The Hotel Investor Playbook

The Hotel Investor Playbook

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, where he has built and scaled a portfolio of boutique hotels, hostels, and experiential lodging properties.

With over $30 million in real estate investments across hospitality, short-term rentals, long-term rentals, and commercial assets, Michael brings a practical, operator-first perspective to hotel investing. On this podcast, he breaks down what it actually takes to move beyond traditional real estate and into boutique hotels, from sourcing the right deals to navigating operations, capital, and risk.

Each week, Michael shares real lessons from the field as he builds toward a $400 million real estate-based business, giving listeners a clear, honest look at the decisions, challenges, and strategies behind the growth. Subscribe and follow along as he documents the journey in real time.

Recent Episodes

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Securities Attorney Reveals Why Most Hotel Syndicators Are Breaking the Law | Bethany LaFlam E65
Jan. 6, 2026

Securities Attorney Reveals Why Most Hotel Syndicators Are Breaking the Law | Bethany LaFlam E65

Most first-time hotel syndicators are already breaking the rules; they just don't know it yet. If you've ever taken money from friends and family without the right structure, you may have accidentally sold securities. And if you're paying someone just to raise capital? That's another violation wait…
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Stop Treating Your Front Desk Like An Expense. It's A Profit Center | Geoffrey Toffetti E64
Dec. 30, 2025

Stop Treating Your Front Desk Like An Expense. It's A Profit Center | Geoffrey Toffetti E64

Stop treating your front desk like an expense; it's costing you hundreds of thousands in property value. The biggest mistake boutique hotel owners make isn't about the property itself. It's ignoring the untapped revenue sitting right at your check-in counter. In this episode, you'll discover how to…
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Why Most Investors Never Buy Their First Hotel (And How You Actually Can) | Brian Resendez E63
Dec. 23, 2025

Why Most Investors Never Buy Their First Hotel (And How You Actually Can) | Brian Resendez E63

Why do so many people dream about buying a hotel but never actually close one? In this episode, Michael sits down with Brian Resendez, CEO of SVN Northwest Hotel Advisors. Brian has been involved in hundreds of hotel transactions across the Pacific Northwest and brings rare insight into what separa…
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Global Resort Design CEO: Stop Wasting Capex on the Wrong “Upgrades” | Scott LaMont E62
Dec. 16, 2025

Global Resort Design CEO: Stop Wasting Capex on the Wrong “Upgrades” | Scott LaMont E62

Boutique hotel investors often lose money in the same place: they renovate what’s visible, and ignore what actually drives guest behavior. In this episode, we talk about design as a business tool, not a decoration budget. The...
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The 3 Distress Signals That Make the Next 12 Months a Buyer’s Market | Suraj Bhakta E61
Dec. 9, 2025

The 3 Distress Signals That Make the Next 12 Months a Buyer’s Market | Suraj Bhakta E61

Is now a terrible time to buy a hotel, or the best buying window you will get this decade? In this episode, Michael sits down with Suraj Bhakta, CEO of NewGen Advisory, a national hotel brokerage that has closed deals in 44 states. Suraj explains what he is actually seeing in today’s market, from t…
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7 AI Tools That Let You Buy and Operate Hotels (With No Staff and No Time) | Jake Heller E60
Dec. 2, 2025

7 AI Tools That Let You Buy and Operate Hotels (With No Staff and No Time) | Jake Heller E60

Most boutique hotel investors are running lean. No analyst team. No data department. No six-figure tech budget. Yet the demands of buying and operating hotels keep getting heavier. In this episode, I sit down with Jake Heller...
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