The Modern Hotelier #225: Hotel Membership vs. Franchise Models | with Fredrick Schoener
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David M.: Welcome to The Modern Hotelier, the most engaged podcast in hospitality. Don't forget to follow, like, subscribe, and let us know in the comments what you think about today's episode. Steve, who do we have on the program today? 
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, excited for this conversation. We have a lifetime hotel. You're joining us today. We have Fredrick Schoener, the Brand Director at Silverstone Inns. Thanks for joining us, Fredrick. How you doing today? 
Fredrick Schoener: I'm doing well. Thank you. 
David M.: So Fredrick, we're gonna go through quick lightning, round some questions, get to know your background, personal details, career, and then dive into some industry topics. Sound good? 
Fredrick Schoener: Sounds great. 
David M.: All right. So what is something that you wish you were better at?
Fredrick Schoener: Handball. Ooh. 
David M.: What's your most used emoji? 
Fredrick Schoener: Thumbs up. 
David M.: What's a luxury you can't live without? 
Fredrick Schoener: A really good. Dark roast coffee roast.
David M.: That's Jon too. If you had a time machine and you can go into the future or the past, which way are you going and what year are you gonna go to? 
Fredrick Schoener: You know, maybe 20 years ago I just, I had some people pass away. I'd love to still talk with them.
David M.: That's great. What's the best piece of advice you've received? 
Fredrick Schoener: Positive mental attitude. So if you have that PMA, you're gonna do really well. 
David M.: Got it. All right. Last one. What's your favorite city and why? 
Fredrick Schoener: Las Vegas. 
David M.: Ooh. 
Fredrick Schoener: I love Las Vegas because it is something that, well, we're in Spokane, Washington, so it's an hour and a half, two hour flight. And I'm telling you that if you're in the hotel industry, hospitality for restaurants or hotels, you can kind of see what's going on and it's top notch. You gotta love it. 
David M.: Got it. Makes sense. It was just there. Loved it. 
Steve Carran: Absolutely. Well done, Fredrick. You were prepared for that lightning round, that was quick. So now we're gonna move onto your background. So, we're talking a little bit before the show and you were born on the East coast and then move to the west coast, to Washington and grew up there. How did being born on the East Coast and then growing up on the West coast shape you into who you are today?
Fredrick Schoener: You know, it's kind of weird because I really didn't understand the East Coast philosophy or way of life, but, uh, my parents definitely let me know. So when I was young, all I kept hearing is the, you know, these West Coast people all the time. That's what I would hear. And, uh, it's kind of interesting because they were East Coast people. The food was better on the East coast. Uh, this was better on the East coast. That's what I always see here. But it really shaped me into understanding what East Coast people felt like, and I grew up in the West coast. It's great. 
David M.: That's funny. Trust me. I moved from the East coast to Phoenix and all we talk about is how the food is not as good back as it was back east. So you've worked in hotels your whole life. What got you interested in hospitality and what makes you so passionate about it? 
Fredrick Schoener: Well, it's kind of funny when you're young, you don't understand what type of career path you're gonna have, right? So I was working into the, uh, fast food industry and I thought, man, this is not fun. You know, food is kind of gross. I didn't really like what was going on there. And actually it was kind of funny. My mom got me a job at a hotel. She convinced the general manager to hire me. At the time, it's not like now we can just get a job easily. This was back in the day where you had to know somebody to get a job, even with the front desk clerk.
So she convinced the general manager and he, when he talked to me, he goes, are you going to work at Walmart or are you just gonna use this as a stepping stone? And I thought, no, I like this. You know, like, I didn't know, but I just told him that, you know, I like hotels and I got into it. What a difference. So fun. I really love people. I love the whole concept of everything, and that's why I continued in hospitality. 
Steve Carran: That's great and you seem to be pretty good at it. You were named Howard Johnson's International National Salesperson of the year in 2003 and 2005. I believe you're the. The fir, you were definitely the first and you still might be the only person who's won in Back-to-back conferences.
One of the things that helped you in 2005 win was this campaign that was called Cars Eat Free. Can you tell us a little bit more about that marketing campaign and how it came to you? 
