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Josiah Mackenzie

47 posts

How Avi Brosh Built Palisociety From One West Hollywood Hotel Into an Independent Hotel Company

🏨 Avi Brosh, founder and CEO of Palisociety, built an independent hotel company starting with 1 hotel in West Hollywood. His approach centers on smaller neighborhood hotels while expanding the company’s reach and preserving its independent spirit. In the episode, Brosh also discusses lessons learned from taking on larger properties and scaling independent hospitality.
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Taste and Courage: Palisociety Founder Avi Brosh Explains His Creative Approach to Making Hotels Feel Authentic

🏨 Avi Brosh, founder and CEO of Palisociety, discusses how his mother’s example and an upbringing around horses shaped his taste and creative courage. He deliberately breaks down perfection to make his hotels feel more authentic, working with an in-house team while keeping his vision for excellence central to creative decisions. The episode provides no dates, locations, or numerical statistics.
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The Innkeeper Behind Palisociety: Avi Brosh Discusses His Hands-On Approach and Memories of 1970s Paris Hotel Stays

🏨 Avi Brosh, the hotelier behind Palisociety, recalls childhood stays at Paris’s InterContinental Hotel in the 1970s. He entered hospitality accidentally after spending the first half of his career in real estate development. His portfolio includes properties in West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Brentwood. Brosh combines a sound business model with distinctive design to attract guests, taking a hands-on, proprietor-led approach to spaces, operations and customer experiences.
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Desert Hospitality Management CFO Paul Mengacci Backs AI Insights to Reduce Manual Analysis and Support Guest Service

🏨 Paul Mengacci, CFO at Desert Hospitality Management, is buying AI Insights for Hotel Effectiveness to surface operational opportunities and reduce manual data analysis. He sees AI helping hotels balance staffing, protect profitability and free managers to spend more time with employees and guests. Mengacci expects better hospitality to support stronger demand and financial performance. The discussion provides no implementation dates, costs or measured results.
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How Desert Hospitality Management Turns Hotel Revenue Into Bottom-Line Profit Using ProfitSword and Hotel Effectiveness

🏨 Paul Mengacci of Desert Hospitality Management explained in mid-October 2026 why hotel revenue growth doesn’t guarantee higher profits. Groups packing 4–8 guests into rooms increase breakfast, housekeeping and labor costs, while higher room rates generally deliver better profit flow-through than increased occupancy. His team connects Actabl’s ProfitSword forecasting with Hotel Effectiveness labor management, comparing projections against actual results to refine staffing. He urged hotels to optimize existing technology before investing in additional tools.
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Desert Hospitality Management CFO Paul Mengacci Discusses How Operations and Finance Shaped His Hotel Leadership

🏨 Paul Mengacci, Chief Financial Officer at Desert Hospitality Management, shares how his career in hotel operations and finance taught him to understand the whole business. In this podcast episode, he reflects on the people who supported his growth and how those experiences influence his leadership today. No dates, locations, or statistics are provided.
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Shiji’s Kevin King outlines AI-first hotel technology strategy following a year spent establishing AI governance

🏨 Shiji International CEO Kevin King outlined the company’s AI-first hotel strategy in September 2026. Founded in 2015 to expand beyond China, Shiji International developed its Daylight cloud platform with AWS and The Peninsula group, using developers based in Poland. Shiji spent about one year organizing AI governance across departments. Its approach combines customer-owned data protections, contractual safeguards and human code review, while developing mobile-first tools to give hotel staff more time with guests.
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Cornell Professor Chris Anderson Shares How Owning an Ithaca Inn Changed His Pricing Perspective

🏨 Chris Anderson, professor and Area Chair of Services Management at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, shares lessons from owning a historic inn in Ithaca. Most guests return year after year, shaping his approach to pricing. The inn closes during slower periods so staff can travel and spend time with family. Anderson also discusses lessons from hands-on operations and stepping back. No dates or numerical statistics are provided.
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Fifth-Generation Innkeeper Cally Coombs Stewards Little River Inn, Where 80% of Guests Are Repeat Visitors

🏨 Cally Coombs, fifth-generation innkeeper at Little River Inn on California’s Mendocino Coast, balances family history with new experiences. Her grandparents converted the family home into an inn in 1939. With 80% of guests returning, its Rain Chasers program rewards stays during slower months. Recent additions include pickleball courts, while smaller garden gathering spaces are underway. The inn welcomes well-behaved dogs regardless of size or breed and collaborates with neighboring innkeepers on tourism and community fundraisers.
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Why Hotel Guest Satisfaction Is Rising

Hotel guest satisfaction increased across every segment in J.D. Power 's 2026 North America study. Andrea Stokes , Practice Lead, Hospitality Intelligence, explains what guests are noticing in rooms and shared spaces, why responsive human service still matters alongside mobile check-in, and what operators can learn from food and beverage. We also discuss how J.D. Power benchmarks large third-party hotel management companies. Learn more: 2026 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study 2026 North America Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark 2023 conversation: How J.D. Power studies hotel guest satisfaction 2024 conversation: Changing guest expectations and hotel management 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 If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free . Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube , LinkedIn , and Instagram . If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together . 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
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