Check-In with Bryan

Bryan Fish
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Check-In with Bryan, your essential podcast for staying ahead in the dynamic world of hospitality. Hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality and a highly sought-after keynote speaker, this podcast dives deep into the strategic insights, evolving trends, and transformative ideas driving the hospitality and travel industries forward.    Drawing from Bryan’s extensive background in hospitality management, strategic planning, and business innovation, each episode features compelling discussions with influential industry leaders, hotel executives, investors, asset managers, and expert consultants. You’ll gain valuable insights into operational excellence, market developments, investment opportunities, asset optimization strategies, and relevant travel news influencing the hospitality landscape.   Designed specifically for hotel owners, operators, hospitality investors, travel professionals, and industry leaders, Check-In with Bryan empowers listeners to elevate their business strategies, harness industry-leading insights, and navigate the ever-evolving intersection of hospitality and travel.    Stay informed, inspired, and ahead of the competition with Bryan Fish and Reliance Hospitality.

  1. 6d ago ·  Video

    I’ll Build It So They Can’t Tell Me No

    Sarah Dandashy of Ask a Concierge got a flat "no" from a major brand two weeks before we taped this. Her response: build something they can't turn down. In her third visit to Check-In with Bryan, Sarah opens up about the rejections behind a career that looks effortless from the outside — the year-long TV development deal that died, the brands that passed, and the mindset that carried her through all of it: "It's not rejection, it's redirection." Sarah made her professional debut at 14 as a fairy sprite at the Georgia Renaissance Festival — eight hours a day on her feet, inventing a character and pulling strangers into a world that didn't exist. She still calls it the best hospitality training she ever got. From Jeddah to London to Atlanta to Washington D.C., she trained at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service pointed squarely at diplomacy, and landed in hospitality instead. In 2012, working the concierge desk in Beverly Hills, she started filming what-to-see-and-do videos in Los Angeles and took her advice off the desk and onto the internet — years before anyone called it a content strategy. "I was creating reels before other people were creating reels." In 2015, Les Clefs d'Or International named her Best Young Concierge in the world. She has since written the bestselling HOSPITALITY FROM WITHIN, spoken on the TEDx stage, and now spends more than 200 nights a year on the road. IN THIS CONVERSATION Why rejection is a redirect, not a verdict — and why "the rent is too expensive" to keep living in that feelingThe passage from HOSPITALITY FROM WITHIN that stopped Bryan cold: "Follow the yeses."Turning concierge tenacity on your own career — if you'd find a guest a Plan B, C and D, do it for yourselfThe year-long TV development deal that ended in a no, and what she built so it couldn't happen againWhy she turns down content ideas that would probably perform wellTelling a brand their idea will fall flat without making anyone feel stupid — and having no ego about whose idea winsContent creation as a legitimate small business, and why the "influencer" eye-roll is about a decade out of dateFilming since age seven on her grandfather's camera, including interviews with rocksThe audience she never expected to find: not tourists, locals looking for a date night ideaBryan's own first stage role, which involved an elf costume and tightsThen we close the way every episode this season closes — with a game. Tyler reads real hotel guest reviews and Sarah and Bryan guess how the guest actually rated the stay. Black mold, a cockroach in the bed... and a two out of five. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CONNECT WITH SARAH DANDASHY Ask a Concierge → https://askaconcierge.tv Instagram → https://instagram.com/askaconcierge ABOUT CHECK-IN WITH BRYAN Hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality — conversations with the owners, operators and creators shaping hospitality. On your side of the table. For more - check out our website at: checkinwithbryan.com Season 6 presented by Immedia. Produced by RH Media Productions. Special thanks to our supporting sponsors: Regency Group, Avalon Risk Management, Arcstone Insurance Advisors, and Achilles HR. #Hospitality #ContentCreator #AskAConcierge #Concierge #HospitalityFromWithin #GuestExperience #CheckInWithBryan

