MH_018 === Regitse Rosenvinge: Storytelling is the backbone of everything. Our brains are wired to really understand stories, and it has been so since the beginning of time. We feel safe and secure when we interact with storytelling. Welcome to the, The Modern Hotelier you're presented by. Stayflexi. I'm your host, David Millili Steve: And I'm Steve Carran. David: Steve, who do we have on the program today? Steve: David today we have on Regitse Rosenvinge, uh, Rizza is a hospitality professional with more than a decade of experience, creating content and coaching businesses in the hospitality and travel industry. She was listed as one of the top 25 social media influencers in the world by the international hospitality Institute. She has owned her. Consulting business Regitse Rosenvinge Consulting for the past four years and has also published an ebook called Storytelling For Hotels. Welcome to the show. Geza Regitse Rosenvinge: Thank you excited to be here. Steve: yes. Yes. We're excited. And I got your name, right? Correct. Regitse Rosenvinge: You did. It's amazing. Great. Steve: Okay. Perfect. Perfect. David: good job, Steve. Obviously I'm not my usual place, but we're gonna make this work anyway. basically what we like to do is get people to know you. So we're gonna ask you some questions. About yourself, personal kind of questions that you kind of gonna give us your answers to get us to know who you are, we're gonna get into your career. and then we're gonna ask you questions on the industry. So, uh, buckle up. Here we go. You ready? what was your first job? Regitse Rosenvinge: My first job. That's a great first question. I can't even remember. I think I was actually selling ice cream in the local ice cream shop, close to my home. I was like 12 or something. So sort of in the hospitality industry. Yeah. David: So, what do you think you'd be doing if you weren't in hospitality? What line of profession would you be? Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, I think I'd be,An art historian. I've always wanted to study art history and I still wanna do that. So who knows someday, but an art historian might be a great guess. Yeah. David: who did you admire growing? Regitse Rosenvinge: Who did I admire growing up? Wow. I think there are like several different people. Um,my dad, it's a huge cliche probably, but he's always been an entrepreneur, my grandfather as well. So, um,it was super inspiring to kind of grow up and, and see how he managed his business, how he made it grow. And that really inspired me to become like self, employed as well from a very young age. So he he's still very inspiring. David: If you could take one person dead or alive to lunch, who would it be? Regitse Rosenvinge: Oh, my God. I didn't have any, any time to prepare for this. Um,who could it be? Who could it be? I think Horst Schultze which is like, the founder of Ritz Carlton hotel group is an incredible person, super inspiring, I would love to have a lunch with him if he's listening, you know, you never know, but yeah, David: That's great. Is it? What's the best piece of advice you've received? So, Regitse Rosenvinge: best piece of advice is probably, you know, again, maybe a cliche, but never give up. If you wanna accomplish something, you will be knocked over 120 times at least, or thousand times I did. And if you wanted. be self-employed and have the freedom in your life to pursue your own goals and your own dreams. You will have to phase obstacles and challenges, and you need to be able to find that strength within, to get back up on your two legs and keep fighting because nothing comes for free. So you really have to find that sort of inner strength to keep going here in life. And I think that's just keep fighting for what you want. David: I agree. Is there a secret talent that you have that most people don't know you have? I'm actually pretty good at drawing. No, I think it would be baking. I'm a, I'm really good baker and I don't think many people know that. Yeah. David: tell us something that's on your bucket list. Regitse Rosenvinge: well, there's so many countries I still wanna see in the world. it's impossible. I, I really wanna go to South Africa and stay for a few months really to get to know that culture, super interesting. Rich culture in my, my mind. And I, really would love to do that at some point. So I guess that's one for the bucket list, but you know, a hundred things. Yeah. David: what scares you? Regitse Rosenvinge: One thing that really scares me is not having seen enough or having done enough in this world. Sort of not leaving my mark, I think because I'm very driven and very ambitious and to kind of leave this world too early without having seen and done enough. That's a scary thought for me. David: And it's something you wish you were better at, Regitse Rosenvinge: I wish I had more patience. That's a big one for me. David: right? Yeah, me too. All right. This is the last one. If you could pick one superpower, what would it be? Regitse Rosenvinge: Oh, that's a hard one. One superpower. Oh God. I think it would be to fly. Then I could skip airplanes for the rest of my life and travel more sustainably and just, you know, see the whole world. Yeah, Steve: Yeah. David: That's a good, a lot of people pick that they pick invisible, but that's a good one too. So. All right. Great. We got through that and now we're gonna hand it over to Steve for the Steve: Yeah, that was great. That was great. So this is the first part where we get to know you a little bit, your background, where you came from, things like that. So you grew up in Denmark, is that correct? Regitse Rosenvinge: I do. Yeah. Steve: how did growing up in Denmark shape, who you are today? Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, see, this is a great question because, obviously this is something you think more about when, when you grow up, when you are an adult, you look back at your life. Having been an expat myself, actually for the most of my adult life, I really come to appreciate today coming from such a small country. And it is really the size of a greater Manhattan area, New York it's super tiny compared to most countries. But it's, still, leaving a mark of the international design scene, the international astronomy scene. And I think we're kind of a small country, but we have a lot of willpower and we are very proud. I think growing up here gave me a sense of belonging somewhere. There's a lot of safety. We have the whole welfare model growing up and it, you know, I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my heritage. I'd like to think that I have this Viking jeans. I think I do, but it's pretty cool. Steve: that's awesome. and then you were in Switzerland in your early twenties. what caused you to really fall in love with hospitality in Switzerland? Regitse Rosenvinge: the first memory I have of hospitality as such was when I was like eight years old, my parents took me and my brother to Southern France, and we checked into this grand beautiful old hotel. And I just remember the feeling of kind of passing through these, these revolving doors and kind of feeling the whole vibe of a grand hotel that really stuck with me from an early age that you're entering. another Dimension something that's bigger than yourself. Something that transports you to a different dimension. It's like a break from, everyday life that you have. Right. but what really caused me to pursue a career in hospitality was probably my brother. I have to give him the credit. He, he studied hospitality management in Switzer. And I kind of followed as the annoying little sister at the time. I also felt very much in love with the hospitality scene in Switzerland, because it's like the traditional kind of old school hospitality, which I, have huge respect for some beautiful traditions there. then I just, you know, it got under my skin, I guess. David: you've lived in quite a few countries, mostly in, in Europe, or is there one that was kind of your favorite maybe outside of Denmark? Is there one that you, you know, if you could just pack up and go and move there, you'd like to go. Regitse Rosenvinge: sure that has to be Portugal. I mean, I am in love with Portugal. It's an amazing culture, an amazing country. Um, temperature, the people, everything is really great. there are certain things about Germany. I just lived for five years in Berlin, came back earlier this year at Berlin. Germany is great as well, but in terms of kind of living life to the fullest, and I'm a full blown heist, I just, love the good life and I love to, you know, enjoy life and have good food and go swimming in the ocean and things like that. I think Portugal is a great place to live. David: You go to, I mean, we I'm sure Steve and I both, did we follow you on Instagram and you go to some great places. Regitse Rosenvinge: I still do. Yeah, it's amazing. David: And so you, you said some of your favorite hotels are in Napa valley Rome, what is it about or what really makes you, kind of fall in love with a hotel? What's were some of the qualities that you like about a hotel, Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, this is maybe something we're gonna talk about today as well. Storytelling, like the whole kind of vibe the hotel gives you even before you land there, even before you check in, the level of service, the authenticity, the, personalization, you know, are they really catering to each guest or is it just like a place to stay? So I think it's a lot to do with the people working in that specific property. and, you know, hospitality is all it's coming from the heart and you can feel it. So it's definitely a people business. And I think that's what people fall in love with as well. Um,it seems like hospitality and content have, always pretty much been a part of your adult life. You graduated from Copenhagen hospitality college, and you've always had jobs and content, social media PR, things like that. Steve: Was there always a passion for both of these things and, and really, how did you end up deciding to merge the. Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, when I was like, in the beginning of my twenties, I launched, a luxury travel block. And at the time we were like talking about 10, 12 years ago, the whole block thing was still pretty new. So I actually managed to create a luxury travel block that I received an award for, which was awarded the world's third best luxury travel blog at the time. So I traveled to Sri Lanka, which is also a beautiful destination to receive this award. And. I went pretty far with this block, uh, monetizing it and kind of, writing about hotels, writing about, destinations, collaborating with some amazing brands. And I kind of knew this is so fun for me to do. I'm really good at it. I'm very aesthetic. I'm a good writer. So for me, it was pretty obvious to take that way, but I also knew that I wanted to. Do something more professional about it? You know what I mean? Like, not just to manage a block, but, kind of handling, bigger businesses and like bigger hotels and, working directly with them. So that led me to launch my agency. David: Great. And with your consulting firm, can you,tell us how you help hotels? What do you do when you, when you work with hotels or your clients, how do you help. Regitse Rosenvinge: So I am an independent communication and storytelling consultant, which means I help specifically, hospitality and wellness brands building a digital presence through LinkedIn management, Instagram management. and you know, writing, I'm writing a lot, newsletters, et cetera. And then one thing that is really close to my heart sustainability. So sustainability consulting is kind of a new leg of my business and something that has gained a lot of positive attention over the course of the past months. Cuz people are really interested in going green without the whole green washing aspect to it. So Steve: what about sustainability is such a hot topic right now with hotels? Regitse Rosenvinge: It really is. we need a whole different podcast just to cover that. but there's a lot. And as I said, there's also the whole green washing aspect. the normal, like the average traveler is becoming more enlightened than ever people want to do good when they travel because travel per se is not very sustainable. So when we do travel, we wanna do good. We wanna support good costs and help where we. and this is where I think hotels, come in. they can actually make a difference in the way that they support the, the climate crisis and everything. So, Steve: Absolutely. And you also, have, uh, room 22 agency, which does B2C content marketing, specializing for independent hotels, restaurants, and innovative lifestyle brands. any specific types of hospitality companies you, you work best with, or that, you really enjoy working. Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, room 22 is, uh, that was my agency for four years. And now I kind of converted into just being me, me, myself and I, because it's just so much easier to handle also kind of the wake of the in the wake of the pandemic. It. challenging time and I decided I just wanna be me. so room 22 is in the past, but basically it's the same thing. I love working with all kinds of hospitality businesses. I think startups are very interesting, whether it's a hotel or restaurant, an app, something that people are super passionate about, and they're very excited to get their message out into the world and they're open for suggest. that's always more fun. Gives me more flexibility in my work. so that's super. David: And you've written an ebook storytelling for hotels. you've already given us, some insight, but give us some more about why you're so passionate storytelling. Regitse Rosenvinge: I think storytelling is the backbone of everything. our brains are wired to really understand stories and it has been so. since the beginning of time. So what's super interesting is that our ancestors, they were sitting around a bonfire. Telling each other stories, um, passing on stories, to a large extent for survival reasons as well. So today it's not necessarily like that, but our brains, they haven't developed. We are still wired in the same way for stories. we feel safe and secure when we interact with storytelling. And I think it's super crucial for not least hotels and hospitality brands to. Embrace, storytelling because it attracts clients. It attracts customers and it makes them feel safe. It creates brand loyalty. There's so much, so many possibilities lying there. being a writer, I guess it's, natural to me just to love storytelling. I wanna teach my clients how, how much impact they can have if they learn the techniques. David: I think that's probably the funnest part of, of, doing this podcast is the people that meet. We meet some of them we already know, but we still find out stories about themselves, that we didn't know. and that's what makes it fun for me, because I think if you're in hospitality, the storytelling, as you said, is, is such a big part. Regitse Rosenvinge: it's crucial. I mean, you can't run a hotel, let alone a restaurant today without implementing storytelling. So you don't have to sit and, talk about a fairytale. It's not a fairytale. It's very real, but you just have to tap into people's desires and, dreams and needs and kind of deliver, That whole message in an interesting and appealing way. that's an art, I think that hotels need to invest in. David: A hundred percent. Steve: Is there a hotel or restaurant right now, that's doing a great job at storytelling that you look at and you're just like, wow, they're doing it. Right. Regitse Rosenvinge: Yeah. You know, there are, quite a few, um,I was researching also for our talk today about, a lot of European hotels versus a lot of