Year in review: The laughs, the tech, and everything in between

Episode notes

In this celebratory episode of Hotel Moment, host Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, takes a different approach by curating the most impactful moments from the podcast's archive this year. Rather than featuring a single guest, she presents a carefully selected compilation that showcases both the entertaining personality and serious innovation driving modern hospitality forward. What you'll learn: Rethinking loyalty beyond points: Bashar Wali, founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality and This Assembly, with over three decades in hospitality, delivers his unfiltered perspective that points programs represent bribery rather than genuine loyalty, arguing true loyalty comes from making guests feel seen, understood, and valued rather than simply rewarded with transactional benefits. Simplifying direct booking friction: Bashar also compares buying shoes on Instagram with three button presses to hotel websites requiring 75 steps, including keyboard switches between alpha and numeric inputs, emphasizing that hotels with perishable inventory shouldn't fight guests every step when they're trying to give you money.