Branded & Booked

Author: Steph Weber

Are you ready to stand out in the crowded world of short-term rentals and boutique hotels? Branded & Booked is the podcast for ambitious hosts and property owners who want to create rave-worthy brands and stay consistently booked. Hosted by Steph Weber, an expert in branding and marketing for STRs, this podcast is packed with actionable advice, inspiring stories, and behind-the-scenes insights to help you elevate your property and attract your best guests. Tune in every week to learn how to market your property, create a guest experience they'll rave about, and build a hospitality business.
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Language: en

Genres: Business, Marketing

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EP 253: How to Get More Full-Property Buyouts with Tony Stancato
Tuesday, 25 August, 2026

What happens when a vacation rental investment turns into a portfolio of boutique hotels? In this episode of Branded & Booked, Steph sits down with Tony Stancato to talk about his journey from buying his first short-term rental in 2020 to purchasing three boutique hotels in three years. What started as a way to offset travel expenses quickly turned into something much bigger as Tony and his business partner began recognizing opportunities in multi-unit properties and eventually hotels. Tony gets into the actual numbers and decisions behind the growth, including how they financed their hotel acquisitions, brought investors into deals, approached renovations, and learned to operate properties in completely different markets. They also dig into Tony's group buyout strategy and why positioning smaller hotels as one large property on Airbnb and Vrbo has created an entirely different revenue opportunity. Plus, they talk about the less glamorous realities of hotel investing: construction budgets that almost always go over, timelines that get pushed, finding financing, navigating seasonality, and the amount of work that actually goes into putting these deals together. One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation? Know why you're trying to grow. If you're looking for additional income, vacation rentals may be exactly what you need. But if your goal is to leave your job or build significant wealth, Tony's advice is to think bigger faster. Set the goal, go after it, and consider setting it a little higher than you're comfortable saying out loud. Connect with Tony: Podcast: Michigan Short-Term Rentals Podcast Instagram: @TonyStancato LinkedIn: Tony Stancato If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you're subscribed to Branded & Booked so you don't miss what's coming next Own a boutique hotel or short-term rental? We help hospitality brands build a brand guests remember. Apply to work with us at TheWeberCo.com.