Fredrick Schoener: Well, when gas all of a sudden started to increase. Everybody was freaking out. And I thought, wow, what could we do to make ourselves marketable as a hotel next to a gas station?
So I went over to the gas station and I thought, well, what if we did this thing, you know, Cari free? 'cause you know, breakfast was something that was always free. Other things were free. But cars eat free. Everybody started thinking about that when the price of gas was going skyrocketing. And that's what happened. It was so popular at the time. We used to give, I'm trying to remember exactly, but you'd buy a room, you get $20 off your room rate in gas. Wow. Imagine how many people would, that's like a full, at that time, a full tank gas time was a full tank. Extremely marketable.
Steve Carran: Very good. What a great idea. So now we're gonna dive into your career, how you ended up at Silverstone. So like we kind of spoke about, you worked in hotels earlier in your career, but then you became the president of Hotel Market Solutions and you also owned a Fairbridge hotel. How did your perspective change from working in a hotel to being president on the management side?
Fredrick Schoener: Well, it really was a different philosophy at the time. We, at Fairbridge Hotels, we thought kind of similar to what we're thinking now, that there is a better way to do things in the franchise model. You know, hotel owners were really at the time thinking that, you know, franchise is the way to go, but is there an alternative? And there was a lot at the time, you have to think about in Spokane, it's kind of funny. It's like we always talk about what's in the water here in Spokane Magnuson Hotels is from here Red Lion Hotels was from here. Beverage Hotels, which I co-founded was here as well. So it's just like amazing just here in Spokane, Washington, what we were able to accomplish. But you know, we kind of moved on from that and now we're at Silverstone. 
David M.: That's great. So in 2014, you became CEO of Hotel Success now and executive director at GNW Hospitality. What's the secret to run a successful business in hospitality? 
Fredrick Schoener: You know. I always felt like a small town feel is where you need to be. So all these hotel management companies, and there's a lot of great ones and I, you know, I don't talk bad about those guys, but in reality, you know, the small time guy that's got 8, 10, 12, 15 hotels, he's gonna service your hotel a lot more than somebody who's got a hundred hotels. And that's a philosophy that we had. And I feel like if. We grew to another level, we would rather take a hit in revenue and provide the service rather than just be this big conglomerate. Absolutely. 
Steve Carran: Well said. So for the past four years, you've been the brand director at Silverstone Ends. For those that might not be familiar, can you tell us a little bit more about Silverstone?
Fredrick Schoener: So Silverstone is a membership model. So if you're used to a franchise, you're gonna pay a certain percent, 12, 15%. Somewhere in there. We thought, well, how are you gonna make money, especially today? Are you gonna make money today? You know, because insurance rates have skyrocketed, labor costs have skyrocketed cost of goods has skyrocketed. So whatcha you going to do to try to make money as a hotel owner? So we came up with Flag, smart profit, more nice.
Steve Carran: How are you gonna do that?
Fredrick Schoener: Well, a membership model with a low monthly fee, you get the same services as you would of any particular brand. That's how you would make money. And how many properties do you currently have? Well, right now we have two properties. Okay. We're early in, so we're looking for early adopters. So I've done this before we got up to a bunch of hotels. In reality, it's not like it used to be. Franchisees in the mindset of young people, a little bit different Gen Z. What do they think? You know, it's kind of funny, you know, I have two kids, they're both in the early twenties, and I asked them just today, I said, so if you were going to go to LA what hotel would you go to? If you asked me that when I was 21 or 22, I would've said, the best hotel possible. I would've been a Marriott, a Hilton high end, whatever it was.
But my daughter says, well, I would first look at the price. Whoa, the price, not the brand. Okay. The price. And then I said, so then what would you look at? Location. Location to the venue you're going to. Yeah, that's what I would look at, oh, that's pretty interesting. So what would make your decision just, you know, price reviews and that's it not brand. And it's kind of interesting because when I was young, especially in high school, you always thought everybody who had a Nike shirt or Nike shoes or Reebok or this or that, they were the popular kids. Those are the ones that, you know, set the trends. Now it's not so much, they're like, I asked her, I said, so what do you like to wear?