    I’ll Build It So They Can’t Tell Me No

  2. Sep 8 ·  Video

    Your Press Release Is Getting Deleted

    Hotel press releases mostly get deleted, and the reason is almost never the writing. CJ Arlotta spent his career on the other side of the desk - a journalist covering hospitality, healthcare, politics and government tech, and senior editor at Hotel Business before he opened his own B2B hospitality PR agency in 2019, about three months before the industry stopped moving. So when he tells you what happens to your announcement when it hits an editor's inbox, he's not guessing. This is the season premiere, and it's the conversation you'd normally only get after the recorder goes off. IN THIS EPISODE • From journalist to agency owner — and launching a PR firm right before COVID • Why keeping roughly 30% of the portfolio outside hospitality kept the lights on • "Everybody thinks their news is news" — how to tie an announcement to something the industry actually cares about • PR is 50/50: what owners think they're buying versus what they're signing up for • Proving ROI on a service with no physical product • Overexposure is real, and sometimes the right advice is to sit down for a month • GM appointments, recycled awards, and the case for paying for real headshots and high-res photography • Conference panels: why 80% of the work happens before you walk into the room • Crisis: an attorney AND a PR firm on retainer, prepared holding statements, and the GM whose answer became the headline • GAME — No Comment: five questions, one card, never played CHECK IN WITH BRYAN - new episodes weekly. Visit: checkinwithbryan.com for more! Produced by RH Media Productions Special thanks to our sponsors: Immedia, Regency Group, Avalon Risk Management, Arcstone Insurance Advisors, and Achilles HR. Visit: checkinwithbryan.com for more! #HospitalityPodcast #HotelIndustry #PublicRelations #HotelMarketing #CrisisCommunications #HospitalityPR #HotelBusiness #B2BMarketing #CheckInWithBryan

    Your Press Release Is Getting Deleted

  3. Jun 19

    Can a Hotel Run Without a General Manager?

    In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan sits down in person with returning guest Cody Adent, President and Chief Financial Officer of Vibrant Management, a forward-thinking hospitality management company specializing in boutique hotels, independent properties, and unique hospitality experiences. Cody shares how Vibrant Management is expanding into markets like South Lake Tahoe, why their “Virtual GM” model works so well for smaller independent hotels, and how AI, automation, guest messaging, smart locks, revenue tools, and remote operations are reshaping the way boutique properties are managed. The conversation also dives into hotel tech adoption, why hospitality is such a difficult industry for new software companies to break into, the role of AI in improving—not replacing—hotel operations, and why independent hotels need partners who understand their specific challenges. Bryan and Cody also talk about BITAC, casino hospitality, guest data, OTA challenges, conference networking, hotel reviews, barn door disasters, family travel, and the realities of building long-term relationships in the hospitality industry. In This Episode What a Virtual GM is and how it worksWhy smaller boutique hotels can benefit from remote operationsHow AI is being used in guest communication and revenue managementWhy hospitality tech companies need to play the long gameThe challenge of switching PMS, booking engines, and software systemsWhy independent hotels are often underserved by major conferencesHow Vibrant Management finds its niche with unique propertiesCody’s path into hospitality through finance and hotel ownershipWhat casino hotels can teach the rest of hospitality about dataWhy great hotel operations still come down to common sense #Hospitality #HotelManagement #BoutiqueHotels #IndependentHotels #HotelOperations #HospitalityIndustry #HotelTech #AIHospitality #RevenueManagement #HotelOwners #HotelDevelopment #VibrantManagement #CheckInWithBryan #BryanFish #HospitalityPodcast

    Can a Hotel Run Without a General Manager?

