The Hotel Investor Playbook
By Michael Russell
Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Image by Michael Russell
Category: Investing
Open in Apple Podcasts
Open RSS feed
Open Website
Rate for this podcast
Subscribers: 2
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 86
Description
Welcome to The Hotel Investor Playbook, hosted by real estate investor and hospitality operator Michael Russell. Michael is the co-founder of Malama Capital and Howzit Hostels, and has built a personal real estate portfolio exceeding $20 million.
With an operator-first mindset, Michael brings a practical perspective to hotel investing. On the show, he breaks down what it actually takes to scale from short-term rentals into boutique hotels, covering deal sourcing, operations, capital strategy, and risk.
Each week, Michael shares real lessons from the field as he builds toward a $400 million real estate business, giving listeners an honest look at the decisions, challenges, and strategies behind the growth. Subscribe and follow along as he documents the journey in real time.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
The $0-Down Hotel Deal That Still Cost $1.5 Million | Christian Osgood E85
|
Jun 16, 2026 |
|
The Boutique Hotel Mistake Killing Your Occupancy (And the Fix That Took One Operator From 40% to 80%) | Hillary Folkvord E84
|
Jun 02, 2026 |
|
From $50 in His Bank Account to a 140-Key Hotel in Italy | Emanuele Pani E83
|
May 26, 2026 |
|
This Contractor Built a $6M Hospitality Brand With $90K and Zero Outside Investors | Chris Broomfield E82
|
May 19, 2026 |
|
Stop Deferring Your Joy: How High-Performing Leaders Stay Sharp Without Burning Out | Mike Messeroff E81
|
May 12, 2026 |
|
How 2 Women Turned a $1.2M Zillow B&B Into a $4M Treehouse Hotel (No Investors) | Ashley LaRocque E80
|
May 06, 2026 |
|
The $600K Treehouse Earning $200K a Year | Dustin Feider E79
|
Apr 29, 2026 |
|
The Hotel-to-Apartment Strategy That Turned $8.5M Into $18.9M in 19 Months | Ryan Sudeck E78
|
Apr 22, 2026 |
|
What a $75M Commercial Investor Wished He Knew Before Opening His First Boutique Hotel | Tyler Cauble E77
|
Apr 14, 2026 |
|
An STR operator's $4 million bet on building a boutique hotel in Colombia | Tim Hubbard E76
|
Apr 07, 2026 |
|
Under $1.5M in Revenue? You Don't Own a Business, You Own a Job | Greg Emmert E75
|
Mar 31, 2026 |
|
The Revenue Expert Managing $125M Says You're Leaving 40% on the Table | Jasper Ribbers E74
|
Mar 17, 2026 |
|
What Hotel Investors Can Steal From a Land Investor Who's Done 400 Deals | Brent Bowers E73
|
Mar 10, 2026 |
|
An Overlooked Strategy That Makes $7M Hotel Deals Actually Pencil | Ben Wolff E72
|
Feb 24, 2026 |
|
Former Hotel Analyst Built AI to Fix the Problem He Lived Every Day | Ziggy Hallgarten E71
|
Feb 17, 2026 |
|
How to Scale to 4 Hospitality Properties Without Raising Millions in Capital | Sam Degenhard E70
|
Feb 10, 2026 |
|
This 3-Step System Automated His Real Estate Business to 4 Hours a Month | Mark Podolsky E69
|
Feb 03, 2026 |
|
How Small Hotels Use Staff Content to Drive Direct Bookings | Scott Eddy E68
|
Jan 27, 2026 |
|
How an Ex-Space Force Engineer Bought a $2.45M Motel With 10% Down | Jordan Malara E67
|
Jan 20, 2026 |
|
How a Pilot Bought a $10M Hotel With Zero Hotel Experience | Curt Marker E66
