Lori Mukoyama is a Design Principal and Global Hospitality Leader at Gensler, shaping hotel experiences across cities from Chicago to Tokyo. With a background in boutique retail and large-scale hospitality design, she focuses on the tactile and emotional details that shape guests' experience of a space. Susan and Lori talk about design details, destination differences, and the future of guest experience.

What You'll Learn

• What designers actually control in a hotel, from doorknobs to pillows
• Why "15 feet and down" shapes the entire guest experience
• When hotel design should feel nothing like your own home
• How hospitality design differs across the U.S., Latin America, and Japan
• Why historic hotel renovations are booming right now
• Smart ways brands balance global standards with local culture
• How remote work is changing the layout of hotel rooms
• Why giving designers time to create a concept story matters
• How designing for a "guest muse" transforms spaces and furniture choices
• The coming shift toward multi-generational hotel room design
• Why sustainability innovation is the hospitality industry's next big challenge

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

Great hotel design happens "15 feet and down."
While architecture shapes the overall building, the details closest to the guest create the emotional experience. Designers focus on the elements people physically interact with — floors, furniture, materials, lighting, and textures — because those are what guests touch, hear, and notice as they move through the space. These tactile details ultimately shape the hotel's feel.

Global hotel brands succeed when they combine standards with local culture.
Brand standards provide a framework, but the most compelling hotels interpret those standards through local context. Designers use local materials, cultural references, and regional inspiration to create spaces that feel authentic rather than generic. The goal is to keep the brand direction while ensuring each hotel reflects its city and community.

Hotel design is evolving around new ways people travel and work.
Remote work and blended travel have changed how guest rooms are designed. Desks are increasingly positioned to face the room instead of the wall, with lighting and acoustics designed to support video calls and longer stays. Hotels are also expanding into experience-driven spaces like wellness areas and social saunas, reflecting the idea that "offline" experiences are becoming a new form of luxury.

Lori Mukoyama on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-mukoyama-4a71a57/

Gensler
https://www.gensler.com/expertise/hospitality

Gensler's annual Design Forecast identifies the top trends shaping the future of the built environment in the age of rapid technological and environmental transformation. You can learn more and download this year's report here. [https://www.gensler.com/publications/design-forecast/2026]

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/

Kurt Oleson is the Chief Operating Officer and co-owner of Custom Channels, a Denver-based company delivering fully licensed, human-curated music solutions for hotels and restaurants. A classically trained pianist turned music technologist, he helped build early music-recommendation algorithms before joining his company. Susan and Kurt talk about licensing landmines and algorithmic ethics.

What You'll Learn:
• Why playing Spotify in your restaurant could cost you $10,000 per song
• How performance and composition licenses protect artists
• How following "passion-adjacent opportunities" can shape an unexpected career
• The upside and ethical gray areas of algorithm-driven music discovery
• Why human-curated playlists still outperform AI in hospitality settings
• How tempo, energy, and traffic patterns should shape your daily music flow
• How many songs you actually need to avoid repetition
• Why commoditizing music undermines its impact on your brand

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

Music isn't background noise—it's a business tool.
When aligned with traffic patterns, brand identity, and desired guest behavior, audio can increase dwell time, improve turnover, and even become a profit center.

Playing unlicensed music is a massive legal and financial risk.
One audit could mean fines of up to $10,000 per song, making proper licensing non-negotiable for hospitality operators.

Human-curated music is still a competitive advantage.
AI can assist with scheduling and context triggers, but brand-aligned, emotionally intelligent curation drives better guest experiences.

Kurt Oleson on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtoleson1/

Custom Channels
https://www.custom-channels.com/

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/

***Ad Giveaway***
Enter here! https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/win

Leora Lanz is an associate professor at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration and a former global marketing leader who helped grow HVS from seven offices to forty worldwide. After decades in destination marketing, hotel operations, and consultancy, she turned her classroom casework into two books on developing a marketing mindset. Susan and Leora talk about critical thinking, conscious marketing, and career courage.