American hotels, the industry in Europe versus the industry and in the us. And I think in Europe, we have a lot of these smaller, unique boutique hotels, like family run, very personal, authentic, very quaint, And I think it's super easy for them to do the storytelling thing because it just taps into everything. They, they are their location, their staff, everything. there's a chain such as the Hoxton. I don't know if you heard of it Hoxton it's in London. it's delivering this kind of. Service and experience that is really, really popular at the moment. And that's only going to grow moving forward, cuz people want to feel. like They're visiting a good friend, like a very stylish friend, maybe. they wanna feel home, like sitting in a living room with a glass of Chardonnay, reading a book, the fireplace, and just having a good time. And this whole community aspect, of a hotel is also super, super nice. So I think the Hoxton is, is one of my favorites. Yeah. Steve: you're obviously involved in. A lot of different things. have you had a mentor throughout this process to kind of help, go to spit ideas off of and, you know, get feedback that has helped you throughout your career? Regitse Rosenvinge: Okay. I'm gonna say something now that maybe sound a little bit weird, but I was actually more mentoring other people than being mentored myself. And I think of course, I, I had a few, I wouldn't call them mentors. I had some, some nice, slightly older people that I would look up to and ask for advice and they would deliver it, but not consistently over the course of one or two years, it was more like a chat here to talk there, but I've had quite a few people in my career coming to me for advice. And I don't know, maybe I'm just a super old soul and a younger buddy, I guess I am, but I feel I have this passion and I'm very driven and I'm very excited about inspiring other people, especially in this industry to move forward and create a career. I hope that answers the question. Steve: Yeah, absolutely. So it sounds like you kinda did the reverse approach where you almost learned more by mentoring other people and you know, kinda helping them out. Regitse Rosenvinge: Yeah. Steve: So now we'll get into the industry thoughts. So, this is where you're studying is gonna come into play where we talk about a little bit of the differences here between Europe and America, things like that. but first I wanna know. For somebody who's just starting out. and they're thinking about maybe getting a career in hospitality or, you know,maybe becoming an influencer in the travel industry. What's one piece of advice you would give them, as they start out on their, career. Regitse Rosenvinge: So being an influencer in hospitality is of course, it's a huge honor to, receive this award. But I think no matter what, you just need to have a very good network. You need to really leverage your network and the people around you. You need to invest a lot of time communicating with people from different backgrounds,because it's a human, driven business. And as you guys know, it's all about networking today. So if you really kind of know how to do that, you are in a very strong position, I think. and as I said, don't give up, it's a cliche, but it's true. If you really want something, you have to be prepared to fail as well. And I think that's basically what sets the people who really want something and they continue apart from the people who want something and then. they Experience a setback and they quit you need to keep going and then Surround yourself with good, inspiring. people David: That's great. So I've been fortunate. I've. traveled a lot. I've been able to, run large organizations that had, you know, employees around the world, and realize that there's, you know, many differences in, in different regions of the world. So what tell us and the people that who will be listening, what is the biggest challenge or challenges, that you think are facing the hospitality industry in. Regitse Rosenvinge: I think they're quite similar. The, the industries in, Europe and the us and, and the challenges they're facing at the moment. But of course, over here, we are obviously worried about the coming winter season. Due to the current world situation. it's been super challenging navigating through the pandemic, but what will happen now as the war between Ukraine and Russia kind of unfold even further. and the gas prices they keep rising, will hotels force to, to close their doors because it's gonna be too expensive to run the properties. Will people stay home once again? there's so many obstacles to consider and to worry about at the moment. so it's definitely a challenging time being in a Hotelier in the us in Europe, but I think you really need to. Regitse Rosenvinge: be Positive and solution oriented. This is really crucial at the moment. And so if I can connect like another. Comment this discussion of, industry challenges. I think the whole, challenge of implementation technology is also something to consider as the industry is becoming more digitalized. how can hotels provide a great customer experience, with a mix of human and kind of tech-enabled interactions? such as, you know, we have the self-check in, we have the contactless service. If they do this