What do you like to do? She's like, I don't want no logos on my shirt. Yeah, none. Steve Black. That's it. That's right. There's nothing going on there. Right. So that's kind of how I thought of this. Like, wow, things have changed quite a bit from when I was young. You know, 
Steve Carran: I'm gonna take that as a compliment. Like you just kind of called me cool or hip there. So I'm gonna take that one. You're cool and, and you're, you're a hundred percent right though. It, it's so funny, like, you know, clothing back in the day when I was in college and stuff, like you wore name brand clothing now, like thrifting is a huge thing where people wanna get a bargain. They wanna, you know, it doesn't matter about the logo or anything like that. 
Fredrick Schoener: So you know, what about that, Steve? This is the new hotel owner. This is who they're gonna be Gen Z are going to inherit or move on to the ownership of the hotels. How are you gonna relate to them? Silverstone ends, that's, that's the type of product that they're looking for.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. You're positioned well here, so well, that is great. So now we're gonna dive into the thought leadership portion of this podcast. So you mentioned that Silverstone Inns, uh, membership model is a little different from traditional franchising. Can you tell us a little bit more about why you chose this path?
Fredrick Schoener: Whenever I looked at a hotel owner, I did a lot of consulting in my day, and I would look at the super thick agreement that they would have, which is fixed, and I was like, nobody knows, nobody knows what's going on in there, right? And I thought, how can you make a better model? But then even with all that knowledge that I have and working with owners, I thought, where do you go to get the most information? You go to hotel owners and hotel owners. The largest group in the United States is a hoa, the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, 20,000 members, hotel owners, all around. What did they come up with? What they came up with was the 12 points of fair franchising. Those 12 points are integral to Silverstone ends, so reasonable agreements, area protection, liquidated damages, all those sort of things where you are signing up, but you don't wanna give your life away. You don't wanna give your firstborn, your blood, your whatever they want from you. Right. And that's how I always feel. It's like they've got you and Silverstone.
We don't want to be we, you know, if you wanna join Silverstone Inns, you wanna join, we want you as a partner. If you don't wanna be Silverstone Inns, that's okay. You know, it should be a relationship like that. You go, you come because you see the value in it, not because you're hold tight. No, absolutely. And that's the difference between us and the franchises. 
Steve Carran: Yeah. Shout out Laura Lee Blake on that one. She actually talked about those 12 points when she was on our podcast a year or two ago. So yeah, it's great. It's great for franchising. 
David M.: Yeah, so maybe dive a little bit deeper into that. So what are the benefits, challenges that you've seen for the owners of hotels under membership model versus the franchise model?
Fredrick Schoener: Well, you can't make a profit our tagline is flag smart profit more. So let's just say a scenario. So you've got a hotel, let's just say you have a mid-scale hotel, 80 a hundred rooms. You make $2 million. Your NOI is 500,000 out of that. You gotta pay your debt service. Let's just say it's 400,000.
So at the end of the day, on $2 million in revenue, I'm just taking general numbers, you make a hundred thousand dollars. What if you have a capital item that needs to be done? What if you labor increases? And this is true too. I've seen insurance rates go from $30,000 to $70,000 or above within a year. What do you do? So you thought you were gonna break even. You're underwater now when you're with Silverstone ends, you can weather the storm. When things are good and you can make money, you're gonna make a lot of money. And when things are bad, you can weather the storm. And that's really what Silverstone ends in.
And I feel like that's the future of whether hotel franchising or membership or wherever this comes out to is gonna happen here in the next few years. 
Steve Carran: So, you know, as you start to, or as you continue to build this membership model, you know, it's a newer thing in hospitality, the membership versus franchise ownership. You know, how do you not only attract new owners to hoteliers, but also support and retain them as well? 
Fredrick Schoener: Well, you have to understand that hotel owners are really profit driven, right? That's really what it comes down to they are not, you know, at the end of the day, you know, you could have the most shiny hotel in the world. you could have everything that you want. If you're not making money, it's pretty rough. So, Silverstone's Inns kind of, kind of comes in and, and takes that model and, and makes you make money. You know, that scenario of the $202 million, if you could make an extra $250,000 on top of that, what are you gonna do?