What You'll Learn:
• Why you need to "know enough to be dangerous" in digital marketing
• What crisis communication in hotels teaches about compassion
• Why today's marketing funnel feels more like a pinball machine
• Why hospitality and marketing are fundamentally the same
• How to shift from "you should" to "we will" with owners
• When the ROI of a hospitality degree really kicks in
• How set-jetting and streaming shows shape travel trends
• Why wellness, sustainability, and community are marketing power plays
• Why career reinvention requires courage and community

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

Marketing Is a Mindset, Not a Tactic

Marketing isn't about flashy campaigns or one-hit wonders. It's about critical thinking, strategic planning, and starting with clear goals and KPIs. Everyone in hospitality (not just the marketing team) needs to think this way to build real, lasting impact.

Shift from "You" to "We"

Great marketing happens when teams act as true partners, not outside advisors. Saying "we" instead of "you" creates a sense of shared ownership and stronger alignment with stakeholders. That mindset builds trust, buy-in, and better results.

Hospitality Is a Competitive Advantage

Hospitality is more than an industry; it's a philosophy that can differentiate any business. Purpose-driven marketing rooted in wellness, sustainability, and community creates deeper, more meaningful connections. The future depends on honoring both emerging talent and seasoned voices while keeping that purpose front and center.

Leora Lanz on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leorahalpernlanz/

Buy the Books
http://www.tinyurl.com/MarketingMindsetseries

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/

***Ad Giveaway***
Enter here! https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/win

Travis Burns is Executive Vice President of Business Development at Remington Hospitality, where he's helping scale the company's third-party management platform. A former aerospace professional turned hotelier, he walked into the Hyatt Regency Tulsa Downtown asking for any job, and built a career spanning sales, operations, and investment strategy. In this episode, he unpacks profit over prestige, luxury's lift, and gut-driven growth.

• Why GOPPAR matters more than RevPAR
• How to win the GOP war—even if you lose the STR report battle
• What your business mix really costs you (and why it matters)
• How to know when saying yes is a trap
• The intuition advantage in a world drowning in data
• Why being first isn't always best in hotel innovation
• The real driver behind luxury's post-COVID surge
• Why great luxury GMs still have to obsess over labor and cost control
• Why new capital—not institutions—may drive 2026 transactions
• The one change Travis would make to the industry overnight

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

Revenue Without Profit Is a Mirage
One of the clearest themes in this conversation is Travis's insistence that top-line performance is meaningless without margin discipline. He pushes owners and operators to look beyond RevPAR and focus on GOPPAR, emphasizing that not all revenue is created equal once costs are accounted for. The real work, he argues, is understanding *how* revenue is generated and being willing to sacrifice headline wins in favor of long-term profitability.

The K-Shaped Recovery Is Reshaping Hotel Strategy
Travis offers a grounded explanation for why luxury and upper-upscale hotels continue to outperform other segments. It's not that affluent travelers are price-insensitive; it's that post-COVID travelers are taking fewer trips and assigning more value to each one. When travel becomes part of the story rather than just a place to sleep, guests are willing to pay more, as long as luxury remains distinctive and doesn't slide into sameness.

Say Yes, but Know When and Why
On careers and leadership, Travis reframes the familiar advice to "say yes" with an important caveat: every investment of time and effort should come with an exit strategy. Early-career hustle only works when it leads somewhere, whether that's growth, learning, or the next opportunity. Without a clear payoff, ambition turns into exploitation, and knowing the difference is a critical leadership skill.

Travis Burns on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-burns/

Remington Hospitality
https://www.remingtonhospitality.com/

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/

***Ad Giveaway***
Enter here! https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/win

Other Episodes You May Like:

212: Hotel Meth Takedown with Debbie Feldman
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/212

181: Smoky Light Pole with Tommy Beyer
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/181

107: Trash Can Fire with Tracy Prigmore
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/107

Susan Barry is the founder of Hive Marketing and the host of Top Floor, bringing hotel sales, marketing, and ownership-side perspectives to the mic. In this solo episode, she reintroduces herself to new listeners from Hotel Online and HFTP and zooms out on a timely industry controversy to ask a much bigger question about power, history, and responsibility in hospitality. This episode is short and sweet, much like Susan.