|
Jan 13, 2026 |
|
Attorney Reveals Why Most Hotel Syndicators Are Breaking the Law | Bethany LaFlam E65
|
Jan 06, 2026 |
|
Stop Treating Your Front Desk Like An Expense. It's A Profit Center | Geoffrey Toffetti E64
|
Dec 30, 2025 |
|
Why Most Investors Never Buy Their First Hotel (And How You Actually Can) | Brian Resendez E63
|
Dec 23, 2025 |
|
Global Resort Design CEO: Stop Wasting Capex on the Wrong “Upgrades” | Scott LaMont E62
|
Dec 16, 2025 |
|
The 3 Distress Signals That Make the Next 12 Months a Buyer’s Market | Suraj Bhakta E61
|
Dec 09, 2025 |
|
7 AI Tools To Help You Buy and Operate Hotels (With No Staff and No Time) | Jake Heller E60
|
Dec 02, 2025 |
|
The Private Island Resort Built With Sweat, Not Millions | Odis Martin E59
|
Nov 25, 2025 |
|
How to Get Brokers to Send You Deals | Hunter Johnson E58
|
Nov 18, 2025 |
|
The Husband and Wife Duo that Scaled from 5 Airbnbs to 2 Boutique Hotels (Without Burning Out) | E57
|
Nov 11, 2025 |
|
Hotel Technology You Can Install To Boost NOI | Sue Graves E56
|
Nov 04, 2025 |
|
How to Replace a Six-Figure Job with Boutique Hotel Investing | Tim Ensmann E55
|
Oct 28, 2025 |
|
Real Estate Syndications 101: How Investors and Operators Actually Get Paid | Michael Russell E54
|
Oct 21, 2025 |
|
What It Really Takes to Buy Your First Hotel in 90 Days | Jacobo Hernandez E53
|
Oct 14, 2025 |
|
Building a Lifestyle Hotel Brand in Costa Rica | Bill Graf E52
|
Oct 07, 2025 |
|
The “Hotel Guru” on Where to Invest Next & How to Fund Deals | Bob Rauch E51
|
Sep 30, 2025 |
|
Why 2026 Looks Rocky for U.S. Hotels And Where Smart Investors Can Hit Big | Jan Freitag E50
|
Sep 23, 2025 |
|
How to Craft a Hotel People Will Actually Remember | Bashar Wali E49
|
Sep 16, 2025 |
|
What Makes a Hotel Succeed or Fail? | Naveed Khan E48
|
Sep 09, 2025 |
|
From CEO of Days Inn to Launching Marriott’s Autograph Collection | Richard Kessler E47
|
Sep 02, 2025 |
|
How To Use Social Media To Raise Capital And Find Deals | Soli Cayetano E46
|
Aug 26, 2025 |
|
Building Hotels That Last the Test of Time | Brandon Gore E45
|
Aug 19, 2025 |
|
The Marketing Playbook Every Small Hotel Owner Needs | Steph Weber E44
|
Aug 12, 2025 |
|
The Beginner's Guide To Building Wealth In Hospitality | Jonathan Mueller E43
|
Aug 05, 2025 |
|
Hotel Marketing Decoded: What Every Owner Needs to Know | Anthony Chiaravallo E42
|
Jul 29, 2025 |
|
Syndication Simplified: The Strategy That Builds Generational Wealth | Desiree Doubrox E41
|
Jul 22, 2025 |
|
A Masterclass In Experiential Hospitality With The Bolt Farm Treehouse Founders | Tori and Seth Bolt E40
|
Jul 15, 2025 |
|
$187M Hotel Portfolio by Age 30: How to Choose the Right Deals, Brands, and Ops Model | Sujay Mehta E39
|
Jul 08, 2025 |
|
Turning Passion into Profit in Rural Hospitality | Dave Cook E38
|
Jul 01, 2025 |
|
Bootstrapped Hospitality: Scaling Your Hotel Portfolio Without Major Capital | Austin Phippen E37
|
Jun 24, 2025 |
|
Building a Scalable Outdoor Hospitality Brand Through Franchising | Brian Linton E36
|
Jun 17, 2025 |
|
How to Know If Your CPA Is Helping You or Holding You Back | Kelly Tate E35
|
Jun 10, 2025 |
|
Why Hostels Are an Untapped Investment Opportunity in the U.S. | Mike & Nate E34
|
Jun 03, 2025 |
|
The Strategic Power of Third-Party Hotel Management | Bryan Fish E33
