On this week&#x27;s Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a week where hotel brands are redefining what they actually are. The conversation opens with Hyatt&#x27;s lifestyle chief, Amar Lalvani, making the case that the smartest brand strategy is sorting guests by taste rather than price point — and showing what that discipline looks like in practice, including killing a high-profile Miami project because the developer wouldn&#x27;t listen. From there, Sarah and Steve dig into Marriott International&#x27;s move into branded apartment rentals under the W Hotels flag, a genuinely new direction for a business that already commands 30% premiums over unbranded properties. They also unpack what week one of FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States data actually tells hotel operators, with RevPAR up 24% to 133% across host markets but occupancy down in six of nine cities. And they close with Carnival Cruise Line&#x27;s Q2 earnings, which posted record revenue while trimming its outlook, and with what the Middle East conflict tells operators about building geopolitical risk into forward-booking strategy. This episode is presented by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cloudbeds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ &amp; ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bilt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cloudbeds.com/gmh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠joinbilt.com/gmh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more. And if you&#x27;re leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more.

GMH Hotels: Marriott Just Entered the Apartment Business… Again?

Good Morning Hospitality

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Good Morning Hospitality

## Participants

- **Sarah Dandashy** (Skift)
- **Steve Turk** (The Hospitality Mentor)

## Transcript

Good Morning and welcome back to Good Morning Hospitality. The best day of the week is when you're listening to GMH, but before we get into this episode, I have a quick word from our friends at CloudBeds. You all know that I started behind the front desk. I was at the Davenport in Spokane, Washington under the autograph collection of Marriott. We had over 716 rooms and I'll tell you, I loved that job. I love the guests and the rhythm. What I didn't love was the technology because here's what nobody tells you when you take that job. The tech is supposed to make you better at hospitality, but most of it just gets in the way.

CloudBeds was built on a different idea, that the hotelier is the hero. That technology should free up your ambition and not eat into your morning. One platform, intelligence running through every layer, and hoteliers in 150 plus countries are already on it. If you ever stood behind the front desk and thought there has to be a better way, well, there is. CloudBeds.com slash GMH. Alright, now let's get back in the news.

If you're trying to drive more direct bookings right now, here's the reality. They don't just magically happen. You have to actually stay in front of your guests. And one tool I've actually been recommending for a very long time is StayFi. What's really cool about them is that they turn your Wi-Fi itself into a data capturing tool. So every time a guest connects, you're collecting contact info. And not just from the one who booked, but from everyone who's staying in the property.

And that's a huge unlock because most operators don't even own even a fraction of their guest data. And in a time of AI, data is king. From there, StayFi actually helps you turn that into bookings with automated emails, post-day follow-ups, and campaigns that bring guests back. I've seen portfolios collect tens of thousands of guest emails and more than double their direct bookings in less than a year with this StayFi feature.

And if you don't have time to run all of that, or you prefer to be more hands-off, they now offer managed email marketing services where their team just handles it for you. They've also made their setup way easier with a new hardware option called Adgenet, which is up to 40% cheaper than traditional setups. So if you've been thinking about building a real direct booking engine, now is a fantastic time to start. Head to stayfi.com slash goodmorninghospitality to learn more and to get 50% off your first three months.

That's stayfi.com slash goodmorninghospitality.

Hello, Sarah. Good to see you today. Good to see you too. Man, time is flying by. A week ago, we were in San Antonio. Now back in our offices. We were in San Antonio and the week before that, we were together in your office. That's right. Oh my gosh. See, it's just like time flies. We forget ...

GMH Hotels: Marriott Just Entered the Apartment Business… Again?

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

GMH Hotels: Marriott Just Entered the Apartment Business… Again?

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.