How Susan went from English major to hotel exec to founder and podcaster

Why "hotels should stay out of politics" is a myth

How hotels shape tax, labor, and zoning policy

Why hotels are natural hubs for political activity

How history proves hotels become power centers in crises

How hotels can be tools of refuge or control

What the Minnesota ICE controversy really exposes

How brand power works in an asset-light hotel model

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

1. Hotels are never "apolitical," even when they claim to be.
The episode argues that hotels are inherently political because they operate at the intersection of real estate, labor, capital, and public visibility. From lobbying on taxes and visas to hosting political events and managing labor relations, hotels participate in politics constantly—whether or not they acknowledge it.

2. History shows hotels repeatedly become power centers during moments of crisis.
Across wars, genocides, and social movements, hotels have functioned as command centers, sanctuaries, negotiation hubs, and tools of control. Examples from World War II, the Rwandan genocide, and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement illustrate how hotel spaces and staff actions can enable resistance, protection, or oppression depending on who holds power.

3. Modern brand–owner dynamics turn "neutral" decisions into political acts.
In today's asset-light model, brands wield enormous influence through flags, loyalty systems, and distribution, while owners carry the financial risk. When a brand intervenes or withdraws, it is making an economic and political judgment that can instantly reshape a property, raising hard questions about authority, accountability, and local decision-making.

Susan Barry on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susandbarry/

Hive Marketing
https://www.hive-marketing.com/

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
https://cayugahospitality.com/

Female Founders in Hospitality
https://femalefoundersinhospitality.com/

Other Episodes You May Like:

99: Believers to Church
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/99

91: Pool Heat Miser
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/91

71: Public Restroom Couple
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/71

64: Roman Bird Murmuration
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/64

59: Cat Hair Pants
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/59

Tracy Stuckrath is the founder of thrive! meetings & events, where she helps planners, venues, and chefs stop accidentally poisoning their guests (a low bar, but here we are). After being diagnosed with a food allergy and realizing she couldn't safely eat at her own events, Tracy built a mission around safer, more inclusive hospitality, and later launched the "Eating at a Meeting" podcast during COVID. Susan and Tracy talk about safety, systems, and signage.

• Simple tools that actually make event planning smoother
• How Tracy's career pivots happened without a "master plan"
• The moment she realized the industry wasn't feeding people safely
• Why the people who "get it" fastest usually have restrictions themselves
• How kitchens and front-of-house accidentally play telephone with allergens
• Why labeling food lowers liability instead of raising it
• The top nine allergens that cause most reactions
• How food allergies and celiac can count as disabilities under the ADA
• Why smaller, more intentional menus may beat endless buffet chaos
• What the future of event menus could look like: fewer surprises, clearer trust
• The one phrase Tracy wants the industry to stop saying immediately

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

1. Inclusive food practices are a business decision, not just a courtesy.
Treating food allergies and dietary restrictions seriously reduces risk, builds trust, and makes events more accessible and welcoming. When guests feel safe eating, they participate more fully and remember the experience for the right reasons, which directly impacts brand perception and loyalty.

2. Most food-allergy failures aren't about ingredients — they're about communication breakdowns.
Problems usually happen when information gets lost between sales, planners, kitchens, and front-of-house teams. Clear systems, standardized language, and consistent labeling matter more than heroic last-minute fixes. Inclusion fails when teams don't talk to each other.

3. Smaller, more intentional menus outperform "abundance."
The future of event food is fewer choices that are clearly labeled, thoughtfully designed, and easy to trust. Guests don't want endless options they can't safely eat. They want a handful of well-considered ones that reflect care, place, and purpose.

Tracy Stuckrath on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracystuckrath/

thrive! meetings & events
https://thrivemeetings.com/

Other Episodes You May Like:

151: Rolls Royce Chauffeur with Ali Krupnik
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/151

185: Squash Milk with Steve Fortunato
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/185

13: Canned Good Centerpieces with Jana Robinson
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/13

Christine Malfair is a lifelong hotelier turned independent-hotel marketing fixer, with a career spanning cruise ships, GM roles, and 15 years building Malfair Marketing as an early "remote fractional CMO." She helps independent hotels cut through AI noise and get found by guests and machines without losing their minds. Susan and Christine talk about clarity, consistency, and competitive courage.