And at the end of the day, the brands aren't as gosh, they don't have the same pull that they used to back in the day, 10 years ago. Maybe more 15 years ago, even more than that, 20 years ago, even more than that. But today, not as much as what they used to do. So what do they do? They piggyback on other revenue distribution is what they do. And you know, if you kind of, if you're a hotel owner that goes, oh, I see that most of my revenue comes from the OTAs groups. High occupancy times and all these sorts of things, you thought, well, what am I paying this extra 15% for? Why? 
Steve Carran: Yep.
David M.: That's a really good point. So can you share a turning point or maybe a success story where the membership model really made a difference for ownership or a specific property? 
Fredrick Schoener: So there was a hotel that we first started off with and it was one of the top five major franchises in the world. Thousands of hotels. The hotel was not performing really. Subpar revenue. Subpar. So what did the owner do? The owner went to the to the brand. Can you help me out? Hmm. You know, when you go to conferences, what is it like? You've been to conferences, I'm sure. Shaking hands. Smiles. Good drinks, lots of friends. Great. You know, super good.
At the end of the day, you have an issue. My hotel needs some help. I can't afford to to keep this going. So what are you gonna do for me? Because at conference you're ready to. Hey, we'll do whatever you need, right? Mm-hmm. In reality, you go, Hey, you know what I need? I need a reduction in franchise fees for the next two years.
Can you help me out? Like, I'm not saying just give me free, I'm just saying reduce it a little bit so I can get ahead and pay you and continue on. You know what the answer was? No, ly not. Look at your franchise agreement. Do you know what you signed up for? That's not gonna happen. Right. So the owner went and just thought, you know, this is just not worth it.
Yeah. And most of the rooms that were coming from his, uh, from the hotel were OTAs super busy times, events in the area and things like that. So it wasn't really from the brand itself. Correct. So he saved over, he switches Silver Stone ends, he saved over $150,000 a year. Just by switching, because our model is, you know, we have fees, but they're reasonable. And you can still make money. And in reality, most of the hotels, even though the brands try to push, you know, direct bookings and all this sort of things, most every year that I talk to all my, uh, Expedia and booking.com and all those reps, they keep increasing. They keep increasing in revenue and it's not that you just want that revenue, no, you want direct bookings as well. But because you're on the OTAs, I don't know if you guys are familiar with the billboard effect. 
Fredrick Schoener: Yeah. The Billboard Effect. Yep. You know, they say, oh, well the billboard effect 2009, Cornell did a study. 2017, they did another study and all these sort of things. In reality, if you are on that site, let's say you're at 15% on, uh, booking or whatever the OTA is, right.
You make more bookings because you are on that site. So you have to, you have to look at that and go, well, I'm paying 15%, but actually I might be paying 12% or 11% because I'm getting more direct bookings just because I'm on that site. And even as a Hotelier who wants to book direct, I'll look there first.
Steve Carran: Yeah, right. Which is weird. 
Fredrick Schoener: I'm a hotel guy, you know, I know to book direct, but I'm gonna start here. So that just tells you. 
Steve Carran: That's a good point. I booked the same way. I booked the same way. I narrow down the location on Expedia and then I go look direct. So we're in the same boat on that one. 
Fredrick Schoener: My friend sacrilege, you shouldn't that.
Steve Carran: I know I shouldn't even visit the site, but what gonna do? 
Fredrick Schoener: Yeah, so it's not funny that you say that, you know, because back in the day, you know, early on in my career travel agents were big time. Right. Big time travel agents. If you could get a travel agent booking you 10% all day long, you're all for them.
Right? 15% with an OTA, the hell with them. No, I don't want these guys. No. It's so weird to me. I don't understand it at all. I don't, you know, it's just part of the makeup of the business I always think of. A hotel industry as a ladder, right room generation. When we're with, uh, Silverstone Inns, you are on a ladder.
