Hotels have more technology, data, and operational tools than ever before. Yet some properties consistently outperform while others struggle to execute.

In this episode, Dina Winder, EVP of Asset Management at Highgate and President of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), shares why she believes hotel performance still comes down to leadership. You'll hear why the GM remains the most important role in the building, what effective leaders understand about both people and performance, and why even the best tools are useless without someone willing to champion them.

See the first episode in our series here: Asset Management Is Hospitality's Most Misunderstood Career - Dina Winder, Highgate

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Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Dina Winder is EVP of Asset Management at Highgate and President of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA). In this episode, she shares the unexpected path that led her into hospitality, from investment banking and real estate to one of the hotel industry's most influential roles: asset management.

Dina explains what asset management means in a hotel context, how asset managers represent ownership interests, and why the role spans everything from investment strategy and underwriting to renovations, financing, and long-term business planning. She also discusses what makes hotels fundamentally different from other real estate asset classes and why that complexity is part of what makes the business so compelling.

Beyond asset management, Dina reflects on the career lessons that shaped her leadership style, including analytical thinking, attention to detail, learning the fundamentals, and the ability to turn numbers into a story. 

If you're looking to better understand how owners think about hotel performance and value creation, this conversation offers an inside look at one of hospitality's most influential and often misunderstood functions.

See Highgate's portfolio here

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Rob Smith, the CEO and President of Stonebridge Companies, shares an operator's view on how AI can be used to take mundane, repetitive work off people's hands so they can spend more time with guests.

You'll hear his "find us a drive-through window" philosophy of letting the best ideas come from people on property, why he sees scheduling and forecasting as the early wins for AI, and why he refuses to hand off guest complaints or housekeeping to a machine. 

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Rob Smith, the CEO and President of Stonebridge Companies, shares what he's found keeps people engaged and performing at their best. He also explains how culture is what underpins the outperformance that hotel owners care about. 

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• If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. 
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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Rob Smith, the President and CEO at Stonebridge Companies, shares an operator's read on why top-line growth — not cost-cutting — is a sustainable path through today's environment of profit pressure. He explains how Stonebridge grew same-store revenue by 7.8% in 2024 while the market grew by 1.8%, why their revenue-management-first approach drives 41% direct bookings at their independent hotels, and what a deliberate culture of accountability looks like when you're a 174-hotel pure third-party manager. 

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Rob Smith, the CEO and President of Stonebridge Companies, shares the unlikely path that took him from an accounting degree to running his own hotel by 25 and then spending 17 years as a hospitality leader in the Caribbean.

You'll hear how a Caribbean hotel owner taught him to stop just getting through the day and start thinking strategically, why working alongside people from other countries changed how he leads, and why he believes everyone should work abroad at least once. This is a story about the range of careers this business can offer the people who give it a chance.

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer continues her conversation with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt.

Tamara shares what it's like to step inside a large company after co-founding and building Mr. & Mrs. Smith for more than two decades. She gets into the difference between a mentor and a sponsor, why she wishes she'd built her network earlier, and the deep work of repositioning Park Hyatt, Alila, and Miraval for the next luxury traveler. She also makes the case for more women at the top to change the structures of an industry that asks leaders to travel hard, and names the contradiction every visible leader feels between showing up and doing the work.

Also see: Travelers Want Hotels With a Point of View - Tamara Lohan, Hyatt

A few more resources:

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer continues her conversation with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt,

Tamara shares why today’s guests increasingly reject scripted hospitality experiences and what great service looks like instead. The conversation explores emotional intelligence in hospitality, the importance of “reading the room,” how Hyatt is thinking about AI and personalization, and why the future of luxury service depends on becoming more human, not less.

Also see: Travelers Want Hotels With a Point of View - Tamara Lohan, Hyatt

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• If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. 
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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

What makes a luxury hotel memorable today?

In this conversation, our career correspondent and hertelier founder Emily Goldfischer, sits down with Tamara Lohan, Global Brand Leader for Luxury at Hyatt, to discuss why travelers are increasingly drawn to hotels with a strong sense of place and identity. They also explore Hyatt’s luxury growth strategy, the role of storytelling in hospitality, and how wellness is evolving beyond fads into something more meaningful for guests.

A few more resources:

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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Arnold Amrhein, VP of Investments at CREO Capital, shares the idea behind his widely discussed article "The Anticipation Layer." He explains why data is becoming an asset, what hoteliers lose every time a booking comes through an OTA, and how AI could eliminate the long-standing trade-off between scale and soul in hospitality. A thoughtful conversation on the future of hotel operations, investment, and guest experience.

Listen to our previous episode: Hospitality Works Best When Owners Think Like Operators - Arnold Amrhein

A few more resources:

• If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. 
• You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions
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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Arnold Amrhein, Vice President of Investments at CREO Capital, shares what his career — from guest relations at Rosewood London to institutional hotel investment across Southern Europe to private equity in Latin America — taught him about the gap between operators and owners, and why closing that gap matters for everyone in the business. If you work in hotel operations and want to understand how owners think, or if you're on the capital side and want a sharper sense of what operators are navigating, this short conversation will give you both perspectives.

Read Arnold's article: "The Anticipation Layer" on LinkedIn

A few more resources:

• If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. 
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If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!

Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands