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The Accommodation Show The Accommodation Show: the ultimate podcast for those in the hospitality industry.

99% of operators are leaving money on the table. Not 60%. Not 80%. Ninety-nine.Evan got into short-term rentals in 2012 ...
26/05/2026

99% of operators are leaving money on the table. Not 60%. Not 80%. Ninety-nine.

Evan got into short-term rentals in 2012 and built Urban Flat into the largest corporate housing brand in Silicon Valley - 200+ listings, business travellers and pro athletes - before COVID wiped it out. He lost the lot. Since then he's turned that into a forensic obsession with revenue optimisation, and in this episode he breaks down exactly where the money is leaking and how to plug it.

We cover why everyone's scaling when they should be optimising, why your listing is a one-time job (not an endless experiment), the Miami restaurant trick that proves you know your market, and the one pricing metric almost nobody looks at.

If you've quietly made peace with your vacancy rate and let a pricing tool run on autopilot, this one's a reality check.

99% of operators are leaving money on the table. Not 60%. Not 80%. Ninety-nine — and Evan Haskel would know, because his team talks to hundreds of operators ...

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the obsession our industry has with growth at all costs. We are constantly tol...
18/05/2026

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the obsession our industry has with growth at all costs. We are constantly told that bigger is better, but after chatting with Elle Knight, I am more convinced than ever that better is actually better. Elle has built an incredible portfolio of 170 properties across New Zealand, but she has done it with a philosophy that puts people and solid foundations ahead of raw numbers.

In this episode, I wanted to explore how a former business lender for a major bank manages to scale a hospitality empire while keeping her feet firmly on the ground. Elle’s journey started under immense pressure - leaving a corporate career to care for her son -and she turned a side gig into a national brand called My Stays. We discuss the importance of not rushing the logistics and why trying to manage a property remotely, without a local soul on the ground, is a strategy that often fails to deliver real quality.

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe!I have spent a lot of time thinking about the obsession our industry has with growth at all costs. We are constantly told that b...

I have always found it fascinating how skillsets from completely different industries can be an unfair advantage in the ...
13/05/2026

I have always found it fascinating how skillsets from completely different industries can be an unfair advantage in the accommodation industry. Last week, I invited Vivian Yip onto the show because she spent seven years at Apple managing global inventory systems and logistics for the iPhone 12 launch. It turns out that managing a supply chain for a trillion-dollar tech giant is the perfect training ground for mastering the complex world of investing, hospitality and property management.

In this episode, I wanted to dig into the idea that our properties are actually just one link in a larger supply chain. Vivian explains how the same logic used to get an iPhone into your hand can be applied to getting a high-value guest into your property. We talk about the transition from the high-stress world of Apple to the equally demanding world of flipping houses and building a rental empire in Austin, Texas. It is a look at how nailing your systems allows you to provide a level of hospitality that others simply cannot match.

We go beyond the usual short-term rental chatter to explore why mid-term rentals, those 30-day-plus bookings, are often the key to higher margins and lower stress. If you have ever felt like you are on a hamster wheel with constant turnovers and cleaning schedules, Vivian’s perspective will likely change how you approach your business. It is about understanding that every struggle you face today is simply preparing you for a more sophisticated version of your business tomorrow.

How Apple’s iPhone 12 Launch Strategy Can Scale Your Business

Don't forget to hit that subscribe button! This also keeps us going and creating more useful content for free!I’ve alwa...
05/05/2026

Don't forget to hit that subscribe button! This also keeps us going and creating more useful content for free!

I’ve always said that running a business on a "gut feeling" is a fast way to go broke. If you want to scale, you have to move from opinions to facts.
In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Leifeld from Key Data to talk about the massive shift happening in the accommodation world. Daniel has been in the "Silicon Valley of vacation rentals" in Colorado since 2011, and he’s seen exactly how the biggest players use data to outmanoeuvre the rest of the market.

We dive into why the "middle class" of property managers is currently being swallowed up by giants, the high-stakes strategy of blocking your calendar for the 2026 World Cup, and why RevPAR is the only metric that actually tells the truth about your performance.

What we cover in this session:
The World Cup Gamble: We look at why blocking your property for major events might actually backfire if you don’t understand the cross-border travel logistics. ⚽

The Big Three Metrics: Why balancing ADR and Occupancy to find your true RevPAR is the absolute foundation of a professionalised business. 🔢
The Loss of Mentorship: How industry consolidation is wiping out local knowledge and what you can do to fill that gap. 🤝

The AI Slop Factor: Why early adopters of AI are paying the highest price and how to keep the "human" in your hospitality. 🤖

Why you are losing money without business intelligence

In the Season 22 opener, I sit down with Wil Slickers, a man who has lived several professional lives in just eight year...
21/04/2026

In the Season 22 opener, I sit down with Wil Slickers, a man who has lived several professional lives in just eight years. From the Oregon coast to the global stage at Skift, Wil’s journey is a masterclass in staying agile, identifying traction, and building a "moat" around your business using real human connections.

We discuss the "Focus Trap," why the industry is currently drowning in "AI slop," and how you can use the same "co-opetition" strategies that helped Wil sell his media company to the biggest B2B travel brand in the world.

What you will learn from this episode:

The Focus Trap: Why being too rigid with your goals can stop you from seeing the real opportunities 🎯

Beating "AI Slop": Why in-person networking is the only way to stay relevant in a world of generic digital noise 🗣️

The Stained Glass Theory: How to balance your local "micro" perspective with a global travel outlook ⛪

The ROI of High-Level Rooms: Why getting in front of executive-level CEOs changes your business psychology 🧠

Co-opetition: How collaborating with your "competitors" actually scales your revenue 🤝

How Wil Slickers Went from Front Desk to Skift Executive

This is STRIVE.What started as an idea has grown into one of the most connected, practical, and operator-focused events ...
14/04/2026

This is STRIVE.

What started as an idea has grown into one of the most connected, practical, and operator-focused events in the short-term rental industry.

Across Australia and New Zealand, STRIVE has brought together hundreds of operators, property managers, founders, and suppliers - all in one room, focused on what’s actually working.

No fluff. No theory. Just real conversations, real strategies, and real results.

This highlight reel captures the energy, the people, and the moments that define STRIVE.

If you’re in the short-term rental or villa space, this is where you need to be.

This is STRIVE.What started as an idea has grown into one of the most connected, practical, and operator-focused events in the short-term rental industry.Acr...

Are you paying an "attention tax" on your business? Most of us rely on the "Set and Forget" model - paying tolls to OTAs...
09/04/2026

Are you paying an "attention tax" on your business? Most of us rely on the "Set and Forget" model - paying tolls to OTAs and big tech ads just to get a guest through the door. But what if you could drop that spending to zero?

I sat down with Madison Rifkin to discuss the "$1 Million Ad-Spend Pivot." We dive into how a "Content Army" of organic creators can replace expensive advertising and why the traditional way of looking at social media is officially dead. If you've ever been frustrated by an influencer asking for a "free stay," this conversation will change your perspective on the creative resource you are actually missing out on.

Are you paying an "attention tax" on your business? Most of us rely on the "Set and Forget" model—paying tolls to OTAs and big tech ads just to get a guest t...

When I was a kid, my favourite act at the circus was watching the clowns keep a dozen plates spinning at once. If you ar...
06/04/2026

When I was a kid, my favourite act at the circus was watching the clowns keep a dozen plates spinning at once. If you are an accommodation operator, you have probably accidentally mastered this exact same art in your business.

You tap the tasks you can control, accept the ones you can't, but underneath it all, there is a chaotic middle ground. It's the operations you should control, but haven't systemised yet.

A few months ago, I received an email from a company in Finland asking to sponsor STRive in Australia and New Zealand. I was blown away by the distance they were travelling, but that is the magic of STRive—bringing people together from across the globe to share their solutions to our shared struggles.

That company was Pacho. I invited its founder, Joonas Sipilä, onto the podcast. Joonas used to manage 100+ properties in Finland and hit this exact operational wall.

Instead of a software pitch, we sat down to dissect the fundamental mindset shifts required to fix the ground operations of hospitality.

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe!When I was a kid, my favourite act at the circus was watching the clowns keep a dozen plates spinning at once. If you are an acc...

In this episode, I did something a little unusual. I invited Mark Simpson (Founder of Boostly) onto the show.Technically...
31/03/2026

In this episode, I did something a little unusual. I invited Mark Simpson (Founder of Boostly) onto the show.

Technically, Mark and I are competitors. We both build high-converting Direct Booking websites. But we both agree on one critical truth: By relying on third-party listing sites, you aren't just paying commissions - you are leaving your most valuable asset on the table.

It’s not just about the 15% fee. It’s about the Customer Data and Brand Equity you miss out on every time a guest books through an app instead of with you.

I see Mark as a collaborator in a much bigger mission: helping you stop "renting" your customers and start building a cohesive marketing ecosystem that you actually own.

We sat down to discuss the massive opportunity cost of ignoring your direct channel, specifically how it impacts your bottom line today and your business valuation tomorrow.

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe!This week, I did something a little unusual. I invited Mark Simpson (Founder of Boostly) onto the show.Technically, Mark and I a...

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