right, it's great. But if they do it wrong or if a technology is rolled out in the wrong way in a hotel, it can really devastate the whole organization. Regitse Rosenvinge: So I think hotels really need to put a lot of focus on, successful, uh, technology. Steve: Absolutely. And David and I were at a show, earlier in the year and we talked to a lot of Hotelier and one of the biggest things they were saying was, integrations. Are a problem and they just have to have so many different integrations to run their hotel. And so many different groups and hotels are just ready for this all in one solution to come and, you know, be able a full all in one solution to be able to run their hotel on that. or at least cut down on integrations at least. Is that kinda what you're seeing in, Europe as well? People are ready. Regitse Rosenvinge: I think so. I think so. Absolutely. And it also made me kind of think about this whole thing the other day, what kind of world we are actually living in. It's like being a journalist, you know, 20, 30 years ago, if you were a journalist, you just had to write and be really good at your job. In writing and editing today, you have to be a social media manager of a salesman and not to be a journalist. It's the same for a hotel. You can't just focus on your passion, people hospitality anymore. You need to wear so many hats. And I think it's because, you know, the world has become increasingly complicated and it's a shame. So I personally hope that we will reach a point where things are simplified again, you know, cutting through all those layers and getting back to the, real substance of, things again. but at the moment, of course, it's a huge challenge of people. They wanna do something they're good at it, but they have to do a thousand different things in order just to keep the boat afloat. Right. so this is a challenge Steve: Right. do you mean by more simple experience? Are, can you elaborate on that? Like what would be your ideal hotel experience? That's a bit more Regitse Rosenvinge: Ah, that's a good one. And, and a big one because you can't run a hotel today and, and just think you can do it in a simple way. Well, maybe if you, buy a property in Tuscany on the countryside and you're just like, Hey, this is all rural and, and authentic, you know? This is the kind of things that I'm leaning towards. But of course, if you have, if you manage a big property in Manhattan or in Berlin, for that matter, you are forced to have a lot of different integrations and systems in place. So as you said before, Steve, if you could have like an all in one. That would kind of simplify the different processes. I think many Hotelier would be with open arms, you know, I'm ready for it. Steve: Absolutely. And then your team doesn't have to learn, you know, five different systems to run your hotel. Right? It can just be all in one. So hopes on that front too. one thing I was curious to ask you, you know, living in Europe and traveling around and living in so many different places, you have seen such a wide variety. Of different types of hotels and not only hotels, but hospitality and restaurants, you know, what do you think, are some of the biggest differences between hospitality in Europe and the United States? Regitse Rosenvinge: So there was obviously a cultural difference. I think being a European, I can say that I'm quite often annoyed by the lack of service here within hotels and restaurants, at least. And I think some of the best services I've had in my life was in the us. Now, maybe that was a coincidence, but I truly believe that you guys are very concerned with service. it's important for you and I really, really like that. There is a noticeable difference between American and European hotels as well. The sizes, the rooms, the sizes of the rooms, even the bathrooms, the way they're designed, which is quite interesting to see. and as I said before, we have a lot of these smaller privately owned boutique hotels in Europe. I prefer staying in, those smaller, more quaint hotels rather than a huge Marriot, for example, because it makes the hotel stay more memorable for me. Steve: any funny differences that you've ran into when you're traveling, where maybe something happened and it kind of, you like step back and you're like, whoa, I wasn't expecting that. Or, or any funny stories like that? Regitse Rosenvinge: Honestly, nothing comes to mind right now. because it's not that different. I mean, come on a hotel, hotel in Steve: Yeah, you're a well seasoned traveler. You got it. Regitse Rosenvinge: I am. I, I think I can adapt pretty well. I didn't experience something in a hotel where I was like, whoa, maybe in Asia, in Sri Lanka, they put up a huge show of these like cultural traditions and astronomy wise where you weren't expecting to get that and to kind of get immersed into the local. Culture when staying there. And that was a beautiful, surprise, I would say. David: I'll tell you one thing that's consistent, no matter where you go, that drives me crazy is the door behind the front desk that's left open so that you can see the printer and the fire alarm panel and everything. These gorgeous lobbies. And then the, door's open behind the front desk. anyone who travels with me? It it really disturbs me being