• Employee use of ChatGPT and real risks to proprietary hotel data
• Guardrails for AI use inside hotel teams without banning innovation
• Remote hotel leadership before "remote" was normal
• Building a marketing function when no department exists
• "AI-ready" as an ecosystem, not a shiny new tool
• Why vague hotel language disappears in AI discovery
• Team buy-in as the difference between tech adoption and rebellion
• AI as an intermediary, not a channel
• Why independent hotels can win without the biggest budgets
• Standing tall in what guests already love you for

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

AI rewards clarity, not complexity

Being "AI ready" isn't about adopting new tools or chasing the latest platform. It's about tightening what already exists. Hotels that are specific, consistent, and clear across their websites, listings, reviews, and social content will be easier for AI to understand and recommend. Generic language and inconsistencies create friction and invisibility.

2. Simple systems outperform heroic effort

Christine's experience, from cruise ships to strata hotels, reinforces the same truth. Well-designed systems reduce chaos and conflict, even in complex environments. The same applies to marketing and AI. Progress comes from manageable, repeatable steps, not massive overhauls or one-time pushes.

3. Differentiation matters more than budget

AI acts like a digital intermediary, deciding what gets surfaced and why. In that environment, sameness is a liability. The independent hotels that win won't be the ones with the most spend or the most content. They'll be the ones that are clear about who they are, what guests love about them, and how they stand apart.

Christine Malfair on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-malfair/

Malfair Marketing
https://malfairmarketing.com/

Other Episodes You May Like:

69: Our First AI Guest with Josiah Mackenzie
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/69

127: Job Interview Subterfuge with Michael Goldrich
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/127

71: Public Restroom Couple with Susan Barry
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/71

Gary Brown is a former attorney and CPA who ditched billable hours for buildings, turning a brotherly townhouse-flipping side hustle into Furnished Quarters, one of the largest corporate housing providers in the U.S. He leads a service-first operation across major markets like New York, Boston/Cambridge, and the Bay Area, blending tech, design, and a very real "stuff breaks at 3am" mindset. Susan and Gary talk about service, standards, and survival stories.

• Why corporate housing is hospitality first and real estate second
• Service recovery that actually keeps clients calm when everything goes sideways
• Move-in magic that prevents the "week one complaint festival"
• Inspection systems that catch tiny problems before guests do
• Communication rhythms that build trust when lights go out or floods happen
• Setting expectations for big-city living without scaring people off
• Relationship selling that lands major accounts and keeps the pipeline moving
• Conference strategy that works pre-event, not just at the cocktail hour

***

Our Top Three Takeaways

1. Corporate housing succeeds or fails on service, not real estate.
While the apartment itself is the barrier to entry, Gary is clear that it represents only a small fraction of what defines a great stay. The real differentiator is hospitality-level service: constant communication, fast problem resolution, and setting expectations when things inevitably go wrong. Corporate housing, in his view, should be run like a 24/7 hospitality operation, not a passive real estate business.

2. The first day of a stay determines everything that follows.
Move-in is the most critical moment in the guest experience. Furnished Quarters invests heavily in inspections, buffer days between stays, detailed arrival instructions, and proactive outreach after arrival. Many complaints can be avoided entirely by over-preparing for that first impression and by addressing small issues before they turn into frustration.

3. Strong relationships and preparedness outperform tactics in sales and growth.
Whether discussing conferences, entertainment clients, or long-term partnerships, Gary emphasizes that success comes from relationship selling and advance work. Deals are rarely made by chance. They are built through consistent presence, pre-scheduled meetings, local involvement, and long-term commitment to the market. This same mindset applies operationally when things go wrong: recovery and trust-building matter more than perfection.

Gary Brown on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-brown-b324512/

Furnished Quarters
https://www.furnishedquarters.com

Other Episodes You May Like:

76: Liquid Closing Dinner with Derrick Barker
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/76

26: Responsible for the Weather with Robyn Joliat
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/26

70: Beach House Ghost with Emmanuel Guisset
https://www.topfloorpodcast.com/episode/70