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PODCAST

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for innovative hoteliers

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Matt Talks Hospitality is a podcast for hoteliers who want to understand the technology, ideas and people shaping modern hospitality. Hosted by Mews CEO Matt Welle, each episode explores the tools, challenges and decisions behind how hotels work – and how they keep getting better. All episodes available here: https://hubs.ly/Q0350wrf0 Meet Matt beyond the podcast: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthijswelle/

business management

All Episodes

30:47

What hotel SOPs can never teach, with Miru Schuurman...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/04/08

The best guest experiences don’t come from SOPs. Hotels invest in training programs, but the moments guests talk about long after checkout are rarely the ones anyone planned for. Miru Schuurman, Guest Performance & Product Quality Manager at Amrâth Hotels, shares how too much structure can create staff that sticks to scripts instead of reading rooms, and what that can cost you on OTA ratings.

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30:18

Profit vs property management with AAHOA’s Chairman...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/04/01

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.

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32:08

Aparthotel playbook and mindful check-ins with Guido...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/03/25

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.

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21:58

Hotel rooms inside bridges: Suzanne Oxenaar on...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/03/18

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.

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24:14

Being a landmark hotel with Robert-Jan Woltering of...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/03/11

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.

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21:44

A decade of growing a hotel group with Inge Decuypere...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/03/04

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.

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37:59

Branding in hospitality with Mews Creative Director...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/02/23

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.

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29:16

Profit vs purpose with The Social Hub CEO Charlie...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/02/18

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.

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23:33

How skipping housekeeping can plant a forest, with...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/02/11

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

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36:20

How hotels buy new tech, with Jordan Hollander of HTR

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/02/04

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.

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35:41

Inside Bob W: Why Niko Karstikko treats hotels like...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/01/28

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.

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41:36

Cocoons to capsules: Halima Aziz on Zedwell's...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/01/21

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.

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38:17

Sports, refugee clubhouses and a new idea of...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/01/14

Survival requires food and water, but spirit craves community. By building sports clubs inside refugee camps, KLABU creates places where people can gather, play and regain a sense of normal life amid displacement. KLABU’s founder Jan van Hövell explains how these clubhouses are set up in crisis zones, why sports help build communities and how KLABU and Mews are collaborating to support indigenous Venezuelan refugees in Boa Vista, Brazil.

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36:12

AI and other key trends changing hospitality in 2026...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2026/01/07

What can the hospitality industry expect in 2026? Especially given the rapid development of AI and the fact that a third of travelers already use LLMs to search and get travel inspiration. Wouter Geerts, Director of Market Research at Mews, joins Matt to break down the 2026 Hospitality Industry Outlook report, shaped by conversations with 18 industry experts, including hoteliers, tech vendors, consultants and investors. You’ll hear about the changing AI use cases in hotels, new guest behavior

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49:50

The future of work and hospitality with Rogier Braakman

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/12/30

From the archives*Rogier Braakman from Net OS and Mr. Green Offices joins Matt to talk occupancy, why offices have tolerated emptiness for decades, and what happens when you apply hotel logic to desks, pricing and space. Along the way, Rogier dives into what technology should handle, where people still matter, why hotel room desks are often a mistake, and how underused meeting rooms could become a serious revenue stream if hoteliers rethink how work actually happens today. *Note that this episode

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34:16

Unlocking hotel revenue potential with Alexander...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/12/23

From the archives*Matt sits down with Alexander Edström, founder of Atomize RMS, a Mews Company, to dive into the world of revenue optimization. They explore how revenue management software can help hotels of all sizes, the state of RMS adoption in hospitality and the undeniable revenue uplift these systems provide. Note that this episode was originally released in February 2025.

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43:50

End-of-year special on everything hotels and...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/12/17

For this end-of-year special, Matt is joined by Mews founder Richard Valtr. Except this time around, they both ask each other questions. What was the first app they opened this morning? What advice have they ignored? What decision looked smart at the time but almost broke the company? From there, they talk about the drivers behind great hotels, the core of hospitality and the 13 years of working together to shape Mews into what it is today.

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22:30

Seasonality and revenue in a hotel carved from ice,...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/12/10

How do you build a revenue strategy for a hotel that melts away every spring? When the temperatures fall in Finland, Maria Mänty, Sales Director at Snowhotel Family, and her team shape memorable stays out of snow, freezing nights and the glow of the Northern Lights. They build extraordinary ice rooms, set up ice sculpture workshops and even snow saunas. Maria joins Matt to talk about what it takes to keep their Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos thriving when what you sell only exists for a few months

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32:03

When hospitality becomes a lifeline: Armen...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/12/03

Armen Melkonian was forced to flee war-torn Syria and then Lebanon, until he rebuilt his life from scratch in the Netherlands through UNHCR’s resettlement programme. He opens up about finding safety as a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, the challenges of acclimatizing to a foreign culture and how his experiences shaped a deeply personal approach to service. To Armen, hospitality starts with something small –⁠ a greeting, a moment of acknowledgment, the thing that tells someone they’re no longer

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27:04

How a five-star London hotel turns pet-friendly...

Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for... ·

2025/11/27

A five-star hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant that welcome dogs? There’s a big difference between a hotel that embraces pets and one that simply tolerates them. Dean Culpan, General Manager of South Place Hotel in London, has built a dog-friendly approach that even drives more revenue: fuller weekends, higher on-property spend and loyal guests who return because their pets are treated well. He joins Matt to talk about rising demand for pet-friendly stays and how his team delivers a luxury

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113 results

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