This week on Not Done, I sat down with Brian Quinn — a life hotelier who started driving the van at a Holiday Inn at 16 and rose to Chief Development Officer of Sonesta, with major roles at IHG, Choice, and Hilton along the way. We share a revenue management lineage and have worked deals together, so this one got real fast.

What you don't want to miss:

• The Hotel P&L Crisis. EBITDA margins down 20% since 2019. Every layer gets paid except the owner. Brian says the industry missed its post-COVID window to fix it.

• The Alignment Problem. What happens when brands, managers, and owners pull in different directions — and what it looks like when alignment actually works (Crowne Plaza, 800 deals in 3 years at Choice).

• The Brand Nobody's Built Yet. Upper upscale extended stay. Think Restoration Hardware meets Residence Inn.

• The Power of Saying Yes. The single thread connecting every major pivot in Brian's career.

Listen on SPOTIFY or APPLE.

Coming Next Week: The $2.5 Billion Disruptor: Mews Founder on Agentic Hospitality and the Future of Hotel Tech

This week on Not Done (dropping next Tuesday, I sat down with Richard Valtr — the Czech-born founder of Mews who started as a frustrated hotelier in 2012 and just closed a $300 million raise at a $2.5 billion valuation. “Fourteen years to become an overnight success”, as he puts it.

What you don't want to miss:

• Agentic Hospitality. Richard's thesis: 30–40% of future guests will have AI agents making requests on their behalf — shamelessly, relentlessly, and at volume. Hotels that can handle that wave win. Those that can't get left behind.

• Seven-Star Service, Four-Star Price. The real promise of AI isn't replacing the front desk. It's automating the back of house (80% of which Richard says can be automated today) so your people can actually look guests in the eye instead of staring at screens.

• The Loyalty Disruption. Richard makes a provocative case: Why does Marriott need 30+ brands when the real currency is Bonvoy? And what happens when AI-driven personalization makes traditional loyalty programs less relevant?

• "User Disengagement." Mews's core design principle is the opposite of social media — the less time your staff spends on a screen, the more time they spend on hospitality. Richard agrees with Eric Schmidt that user interfaces are going away.

• Vibe Coding Is Coming for PMS. The thing keeping Richard up at night: it's getting easier for any smart hotelier to build their own system. Mews has to stay so good that you'd never want to.

Listen on SPOTIFY or APPLE.

The Power Shift in Travel: My Conversation with Josiah on Hospitality Daily

I joined my friend Josiah Mackenzie on Hospitality Daily this week to talk about what I've changed my mind on after a year of interviewing the most influential leaders across hospitality and tech on Not Done.

What we got into:

• Loyalty is a depreciating currency. I've come around to the view that points-based loyalty programs are being quietly devalued — and AI-driven personalization may matter more to the next generation of travelers than any tier status.

• The power shift is real. Technology platforms, OTAs, and credit card companies are capturing more value than the people who actually own the hotels. That gap is widening, not closing.

• AI and data are accelerating it. Distribution is being rewritten in real time, and whoever owns the customer relationship — and the data behind it — wins.

AI in Hospitality: Sloan Dean's 2026 Hotel Strategy Insights

UPCOMING LATER IN MARCH ON NOT DONE:

• Laura Fuentes, CHRO of Hilton. Under her leadership, Hilton has been named the #1 World's Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work. Originally from Spain with degrees in structural engineering and an MBA from Columbia, she brings a uniquely analytical lens to culture, talent, and what it actually means to build a human experience at scale.

• Nate Tyrrell, Chief Investment Officer of Host Hotels & Resorts. Nate runs investments and asset management for the largest lodging REIT in the world — an S&P 500 company owning ~53,000 rooms across iconic luxury and upper-upscale properties. A Harvard undergrad and HBS grad who joined Host in 2005 and worked his way from corporate finance to CIO, he's one of the sharpest capital allocators in the hotel investment ecosystem.

We are off to Miami beaches with the 4 kids for Spring Break. Next Newsletter will be March 24.

Cheers,
Sloan

Media Contact

Sloan Dean

[email protected]