So every step is a room generation. So it could be OTAs, direct bookings, maybe you have a local program, a medical program, you know, promotions with the ota. You know, you create this big ladder and if things go bad, well maybe you go down a little bit because you know, so many revenue generations is down. You're not gonna go all the to the bottom. And that's the way I look at it. Hotel industry is you have to create as much revenue generation as possible. 
Steve Carran: Well said, and I'm sure a lot of people would agree with you, if not everybody. So, yeah, looking ahead in the hospitality industry and how it's evolving, how do you think, uh, Silverstone Inns is set up to adapt the changes in hospitality or even lead the changes in hospitality?
Fredrick Schoener: Well, there are three things that are gonna happen. I think there's a cultural shift. Number one, so if you're a Gen Z person, things are way different than if you're older. And that's the new, you know, that's a new group that, you know, that's a new generation that's gonna come up and stay at a hotel. So you have to kind of move towards what they're looking for and what are they looking for?
Technology, it's kind of sad to say, but you know, they may pick a hotel, not on Google, but maybe be on ai. You know, and if AI says, go here, you know, maybe you'll go there. You know, that's kind of interesting because I don't know about you guys. Just personal question, how many times have you gone to Google lately compared to chatGPT or something AI? 
Steve Carran: I'm like 50/50 these days. I go to AI and AI just keeps going up and up more. So yeah, I agree. 
Fredrick Schoener: So what's gonna happen is whoever. So, you know, back to the brand. So it kind of makes a level playing field. So if the brands, if you're an independent, you have the same level playing field as a major brand.
If you are using what AI is looking for specifically, you know, like say, I want a hotel close to this avenue. I have this event. I want this type of, uh, you know, amenity and so forth. I don't know if that's gonna produce what the brands are doing or just what's close. So all of a sudden you became somebody who is down here. You're up here with the rest of these guys because AI is going to. It's not gonna exclude you, it's going to make you right with them. So it's, it's different things are gonna change. 
David M.: Yeah. I have as I'm listening to you, I have a off the cuff question because one of the challenges with SEO is that hotels couldn't afford to buy keywords for pay per click and things of that nature. So what are your thoughts, do you think, that kind of AI and like. That realm is gonna, they're gonna shift to make money. Where it's gonna start being a pay to play situation, where it's gonna be the same. It's just gonna be, like a SEO 2.0 or Google 2.0 where, you know, if you don't buy the keyword or you don't buy this or buy that, you're not gonna show up.
Fredrick Schoener: I don't know if that's possible with ai. I think AI is a different type of format. Every time I go back to go, okay, so we were talking about Google searches and you said 50% Steve. So I go back and I'm less than that. I'm maybe 10% now, maybe because it doesn't gimme the answer I want. Right. So that might happen.
David, I don't know for sure, but from what I can tell, I don't know how you do that. Maybe you do, maybe they're gonna come up with something. But for right now, from what I can tell, it seems like it's just, if create content that is what AI is looking for, that's what's gonna come up. Because you really like the example I gave earlier.
If you're two blocks away to this event and this and this, it's gonna give you the most accurate. It can't really, maybe it will, I don't know. But if you paid to get on there and to have the search put you ahead of time, it's not gonna be as accurate as what. It would take away from what AI actually is, I think. Right. But you know, we'll see. 
David M.: Yeah, that's a good point. What happens? 
Fredrick Schoener: I mean, somebody's gotta make money somehow outright on this stuff. 
David M.: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. So I'm just, as you were, as you were talking, that's where I went. But that's good. 
Fredrick Schoener: Yeah, it's a really great question. I don't know, who knows what's gonna happen, but for right now, from what I can tell, whenever I travel, I'm putting in those exact searches what I just said. Right. Exactly. So I can get the best accurate. And it's been great, you know, using it all the time. 
Steve Carran: That's great. So, Fredrick, I have one more question. You're a lifetime Hotelier, what advice do you have for somebody who might be interested in getting into hotels or even hospitality itself? 
Fredrick Schoener: So work from the ground up, that's all I can tell you. Work from the ground up. I know there's degrees and I know there's all these things, there's all these stuff that you can go online but work.