an ex-GM Regitse Rosenvinge: It's a no go. And also because the lighting in there is also, it looks like the door to hell and I mean, who wants to see that in a hotel? Right? David: And do you think any of the, service, I mean, having run hotels in New York? Obviously we had a lot of European, a lot of international travelers. your opinion on, or, just maybe any general thoughts on just the whole tipping, how the us is so heavily. Based off tipping being tipping, you know, the bellman, the person for valet, the housekeeper, the, waiter Regitse Rosenvinge: My opinion. Well, I can say my opinion is that in Denmark, we don't tip. at all And you don't do that because it's already included in their salary. So if you ever meet a Dane, they're very reluctant to tipping, which is super rude abroad, but here you don't have to do it. I, lived in Berlin and Germany, several places and you have to tip, so I kind of learned it. I can kind of sense that you find it too much, David, is that true? David: Well, I mean, I think it's, I, I agree with you. I mean, it's very interesting. know, it's funny cuz I've traveled and I've left a tip for the housekeeper on my bed and they've just taken it and put it on the nightstand. but, you know, if you stay a couple nights, it becomes a game like, you know, then you put so yeah, I, I agree with you because I think that, in some of the cases where you might have seen good service in the, in the us is where those people are heavily reliant on tips, which I think is fundamentally wrong, but that's the way we're, positioned. I mean, we have some workers that, 80. Percent of their salary is dictated on the, the tips that you know is at the sole discretion, of the person who's eating there. And to your point, you know, I think for all of us, and it's just, I'll follow it up with another question what's taking off here in the states, which is driving me nuts is these fake resort fees in metropolitan cities where it's an amenity fee. A 40, $50 per day for wifi, for using, being able to use the gym, to make phone calls, which everybody uses their phone and they try to squeeze that in there. And so by the time you get to the checkout portion, you're like, wait a second. I thought this was a two 50 at night hotel and you're you start adding up the math and you're like, no, they're sneaking in another four. Just charge me 2 90. Don't charge me two 50 and a $40, fee. So let's, hear it from you on that. Regitse Rosenvinge: Absolutely. If I experienced that, I would be super annoyed too. You know, it's a very sneaky way of, doing it. and it's not very transparent. And I think that's something that would really turn a lot of travelers international travelers off completely because what you see is, not what you get apparently. For kind of random stuff like wifi and using your phone and, so on and so forth, that should be included. And it's not very typical. I haven't really come across that here in Europe to so. David: Now in the states, it's huge now in, in properties, in the states and in the Caribbean, there used to be, you know, resort fees that they would sneak in. That was still kind of a little, you know, BS, you know, kind of, it didn't make any sense, but now you go to New York, and a majority of hotels. I mean, there was one, I won't name the hotel, but in their resort, their fee amenity fee, they actually would give you. water bottle and that water bottle you would have, you would, there'd be filling stations in the hallway where you could fill it up. And that was part of their amenity fee. if you're coming to New York. You're gonna see it. Regitse Rosenvinge: wait. David: just, I'm just getting you ready? Little pep talk. Steve: to come to New York. David: Yeah. Well, don't get me started on New York. here's something I I'm, I'm gonna ask you a question then I'm gonna ask you to comment on two things. So is there a trend, and it could be either technology service, a anything that is happening in Europe that isn't happening anywhere else in the world when it comes to hotels, is there something that you've, you've heard or seen that is really predominantly in Europe versus other parts of the. Regitse Rosenvinge: I would just be very upfront and say, I don't know, but I know about the metaverse a little bit, and I know that's probably what you wanna maybe to talk about a little bit as well. I don't know how far the us is. in that sense, according to Europe, maybe you can elaborate on that, but I think it holds huge opportunities for the industry, so David: hold. Your thought on that. Steve's gonna ask you that question before. I just wanna ask you one more question, cuz it on our, last guest, I brought it up. So Steve and I were at a, us based, I mean they have it in other regions of the world, but there's a trade show called high tech that happens once a year here in the states and uh, out of all the exhibitors and it was a pretty big show. There were more exhibitors exhibit. In room phones, then robotics. So I wanted to just ask you because, I think it's important to our industry. There's labor issues all over the place. Just, I wanted to get your thoughts on robotics in hospitality and what you think the role could be there for them. Regitse Rosenvinge: a lot of people ask that question and