Hospitality podcast
Matt Talks Hospitality: Real conversations for innovative hoteliers
Matt Welle ran hotels. Now he runs Mews. In each episode, Matt shares his experience and talks to hospitality leaders to reveal the secrets behind the most successful properties in the industry.
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About the show
Matt Talks Hospitality is a podcast for hoteliers who want to understand the technology, ideas and people shaping modern hospitality. Hosted by Mews CEO Matt Welle, each episode explores the tools, challenges and decisions behind how hotels work – and how they keep getting better.
Follow and subscribe to Matt Talks Hospitality
All episodes
EP 61
January 14, 2026
Sports, refugee clubhouses and a new idea of hospitality with Jan van Hövell
Survival requires food and water, but the spirit craves community. By building sports clubs inside refugee camps, KLABU creates places where people can gather, play and regain a sense of normal life amid displacement. KLABU’s Founder Jan van Hövell explains how these clubhouses are set up in crisis zones, why sports help build communities and how KLABU and Mews are collaborating to support indigenous Venezuelan refugees in Boa Vista, Brazil.
38 min
EP 62
January 21, 2026
Cocoons to capsules: Halima Aziz on Zedwell's city-centre hotel vision
Cocoons and capsules sit at the heart of Zedwell Hotels’ London city-centre vision, where rooms are designed around sleep, efficiency and the realities of urban life rather than tradition. In this episode, Matt speaks with Halima Aziz, Head of Hotels at Criterion Hospitality, which owns and operates Zedwell Hotels, about turning forgotten city spaces into some of London’s most profitable hotel real estate, all while removing TVs, kettles and even windows from the rooms.
41 min
EP 63
January 28, 2026
Inside Bob W: Why Niko Karstikko treats hotels like software
Can a hotel run with one seventh of staff and still outperform its peers? Bob W is built for the modern traveler who wants the best of both worlds: the consistency and reliability of a hotel, with the space, utility and local feel of a short-stay apartment. But what truly sets Bob W apart is its software-first mindset. Niko Karstikko, Co-founder and CEO of Bob W, joins Matt to explain how Bob W blends apartments, hotels and automation into a new hospitality category.
35 min
EP 64
February 4, 2026
How hotels buy new tech, with Jordan Hollander of HTR
When hotel GMs receive hundreds of emails from software vendors claiming to be the best, judging new tech becomes difficult. That exact problem led to Hotel Tech Report, one of hospitality’s most-trusted review platforms. Its co-founder Jordan Hollander joins Matt to talk about what goes into hotel tech buying decisions. The episode lands as Mews wins Best PMS for the third year in a row and Best POS at the 2026 HotelTechAwards, run by Hotel Tech Report.
36 min
EP 65
February 11, 2026
How skipping housekeeping can plant a forest, with Floris Licht
Hotels have spent years trying to convince guests to skip daily cleaning through towel reuse signs, drink vouchers or loyalty points. Having run large city hotels, Floris Licht saw firsthand how none of those ever worked. He ended up founding Hotels for Trees, a non-profit that turns skipped room cleans into forests. One skipped clean – one tree planted, with over 800 thousand trees planted so far. Floris joins Matt to explain how Hotels for Trees fits into hotel operations, from door hangers to the digital guest journey with Mews.
23 min
EP 66
February 18, 2026
Profit vs purpose with The Social Hub CEO Charlie MacGregor
Can a hotel brand successfully scale while building social impact into its business model? The Social Hub, now certified as a B Corp, is built on the belief that a hotel can serve its city as much as its guests. The Social Hub’s Founder and CEO, Charlie MacGregor, shares what it takes to keep profit high and purpose alive as the company scales.
29 min
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