You know, there's nothing like, and I feel like I'm in the trenches as well. I work with hotels consistently. I work with hiring; I work with firing. I work with scheduling. I work with everything that you can imagine in the hotel industry, because if you don't do that, there's no way you're fresh. There's no way you know the pulse of what's going on in the industry, that's what you have to do to actually make it to me in this, you know? And if you shine to the top. Because you're great. That's gonna be noticed. If you're average, not so much. If you really, really take into hold of the hotel industry, you're gonna make, you're gonna do really well. You're gonna move up.
Steve Carran: Well said. Good advice. Good advice. So, Fredrick, this has been a great conversation. We've been asking you questions this whole time. So now we're gonna turn the tables and let you ask David and I a question, 
Fredrick Schoener: Okay. How do you feel franchise agreements will be in the next 10 years? Oh my goodness. I know that's a big loaded question…
Steve Carran: David, do you wanna handle this one first or you want me to take this one? 
David M.: Yeah. I don't know. I mean, it seems, it's not really my world. My world's been much more in the independent side, but it seems it's gonna get tougher and tougher because the brands are buying up all the lifestyle and independent brands that have, you know, started to get substantial mass. And I think as that happens, obviously the control and the power is gonna be stronger in that the franchises and the brands, the chains, whatever you wanna call them. So for me, I think it's a little scary.
If you're independent because there's so much movement and as soon as you start to do well, you get go. These companies are getting, and brands are getting gobbled up, so I don't know how that affects the franchise agreements, but I think the brands like the OTAs are just getting stronger and stronger, which is, I think unfortunate, but I think it's just a fact of life.
Steve Carran: Yeah, I'm kind of on David's side. I haven't seen too many franchise agreements in person in my life, but you know, two things I think people, I love what Silverstone is doing, offering an alternative to the traditional franchise model, and I think we're gonna see more of that.
One thing I know just dealing with technology in hotels is, you know, I am always an advocate for giving guests. A choice of what technology to use or how to engage with a hotel through technology or through a person. So I think we're almost gonna cross my fingers here, maybe we'll see a little bit of differences in these models.
Like maybe Silverstone is starting a trend here where it's not just gonna be traditional franchise models, but we're gonna see, okay, you have a membership with Silverstone, you have a more flexible agreement with X, Y, Z group, and then you have the traditional franchise model. So maybe seeing different types models coming out in the future as well. 
Fredrick Schoener: No, you guys are great. This is my personal opinion. Within the next 10 years, if the franchise models don't change, they're gonna go the way a blockbuster video. 
Steve Carran: Ooh. 
Fredrick Schoener: That's what I feel because every industry, it's like most industries have had it, not most, but a lot of them have like taxis. You don't take a taxi no more, right? You don't rent videos no more. You don't do all these sort of things, but why hasn't the hotel industry changed? Well. It's huge. You would think, oh, that will never happen. That's never gonna happen. These guys are gonna be here forever. That's not the case. When culture shifts change, which I feel is happening now with Gen Z and then further on that is going to change the way people actually want to.
Well make money first of all. Right? You know, look at Subway, by the way. Look at Subway franchise, biggest franchise in the world. Almost next at McDonald's. I'm insane, right? But hotel owners are shuttering. They don't make money. Hotel industry is the subway. I really feel that way because they're not making money, they're not. I deal with hotels. I don't care if it's a top end hotel, mid-tier, hotel, economy, hotel. All of them are feeling the burn right now. Why? Because the franchise are dictating. It's not just the fees. It's not just the fees, it's the dings. Right? You know, you got some bad scores, so we're gonna charge you this sort of thing.
We're gonna do a QA, and you failed, even though you're a beautiful hotel. We're gonna do a recertification and all this sort of thing. And I always think, wow, this is just keep continuing and then a new thing has happened. If you want revenue management, the brand provides it. That's another couple thousand dollars.
If you want sales, oh, the brand will provide that. Another couple thousand dollars. All of a sudden your franchise fee is $20,000 a month. Can you make that sort of payment? And I think the newer generations are looking right through that. They do not fall for it at all. At all. So things are gonna change quite a bit, I think, you know, in the next 10 years.
