Activebusinessinvesting

The Hotel Investor Playbook

by Michael Russell

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 pract...

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Insights from recent episode analysis

Audience Interest

Podcast Focus

Categories: business · investing

Publishing Consistency

Frequency: ~3-4 / Week

50+ episodes since 2024

Platform Reach

Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.

Most discussed topics

real estate

real estate investing

hospitality

boutique hotels

hotel investment

entrepreneurship

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Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
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🎙 Daily cadence·78 episodes·Last published 1mo ago
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On the show

From 21 eps

Host

Michael Russell

20 eps

Recent guests

20 across last 21 eps

Ryan Sudeck

1 ep

Tyler Cauble

1 ep

Tim Hubbard

1 ep

Greg Emmert

1 ep

Jasper Ribbers

1 ep

Brent Bowers

1 ep

Ben Wolff

1 ep

Ziggy Hallgarten

1 ep

Sam Degenhard

1 ep

Mark Podolsky

1 ep

Dustin Feider

1 ep

Ashley LaRocque

1 ep

Hillary Folkvord

1 ep

Emanuele Pani

1 ep

Chris Broomfield

1 ep

Mike Messeroff

1 ep

Neal Bawa

1 ep

Jake Snow

1 ep

Michael Russell

1 ep

Emily Johnson

1 ep

Recent episodes

The $1 Billion Investor: Why Now is a Good Time to Buy | Neal Bawa E89

Jul 14, 2026

50m 42s

The Travel Influencer With 1.6M Instagram Followers Who Became a Hotel Developer | Jake Snow E88

Jul 7, 2026

1h 17m 32s

How a $800K Distressed Motel Became a $2.4M Revenue Machine | Michael Russell E87

Jun 30, 2026

1h 09m 42s

The Wellness ROI Audit Every Boutique Hotel Owner Needs to Run | Emily Johnson E86

