Is it time we thought about the PMS as profit, not property management? Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) represents nearly 20,000 hotel owners who operate 60% of all hotels in the US. Mews has recently become AAHOA’s official PMS. The association’s Chairman, Kamalesh (KP) Patel, joins Matt to talk about the partnership’s impact, along with why technology is now a profit decision, especially if you’re an independent hotelier.
Meet KP and Mews at AAHOACON
Kamalesh (KP) Patel is the 35th Chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), the largest hotel owners association in the world, representing nearly 20,000 members who collectively own over 60% of hotels across the United States. A second-generation hotelier, KP grew up in the business and today owns and operates hotels with his family in California. Alongside running properties, he has spent years working inside AAHOA, serving as ambassador, regional director and secretary before becoming its chairman.

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0


#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue
 

0:00 - AAHOA’s origin story
5:35 - Why Mews became AAHOA's official PMS
9:01 - Why PMS is now a profit management system
14:45 - On hotel franchise fees
19:40 - Building a tech ecosystem for independent hoteliers
23:28 - Why hoteliers still fear cloud


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

What makes your guests return? And why do some stays become stories people keep telling instead of just rating? Guido Lips has the answers to this. He is the Co-founder and Head of Guest Experience and Culture at The July, a group of unique aparthotels that blend hotel service with the feeling of living in a neighborhood. Guido joins Matt to talk aparthotels, mindful check-ins and what it takes to make guests feel like they belong.


Guido Lips is the Co-founder and Head of Guest Experience and Culture at The July. He works with properties in London and Amsterdam, focusing on how spaces are run day-to-day and how guests and staff interact.


Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0


#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue 


0:00 - What guests really want today

2:36 - Aparthotels, long stays and pricing

7:25 - Building The July brand

9:08 - Culture always comes first

16:05 - Personality vs skills in hiring

20:57 - The mindful check-in

28:20 - What's next for The July


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

This hotel doesn’t have a lobby, but it also doesn’t need one. Scattered around Amsterdam's canals, 28 abandoned bridge keeper houses have been transformed into SWEETS hotel, a collection of standalone suites. Suzanne Oxenaar, SWEETS' Curator and Artistic Director, shares how the hotel came to life and how technology helps manage rooms when they’re spread across the entire city.


Suzanne Oxenaar is a Curator and Artistic Director at SWEETS and a co-founder behind several concept hotels in Amsterdam, including Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy, LLove Hotel in Tokyo and Hotel The Exchange.

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue 

0:00 – An unconventional hotelier 

2:46 – The 1-to-5-star hotel concept 

4:25 – Turning bridge houses into hotel rooms 

9:39 – Running a hotel across the entire city 

14:19 – When guests can’t find the hotel

19:03 – Hospitality and homelessness  


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

De L’Europe Amsterdam recently became the first hotel in the Netherlands to earn a record three MICHELIN Keys. Open since 1896, De L’Europe Amsterdam carries a long history. What makes it stand out? And what comes with running the landmark everyone measures themselves against? De L’Europe’s Managing Director Robert-Jan Woltering talks heritage, luxury and the kind of hospitality that keeps a hotel at the top.

Robert-Jan has over 30 years of hospitality experience and has led hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa across several major luxury brands before returning to Amsterdam to take on De L’Europe.


Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue 

0:00 - What earned D L’Europe 3 MICHELIN Keys 

3:26 - Leading a landmark hotel 

7:24 - Great service starts with “why” 

10:36 - Dutch directness and hospitality 

12:45 - The golden future of hotels 

19:56 - Small gestures that win guests for life


 Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

How do you grow from one hotel into a group and don’t become a rigid chain? Inge Decuypere, Owner of C-Hotels, breaks down the operational choices and technology decisions that enabled their growth from a single property to a multi-hotel group along the Belgian coast. Inge also shares how walking away from a global franchise meant gaining control over their own operations, without sacrificing the occupancy they'd built.


Inge Decuypere is the Owner of C-Hotels, a Belgian hotel group, which she has scaled significantly over the past decade. With expertise in hospitality operations, revenue management, and technology integration, Inge has successfully navigated the transition from independent properties to a distinctive multi-hotel brand while maintaining quality and culture at every location.


Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

0:00 - Introducing C-Hotels

2:58 - Growing from one hotel to a group

6:10 - Taking a bet on Mews early on

9:30 - Walking away from a global brand

13:08 - Why a Revenue Management System is a must

17:00 - Scaling without losing soul


 Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Vicky Irwin has spent over six years shaping how Mews looks, sounds and feels as the company's Creative Director. In light of Mews launching a new identity, she joins Matt to talk about branding in hospitality. What is a brand when you strip away the logo? What makes hotels feel disconnected from their own identity? And when does a rebrand become necessary? Listen in.

 
Vicky Irwin is the Creative Director at Mews and has spent over six years shaping how the brand looks, sounds and feels. Prior to this, she studied at the University of the Arts London and has worked across several creative agencies.


Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

0:00 – What makes a brand?
4:17 – Brand stagnation and copycats
6:22 – What’s behind Mews branding
8:35 – Standing out at industry events
13:33 – Why designing by committee fails
26:01 – Hotel branding with a small budget
29:41 – Branding pitfalls and rebranding


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Can a hotel brand successfully scale while building social impact into its business model? The Social Hub, now certified as a B Corp, is built on the belief that a hotel can serve its city as much as its guests. The Social Hub’s Founder and CEO, Charlie MacGregor, shares what it takes to keep profit high and purpose alive as the company scales.

After three decades across real estate, hospitality, student living and coworking, Charlie MacGregor now leads more than a thousand people at The Social Hub.

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

0:00 - Why the hotel sector needed disrupting
3:14 - How The Social Hub began
7:33 - The business model of three dials to occupancy
10:08 - Why The Social Hub rebranded
12:15 - Profit vs purpose in hospitality
18:09 - The pains of choosing hotel tech
 

Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Hotels have spent years trying to convince guests to skip daily cleaning through towel reuse signs, drink vouchers or loyalty points. Having run large city hotels, Floris Licht saw firsthand how none of those ever worked. He ended up founding Hotels for Trees, a non-profit that turns skipped room cleans into forests. One skipped clean –⁠ one tree planted, with over 800 thousand trees planted so far. Floris joins Matt to explain how Hotels for Trees fits into hotel operations, from door hangers to the digital guest journey with Mews.

Floris Licht is an experienced hotel GM who has run large city hotels and founded Hotels for Trees, helping hotels turn skipped room cleans into trees. 

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

0:00 – The concept of Hotels for Trees 
3:04 – The benefits of skipping housekeeping 
5:17 – How Hotels for Trees developed 
7:59 – Hospitality and sustainability 
11:36 – What the data says about guest behavior 
14:59 – Hotels for Trees and Mews 
18:32 – Future plans and market expansion 
 

Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

When hotel GMs receive hundreds of emails from software vendors claiming to be the best, judging new tech becomes difficult. That exact problem led to Hotel Tech Report, one of hospitality’s most-trusted review platforms. Its co-founder Jordan Hollander joins Matt to talk about what goes into hotel tech buying decisions. The episode lands as Mews wins Best PMS for the third year in a row and Best POS at the 2026 HotelTechAwards, run by Hotel Tech Report.

Jordan Hollander is the Co-founder of Hotel Tech Report, the industry's leading platform for ranking and reviewing hospitality technology solutions through verified customer reviews, partner input, and comprehensive evaluation criteria. With a decade of experience observing how hotels evaluate and purchase software, Jordan has become a trusted authority on identifying authentic product quality and market trends in the hotel technology sector.


Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

00:00 – How hotels buy tech
01:00 – Vendor noise and buying pressure
05:32 – The origin of Hotel Tech Report
08:34 – Trust and risk in choosing hotel tech
14:55 – What winning platforms get right
20:15 – Hotel reviews and AI
29:39 – What comes next for hotel tech


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Can a hotel run with one seventh of staff and still outperform its peers? Bob W is built for the modern traveler who wants the best of both worlds: the consistency and reliability of a hotel, with the space, utility and local feel of a short-stay apartment. But what truly sets Bob W apart is its software-first mindset. Niko Karstikko, Co-founder and CEO of Bob W, joins Matt to explain how Bob W blends apartments, hotels and automation into a new hospitality category.

Niko Karstikko is the Co-founder and CEO of Bob W, a European hospitality tech company operating thousands of apartments across more than 19 cities. With a builder’s mindset shaped by scaling companies outside the traditional hospitality sector, Bob W has pioneered a hybrid hotel-apartment model that achieves 2.5x greater EBITDA profitability than comparable hotels.

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

00:00 – 1/7 staff, 6/7 tech: The Bob W operating model
03:24 – Why Bob W is not an Airbnb and not a hotel
08:45 – Inside Bob W’s automated tech stack
12:10 – Why Bob W is 2.5x more profitable
14:09 – Making self-service feel human
17:49 – “The last check-in ever”
26:34 – Scaling without using the local touch

 Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

Cocoons and capsules sit at the heart of Zedwell Hotels’ London city-centre vision, where rooms are designed around sleep, efficiency and the realities of urban life rather than tradition. In this episode, Matt speaks with Halima Aziz, Head of Hotels at Criterion Hospitality, which owns and operates Zedwell Hotels, about turning forgotten city spaces into some of London’s most profitable hotel real estate, all while removing TVs, kettles and even windows from the rooms.

Halima Aziz is Head of Hotels at Criterion Hospitality, with a background that spans real estate, operations, and large-scale development. Halima works with underutilised buildings that most people would call difficult and turns them into functioning, profitable hotels.

Learn more about the podcast here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0

#hoteltech #hospitalitypodcast #mews #hotelmanagementsystem #pms #hotelrevenue

00:00 – A city-centre hotel that breaks the rules
03:44 – Do guests really care about windows
07:41 – What hotels get wrong about room amenities
10:15 – Why daily housekeeping doesn’t make sense
15:35 – The OTA expectation gap
20:03 – Capsules versus hotels and hostels
31:12 – Early check-in, late check-out and paid convenience
38:08 – What’s next for Zedwell Hotels


Matt Talks Hospitality is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so