Steve Carran: Do you think the younger generation is gonna move, like, okay, say the younger generation is getting into hotels and hospitality, do you think they're gonna be drawn more to the independent side, or do you think they are gonna be drawn to more of the brand side as well? 
Fredrick Schoener: I think there's gonna be loosely branded hotels because technology is moving to such a point where you don't really need the brand. Like I was saying, my kids, they don't really care about a brand and they're Gen Z. They really don't. They look at other things. I mean, brand might be a part of it, but it's like fifth, fourth of their decision making, so what is going on? Like the brands have to be talking about. If they're not Blockbuster, my friend, blockbuster, you better because if you don't, things are changing so fast, you better move forward or things are gonna happen to where you're not relevant anymore relevant. And you know, the other thing is transparency. I just wanna bring that up real quick transparency, loyalty programs. So when you talk to people, do they talk about loyalty programs at all?
Steve Carran: No, not a lot. 
Fredrick Schoener: So, you know, a lot of brands say, I have a hundred million members, you know these many members. So who are active, who are duplicate? Do all these people that stayed, if they don't redeem, do I get my money back at the French, at the hotel? No, you don't. If you question that, you're shunned. Because it's a whole different world. That's not gonna happen anymore, you know, in the next 10 years. That's also going to get, you know, figured out because members let's just take a look. If you are a member of Expedia and you're on there platform booking.com, how many members do you have? Over 200 million. 2 million members just from that alone. So if you do something at the hotel that's a perks program, things are going to change. Like this is kind of future things. I really feel the future is going to change and the hold that they have right now. I don't know what's gonna happen. That's why Silverstone.
Steve Carran: Well, this is my great friend, our producer Jon. He's been listening to this conversation the whole time, so we're gonna kick it over to him for one final question before we get you outta here. 
Jon Bumhoffer: Awesome, awesome. Love your enthusiasm for everything. And I think you're onto something with thing brands going downhill. You see, like you've mentioned, like kids don't want logos on their stuff anymore, and I think that's really interesting. Anyway, with all of your experience and everything, what you've seen, and with the mindset or the thought of future and the things you've brought up, what are you seeing some of the best hoteliers you mentioned like a lot of hotels are struggling, maybe not making the revenue, the profit that they want. What are you seeing, the ones that are succeeding? What are the things that they're doing that, that you can point to? 
Fredrick Schoener: Oh man, that's a great question. So what they're doing is local, what they're doing locally, it's management, it's customer service, it's everything to do with their local market. So they are going out into that.
You know, it's funny, it's kind of an old school thought, but everything within a five mile radius, they're touching that, right. Sales wise they are making sure that they're promotion heavy on the OTAs, they're not just relying on what the brands are going to do, because this is a very interesting thing.
So let's say you do a promotion on the OTAs, right? The brands are gonna say, well, you can't do that. You need to do that promotion on our site as well. So all of a sudden, your promotion on the OTA is the rate on the brand. So they say, look what we've done for you. We've done all this, you know, all these rooms.
Well, because I've done these promotions on the OTAs. So it's just kind of funny to me that, you know, they're always trying to pig piggyback and make money on what you're doing already. So localization is gonna be the biggest thing ever. What experiences you can have at the local hotel, even if it's a roadside.
What if you're close to 10 miles away, you're close to some sort of venue, you know, a park or some sort of amusement park or things like that, you can piggyback on that even as a roadside. That's never happened before, because before all you were was a roadside, but now because of the internet, oh, you mean I could save $30 and stay at this roadside and go 10 miles and go to this venue? That's gonna happen because of ai, and AI is gonna make that possible if you take advantage of it. 
David M.: That's great. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is where we let you let people know how they can get in touch with Silverstone, how they can connect with you.
Fredrick Schoener: All right. Just go to silverstoneinns.com or find me on LinkedIn, Fredrick Schoener
David M.: All right. That's great. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to be with you again soon. Thank you for joining us.
Fredrick Schoener: Thank you. It was a pleasure.