Jun 24, 2026

34m 04s

The $0-Down Hotel Deal That Still Cost $1.5 Million | Christian Osgood E85

Jun 16, 2026

53m 37s

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Social Links & Contact

Official channels & resources

🌐

Official Website

📡

RSS Feed

Episodes

~0.9 per week

Avg length

47m 36s

34m 04s – 1h 17m 32s

Range

May 2024 – Apr 2026

Topics

real estate, real estate investing +85

Guests

Neal Bawa +20 · last 21 eps

21 of 21

Date	Episode	Topics	Guests	Brands	Places	Keywords	Sponsor	Length
7/14/26	The $1 Billion Investor: Why Now is a Good Time to Buy \| Neal Bawa E89✨	multifamily investingself-storage+3	Neal Bawa	—	—	investment strategiesmultifamily+4	—	50m 42s
7/7/26	The Travel Influencer With 1.6M Instagram Followers Who Became a Hotel Developer \| Jake Snow E88✨	hotel developmenttravel influencers+3	Jake Snow	—	Bali	hotel investorInstagram followers+3	—	1h 17m 32s
6/30/26	How a $800K Distressed Motel Became a $2.4M Revenue Machine \| Michael Russell E87✨	real estate investingmotel acquisition+3	Michael Russell	Howzit HostelsMalama Capital	North AmericaMaui	motelrevenue growth+5	—	1h 09m 42s
6/24/26	The Wellness ROI Audit Every Boutique Hotel Owner Needs to Run \| Emily Johnson E86✨	wellness positioningboutique hotels+4	Emily Johnson	—	—	wellness ROIboutique hotel+4	—	34m 04s
6/16/26	The $0-Down Hotel Deal That Still Cost $1.5 Million \| Christian Osgood E85✨	hotel investmentcapital raising+4	Christian Osgood	The Hotel Investor Playbook	waterfront	hotel dealreal estate investment+4	—	53m 37s
6/2/26	The Boutique Hotel Mistake Killing Your Occupancy (And the Fix That Took One Operator From 40% to 80%) \| Hillary Folkvord E84✨	boutique hotelsoccupancy rates+3	Hillary Folkvord	—	BozemanMontana	boutique hoteloccupancy problem+3	—	49m 22s
5/26/26	From $50 in His Bank Account to a 140-Key Hotel in Italy \| Emanuele Pani E83✨	hospitalityreal estate+3	Emanuele Pani	—	ItalySardinia	hotel investmententrepreneurship+3	—	34m 09s
5/19/26	This Contractor Built a $6M Hospitality Brand With $90K and Zero Outside Investors \| Chris Broomfield E82✨	hospitality brandbootstrapping+3	Chris Broomfield	—	—	hospitalityinvestment+3	—	36m 02s
5/12/26	Stop Deferring Your Joy: How High-Performing Leaders Stay Sharp Without Burning Out \| Mike Messeroff E81✨	leadershiphappiness+3	Mike Messeroff	—	—	leadershiphappiness+5	—	35m 57s
5/6/26	How 2 Women Turned a $1.2M Zillow B&B Into a $4M Treehouse Hotel (No Investors) \| Ashley LaRocque E80✨	bed and breakfasttreehouse hotel+3	Ashley LaRocque	Zillow	Colorado	B&Btreehouse hotel+3	—	43m 53s
4/29/26	The $600K Treehouse Earning $200K a Year \| Dustin Feider E79✨	ultra-niche lodgingcash-on-cash returns+3	Dustin Feider	New York TimesArchitectural Digest+1	—	treehouselodging+5	—	38m 38s
4/22/26	The Hotel-to-Apartment Strategy That Turned $8.5M Into $18.9M in 19 Months \| Ryan Sudeck E78✨	hotel-to-apartment conversionreal estate investing+3	Ryan Sudeck	The Hotel Investor PlaybookMichael Russell	—	hotel conversionmultifamily+3	—	44m 26s
4/14/26	What a $75M Commercial Investor Wished He Knew Before Opening His First Boutique Hotel \| Tyler Cauble E77✨	hospitalityreal estate investment+4	Tyler Cauble	Salt Ranch	—	boutique hotelreal estate+6	—	49m 54s
4/7/26	An STR operator's $4 million bet on building a boutique hotel in Colombia \| Tim Hubbard E76✨	boutique hotelreal estate investment+3	Tim Hubbard	—	ColombiaMedellin	boutique hotelMedellin+3	—	48m 28s
3/31/26	Under $1.5M in Revenue? You Don't Own a Business, You Own a Job \| Greg Emmert E75✨	hospitality investmentbusiness ownership+4	Greg Emmert	—	—	hospitality propertybusiness ownership+3	—	1h 08m 07s
3/17/26	The Revenue Expert Managing $125M Says You're Leaving 40% on the Table \| Jasper Ribbers E74✨	short-term rentalspricing strategy+4	Jasper Ribbers	Freewyld	AmsterdamIdyllwild, California+1	short-term rentalAirbnb+5	—	39m 35s
3/10/26	What Hotel Investors Can Steal From a Land Investor Who's Done 400 Deals \| Brent Bowers E73✨	hotel investingland investing+3	Brent Bowers	Army	—	hotel investorsland investor+3	—	40m 26s
2/24/26	An Overlooked Strategy That Makes $7M Hotel Deals Actually Pencil \| Ben Wolff E72✨	hotel investingNOI margins+3	Ben Wolff	McKinseyREIT	—	hotel dealsNOI margins+3	—	51m 13s
2/17/26	Former Hotel Analyst Built AI to Fix the Problem He Lived Every Day \| Ziggy Hallgarten E71✨	hotel investmentAI in deal analysis+3	Ziggy Hallgarten	Cornell Hotel School	—	hotel pipelineAI+3	—	43m 22s
2/10/26	How to Scale to 4 Hospitality Properties Without Raising Millions in Capital \| Sam Degenhard E70✨	hospitalityreal estate+3	Sam Degenhard	OpCo-PropCo	—	hospitality propertiesOpCo-PropCo model+3	—	55m 57s
2/3/26	This 3-Step System Automated His Real Estate Business to 4 Hours a Month \| Mark Podolsky E69✨	real estateautomation+4	Mark Podolsky	2008	—	real estate automationpassive income+3	—	34m 21s