Slick Talk: Beyond the Eight Hours & Hospitality’s Next Chapter

Wil Slickers here again, and I’m closing out our summer break by sharing one of my favorite episodes from Slick Talk — a deep, future-focused conversation with Richard Valtr , founder of Mews . Richard and I go beyond operations to explore what it means to think theologically about hospitality: why the real competition isn’t other hotels but the hours outside of a guest’s sleep, how technology should drive growth instead of just cutting costs, and what it takes to turn a property into a lifestyle brand. We talk about Mews’ journey from serving independents to winning enterprise clients, the role of acquisitions like Nomi Travel, and how AI, personalization, and a richer 24-hour guest experience could redefine our industry. This one’s for anyone who wants to think bigger about what hospitality can be. Follow the Hosts: Wil Slickers – ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Connect with Skift: LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/⁠ ⁠ WhatsApp: ⁠ ⁠https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠https://facebook.com/skiftnews⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/⁠ ⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews⁠ ⁠ Bluesky: ⁠ ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social⁠⁠ X: ⁠ ⁠https://twitter.com/skift⁠⁠ Subscribe to ⁠@SkiftNews⁠ and never miss an update from the travel industry.