I, you know, we're very afraid, like humans are wired to be scared about new things and the future and whatnot, like, oh my God, the robots are taking over. That's not gonna happen because hospitality is I believe human driven, hard driven business. And no matter how intelligent a robot is, it doesn't have a heart, it doesn't have feelings. And I think it can be actually pretty. Interesting. It's an interesting contribution. It's an interesting layer of hospitality in the future, but it's not gonna be a dominant factor. I think it's kind of newsworthy as well. That's why many people are like, oh, we are into robots. We have robots here. It's interesting. It's exciting. It's attracting modern travelers, gen C. You know, they're crazy about it, but it might be a marketing trick as well. I don't think we have to be scared about it. David: It is, we had, uh, Judy from the dream hotel in their hotel. I believe it's in Nashville, Steve, um, people stay, is it Nashville, LA one with the robots. So they actually have robots, deliver room service and people stay there just so they can do social media with the robots. if you aren't, you should follow max stark off on LinkedIn because he has a lot of opinions on robots and they're usually pretty good. Regitse Rosenvinge: do. Thank you. David: Former guests. Steve: So now I wanna get your, your thoughts on the metaverse. I feel like in the us, we're kind of almost split on it. Some people are really excited about it. Other people are like, this is never gonna happen. What do you think? What do you, what do you think is gonna be the, the play for the metaverse in hospitality? Maybe starting out now and maybe, down the road as well. Regitse Rosenvinge: You know, I'm kind of torn between like I'm a sucker for all school hospitality. I, I think there's something beautiful, romantic about a hotel with real people, you know, doing their thing. And I, I'm a little bit kind of suspicious about the whole metaverse thing, but we can't stop the development of the world. And since it's here, I do think that it holds some interesting, opportunities for the industry. So, hotels can basically create virtual experiences for travelers to interact with their property before even setting foot in the property. And that, opens up a whole new, set of opportunities for hotels. So I also think it's a process that takes decades to develop. So, David, as you said, they're staying in this hotel because they wanna interact with the. But if all hotels in the world were offering that, trust me, they'd be scared. They'd be like, oh God, I wish I just had a regular Marriot by my side. You know? It's like, that's how it is. So I think the metaverse is here to stay, but I think it's gonna take generations for it to be really fully implemented or not generations, but decades at least. Yeah. Steve: You mentioned you could have a virtual experience before arrival. What type of virtual experience were you referencing or have you seen that, you know, is, is happening on the metaverse right now or, is kind of catching a little bit more, Regitse Rosenvinge: Well, you can basically showcase the hotel's amenities, the rooms, the lobby, the restaurant as if you are there. And may I add that the world's first virtual hotel has actually opened already, and that is located in Singapore and it's called, M social decentral land. you know, Asians are very quick with technology and I think it's exciting, but it's already there so you can Google it. David: we've come to the end of the industry question. So this is where we like to just ask you if there's anything that we didn't cover that you would like to, share or a question you think we should have asked you that we didn't. Regitse Rosenvinge: I think everything is pretty covered from my personal journey to, to the future of hospitality, which is what I wanted to talk about that because I think it's relevant for the listeners as well. What's gonna happen? What are we facing? So I think it's great. Yeah. David: No, it was great to get to know you. Um, you know what? We talked early on, we we've been trying to get this scheduled and it's always.As Steve and I talk, um, one of the biggest challenges for anyone listening, who's thinking about doing a podcast is scheduling because you end up getting, you know, so many different people involved or in different parts of the country or the world. but we really appreciate you making the time and, if you could just let people know, they should do to follow you where they should find you website any social media information, please share that with us. Regitse Rosenvinge: Sure. So, I think for the, uh, listener here would be pretty impossible to spell my name. So I hope you have it written somewhere. RegitseRosenvinge.com is my website. you could follow me, on Instagram as well. Beza Rosen min consulting, and, I'm actually working on a new ebook coming out next year in winter about sustainability for hospitality businesses. Steve: Well, we will have to have you back next winter to talk about that book. David: Well, thank you so much that does it for another episode of the, The Modern Hotelier you're presented by Stayflexi. We thank you so much for your time and we appreciated getting to meet you. Regitse Rosenvinge: Thank you. Likewise.