  4. Jun 9

    Why Hyatt Is Betting Big on Midscale Hotels

    In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan Fish sits down with Jason Ballard, SVP and Global Brand Leader for the Essentials Portfolio at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Jason shares how Hyatt is expanding into new markets through brands like Hyatt Studios, Hyatt Select, Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Unscripted by Hyatt, and UrCove. The conversation dives into Hyatt’s approach to midscale and upper-midscale growth, owner-focused development, conversion strategy, brand discipline, guest experience, and what it takes to build hotel brands that actually work in the real world. They also discuss Jason’s 20+ year career at Hyatt, how hospitality creates long-term opportunity, why travel changes people, and the leadership lessons he has learned from working across revenue management, operations, analytics, brand development, and global hotel strategy. Topics covered: * Hyatt’s growth in the essentials and midscale hotel space * The strategy behind Hyatt Studios and Hyatt Select * Why conversion brands are becoming more important * How Hyatt thinks about owners, operators, and development costs * Building hotels around real operational feedback * The future of hotel loyalty and guest experience * What makes Hyatt’s brand approach different * Career lessons from 20+ years in hospitality * Why travel and hospitality still matter If you’re a hotel owner, developer, operator, investor, or hospitality professional, this conversation offers a deep look into where the hotel industry is heading and how one of the world’s most respected hospitality brands is thinking about growth. Subscribe for more conversations with leaders across hospitality, hotel ownership, operations, development, branding, and business strategy. #hoteldevelopment #hotelownership #hotelbrands #hospitalityleadership, #hotelconversions #midscale#hotels #HyattEssentials

    Why Hyatt Is Betting Big on Midscale Hotels

  5. May 27

    Inside the Future of Hospitality Technology

    What if the future of hospitality starts with better spaces? In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan Fish sits down with Jeff Emmons, CEO of Immedia, to talk about how NextSpace became more than a showroom — it became an immersive experience center where clients can see, touch, test, and understand technology before making major investments. Jeff breaks down how Immedia built a multi-million-dollar ecosystem around AV integration, workplace technology, smart meeting rooms, event rentals, hospitality tech, and podcast production — and why physical experience still matters in a digital world. Bryan and Jeff also dig into what hotels can learn from this model, including built-in AV, smarter meeting spaces, guestroom automation, occupancy sensors, leak detection, energy savings, ROI, and the operational value of better data. In this episode: How NextSpace became a sales and experience engineWhy clients need to experience technology before buying itHow built-in AV can improve hotel meeting spacesWhy smart guestrooms can reduce costs and improve operationsThe ROI behind occupancy sensors, leak detection, and automationHow podcast studios and content spaces are becoming business assetsWhy hospitality needs better technology infrastructureSubscribe to Check-In with Bryan for more conversations on hospitality, hotel operations, technology, leadership, travel, business, and the future of guest experience. #HospitalityTechnology #HotelTechnology #AVIntegration #SmartHotels #CheckInWithBryan

    Inside the Future of Hospitality Technology

  6. May 21

    Is Hotel Tech Losing the Human Touch?

    What happens when a longtime hotel operator moves into the world of hospitality technology? In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan Fish sits down with Nick Knight of Duetto to talk about the evolution of hotel tech, revenue management, AI, personalization, and why the future of hospitality still depends on human connection. From old-school PMS systems and wake-up call printers to cloud-based platforms, machine learning, generative AI, and profit optimization, Nick breaks down how technology is reshaping hotel operations — and where the industry still needs to be careful. They also discuss the disappearing role of the traditional concierge and maître d’, the importance of training, the rise of revenue and profit operating systems, and why hoteliers need to stay curious as the industry changes faster than ever. In this episode: How hotel technology has changed over the last 20 yearsWhy AI should support hoteliers, not replace themThe future of revenue management and profit optimizationHow Duetto is approaching AI and machine learningWhy hospitality still needs human connectionThe importance of training the next generation of hotel leadersSubscribe to Check-In with Bryan for more conversations on hospitality, hotels, travel, technology, operations, and the future of the industry. #HospitalityTechnology #HotelIndustry #RevenueManagement #HospitalityPodcast #HotelTech

    Is Hotel Tech Losing the Human Touch?