|
May 27, 2025 |
|
He Managed $320M for a Family Office - Then Walked Away to Build His Own Empire | Reilly Brennan E32
|
May 20, 2025 |
|
Building a $6M Micro Resort with Only 3% Down Using a USDA Loan | Ian Joseph E31
|
May 13, 2025 |
|
The Ultimate Guide To Financing Your Next Hotel Deal | Suraj Desai E30
|
May 06, 2025 |
|
Buying Hotels Is Just the Start: How to Build a Lasting Hospitality Brand | Keir Weimer E29
|
Apr 29, 2025 |
|
Hotel Investing Insights from the CEO of One of America’s Top Hotel Brokerage Firms | Suraj Bhakta E28
|
Apr 22, 2025 |
|
Saturday Special: Behind the Curtain at Malama Capital | Mike & Nate E27
|
Apr 19, 2025 |
|
How Sky Mitchell (formerly Sky McLean) Built a $500M Hotel Brand from Scratch | Sky Mitchell E26
|
Apr 15, 2025 |
|
Glamping for Profit: Low Cost, High Cash Flow, Massive Upside | Zac Willms E25
|
Apr 08, 2025 |
|
Olympic Discipline, Million-Dollar Loss, and Building a Hospitality Portfolio | Adam G Dailey E24
|
Apr 01, 2025 |
|
From Motel Renovation to 300K Followers: The Innvestors Story | Brett McManus E23
|
Mar 25, 2025 |
|
Ground-Up Boutique Hotel Development in San Francisco - High Risk, Higher Reward? | Mike Demson E22
|
Mar 18, 2025 |
|
What It Takes to Build a Revolutionary Hospitality Business | Brian Meyer E21
|
Mar 11, 2025 |
|
Cost Segregation Made Simple: Unlock Massive Tax Savings in Real Estate | Brian Bigham E20
|
Mar 04, 2025 |
|
From First Responder to Ground-Up Developer: An Inspiring Journey | Andrew Owlett E19
|
Feb 25, 2025 |
|
How AI is Disrupting Hotels—And Why Small Operators Have the Advantage | Ari Smith E18
|
Feb 20, 2025 |
|
Buying, Financing & Operating a Seasonal Boutique Hotel | Ryan Edwards E17
|
Feb 11, 2025 |
|
The Glamping Boom: Hype, Profits, & Pitfalls | Edward Haynes E16
|
Feb 05, 2025 |
|
From Vision to Execution: Our Framework for Hospitality Success | Mike & Nate E15
|
Jan 28, 2025 |
|
Lessons Learned from a Failed Motel Deal | Tanya Rooney E14
|
Jan 21, 2025 |
|
Turning $400K into $10M: Lessons in Fear, Failure, and Direct Bookings | E13
|
Jan 16, 2025 |
|
How a Property Manager Can Help You Maximize Your Hotel Profits | Bryan Tubaugh E12
|
Jan 07, 2025 |
|
Leveling Up: How To Turn STR Success into Boutique Hotel Ownership | Kim Herrlein E11
|
Dec 31, 2024 |
|
How to Drive 70% Direct Bookings: Strategies for Hotel Investors | Kerri Gibson E10
|
Dec 17, 2024 |
|
Building a Winning Investment Thesis for Hotel Success | Mike & Nate E9
|
Dec 10, 2024 |
|
How to Build a Hotel: Expert Insights into Real Estate Development | Zeke Freeman E8
|
Dec 03, 2024 |
|
How to purchase your first hotel while working a full-time job | Alex Kang E7
|
Nov 27, 2024 |
|
Should You Operate a Branded Hotel or Go Independent? | Neil Shah E6
|
Nov 19, 2024 |
|
How to Source, Underwrite, and Purchase Your First Boutique Hotel | Gideon Spencer E5
|
Nov 12, 2024 |
|
The Hotel Investing Guide to Operational Excellence | Mike & Nate E4
|
Nov 05, 2024 |
|
Transitioning From Investing in STRs Into Boutique Hotels | Kassidy Warren E3
|
Oct 29, 2024 |
|
Are Hospitality Investing Mastermind Conferences Worth It? | Mike & Nate E2
|
Oct 22, 2024 |
|
Hotel Investing: The Best of Both Worlds | Mike & Nate E1
|
Oct 15, 2024 |
|
Trailer: Welcome to the Hotel Investor Playbook!
|
Sep 30, 2024 |