moving to wednesday at the same time 7 a.m uh pacific 10 a.m eastern we're gonna bring on some more voices you know uh like sean o 'neill dennis shawl adriana lee bailey uh why am i forgetting bailey's last name bailey schultz um you know some of the reporters at skift uh that are covering these stories to keep the moving flow of lodging as the kind of the umbrella for this show um anything lodging will be lodging in tech really um but for you guys steve like you said in the beginning you just started bisking coffee when you started sarah you have a successfully growing uh concierge business with some amazing high-profile clients i'll say that um what are you guys doing now like what steve i know you You got two locations signed before the first one is even up.

35:22So I want to give this a couple of minutes just for you guys to be able to promote what you're doing outside of the podcast. Because I think a lot of people, from what I've heard at conferences, and Brandy has kind of said this, Michael kind of said this, after the Skift acquisition, that we're doing this full time. That you're only on GMH. And it's like, no, they have way more things going on outside the show. So yeah, please give us, let's take a moment for you guys to do some personal shout outs.

35:47Sarah Dandashy: Oh, that's sweet. Steve, why don't you take the lead with this? Because you've got some exciting things going on. Yeah, I'm involved in a lot of fun things. But I would say, listeners, viewers, the big one right now, my main focus is staybaya.com. So if you haven't checked it out, staybaya.com. Check out Baya, what we're building here in South Florida, and soon to announce in the Northeast. I won't say where just yet, because we've got to make that announcement. My partners would be mad at me. But working with some great partners. Breaking news. on that. They're fantastic. And I love working with them.

36:21And then our hospitality management company is called Tangy. We've grown that now every single year over the last, it's crazy to say over the last five years. And we're managing really beautiful homes across South Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina. So we have homes now over 60 homes that we're managing and we're getting into boutique hotels too. So you can follow along on LinkedIn. I'll be sharing more and more as we're doing there. And if you haven't yet. Sarah really pushed me to make it happen, but get hospitality, unlock the book, and you can read all the fun stories that have been going on.

36:53Make sure to do that for us too. So we appreciate you all very much. But you guys can stay in contact. We're not going anywhere. We'll be online all the time.

37:01Sarah Dandashy: We're still very visible. And you're all friends. We're definitely going to have you guys back on as like guest hosts or special guest experts on certain topics that maybe we need some insights on. So this isn't the last time. No, it's not goodbye. See you later. You know, this is, this is exactly, exactly true. Um, yeah. What was that? You passing the baton to me now to, to, Oh my God. Yes. The concierge bell. So yeah, no, I love that. Um, well, you'll definitely still be seeing me all over everywhere on, on social media. Um, that's obviously a big part of what I do and we'll be continuing to do that with a lot of different brands going on site creating some awesome content with that uh continuing to do a lot of the tv segments that I do with different brands dare I say maybe even good morning America uh but just planting the seed with that by the way we'll see we'll come back when that happens uh but I love that Steve brought up his book because I just actually redid so I have a new edition of my hospitality from within.

38:08Yeah.

38:09Sarah Dandashy: Look at me. Oh my gosh. Throwing up my gangster signs with my hands, but that's cool. Just got to always keep it real. Um, uh, but yes. Uh, so a lot of that that's going on in the background. Um, I am working on my second book that should be out early in next year, early 2027. So I'm very excited about that. So stay tuned. Um, when I can share more, I will be sharing more and yeah. Yeah. Also I, for those, I mean, I've kind of talked about it a bit on here, but those that may not know, um, I do have a private concierge business called AC reserve, and I work with ultra high net worth individuals, um, that it's not just travel, but it really is all lifestyle management.

38:49Sarah Dandashy: And that is growing very quickly. Um, so I've got more people coming on board and it is very exciting. So, uh, so yeah, I'll probably talk more about that, um, online with what I can, but that's also really exciting too. So obviously lots of great things in the works, but we're not going anywhere. We're still going to be very visible. So yeah, just in a different way. So like, and subscribe to all things Sarah Danishy, Steve Turk, all their personal channels. Make sure to follow along in the comments. And of course, yeah, I just, I got to give you guys one last big thank you just for the last three years of dedication.

39:28It's, it's no small feat. And like I said, I feel like we successfully have like really merged these audiences with your guys' experiences, your consistency, um, your willingness to cover stories, even though like it may not be something that we're all very familiar with in terms of like the topic or the segment of the industry. Um, and yeah, it just could not have played out better. Like I could not see GMH hotels being with anyone else. So, um, yeah,

39:53Sarah Dandashy: thank you guys for all you've done and thanks to everybody that's joined us live every week i know we mentioned that before but really it's like you guys help make the show what it is otherwise it would just be steve and i being like whoa or fucking heads exactly but if you got you guys keep us grounded in reality and um and yeah it's been real like it's crazy i know should we do one last sign off sarah oh goodness gracious yes will you should join us in this too okay all right

40:26on three all right guys two three stay hospitable terrible oh my god one more time one more time let's not do it slow let's just say stay we're not gonna get that slow okay all right ready three two one stay hospitable so close oh well oh my gosh i'm sorry guys all right oh my god bye as always see you guys again next week

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