  7. May 7

    The F&B Playbook Hotels Still Get Wrong

    What separates a great hotel restaurant from one that quietly loses money? In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan sits down with hospitality veteran Guy Reinbold—former VP of Food & Beverage and Corporate Executive Chef at Marriott International—to break down what actually drives success in hotel F&B. With over 40 years of experience, Guy shares real-world insights from the front lines of hotel operations, covering everything from concept development and menu strategy to guest expectations and profitability. From fixing underperforming restaurants to navigating brand standards vs. owner ROI, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways for hotel owners, operators, and hospitality professionals. They dive into: Why most hotel restaurant concepts fail before they even openThe balance between brand standards and owner profitabilityHow guest expectations should shape your F&B strategyThe real impact of pricing, room service, and retail on revenueWhy simplicity and execution matter more than over-designed menusLessons from decades inside one of the world’s largest hotel brandsWhether you’re building a new concept or trying to fix an existing one, this episode is a masterclass in keeping hospitality both profitable and authentic. 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe for weekly insights from leaders shaping the hospitality industry. #Hospitality #HotelManagement #FoodAndBeverage #HotelBusiness #Leadership

    The F&B Playbook Hotels Still Get Wrong

  8. Apr 29

    What It’s Like Having Your Virgin Voyage Planned

    What does it actually feel like to take a trip where everything is planned for you? This week on Check-In with Bryan, we’re coming to you aboard the Scarlet Lady with Lara Eurdolian, Belle Baskt, and Melissa & Skye Neumann to break down their full Caribbean experience—this time planned entirely by Destinations by Reliance. From the moment they left home to the moment they stepped back off the ship, every detail of this trip was handled—from flights and transportation to onboard reservations, excursions in Key West and Bimini, and everything in between. The result? A completely different way to travel. Instead of stressing over logistics, the group was able to fully immerse themselves in the experience—leaning into spontaneity, enjoying curated recommendations, and having a dedicated concierge available 24/7 to handle anything that came up along the way. In this episode, they share their honest, unfiltered experience of what it’s like to: Travel without planning every detail yourselfExperience a Virgin Voyages cruise through a fully curated itineraryBalance spontaneity with structureEnjoy high-level service without the usual travel headachesThey also dive into the moments that made the trip unforgettable—from Scarlet Night and late-night karaoke to exploring Key West, discovering Bimini, and experiencing the energy that makes Virgin Voyages stand out. And perhaps most importantly, they reflect on what changed when they were able to truly be present—thanks to having every moving piece handled for them.  #VirginVoyages #LuxuryTravel #TravelPlanning #DestinationsByReliance #CheckInWithBryan In this episode, you’ll learn: What it’s like to have your entire trip planned for youHow Destinations by Reliance creates a seamless travel experienceWhy concierge-level service changes how you travelThe real difference between DIY travel and curated itinerariesHighlights from Virgin Voyages, Key West, and BiminiAbout the Show: Check-In with Bryan is hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality, featuring conversations with leaders, creators, and operators shaping the future of hospitality, travel, and business. Credits: This show is a production of RH Media Productions. Executive Producer: Tyler Alexander Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Reliance Hospitality Global Limited Co., its affiliates, or subsidiaries. All content is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be interpreted as professional legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions regarding your business. #VirginVoyages #LuxuryTravel #TravelPlanning #DestinationsByReliance #CheckInWithBryan

    What It’s Like Having Your Virgin Voyage Planned
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to Check-In with Bryan, your essential podcast for staying ahead in the dynamic world of hospitality. Hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality and a highly sought-after keynote speaker, this podcast dives deep into the strategic insights, evolving trends, and transformative ideas driving the hospitality and travel industries forward.    Drawing from Bryan’s extensive background in hospitality management, strategic planning, and business innovation, each episode features compelling discussions with influential industry leaders, hotel executives, investors, asset managers, and expert consultants. You’ll gain valuable insights into operational excellence, market developments, investment opportunities, asset optimization strategies, and relevant travel news influencing the hospitality landscape.   Designed specifically for hotel owners, operators, hospitality investors, travel professionals, and industry leaders, Check-In with Bryan empowers listeners to elevate their business strategies, harness industry-leading insights, and navigate the ever-evolving intersection of hospitality and travel.    Stay informed, inspired, and ahead of the competition with Bryan Fish and Reliance Hospitality.

Information

  • Creator
    Bryan Fish
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    74
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Check-In with Bryan
  • Show Website
    Check-In with Bryan