Tech vs Hospitality in STR
Podcast Summary
Sean Breuner is the Founder and CEO of AvantStay, one of the most ambitious hospitality brands in the short-term rental industry. Since launching in 2017, AvantStay has raised significant capital, expanded across the United States, and set out to define what a national hospitality brand could look like in STR.
In this episode, Simon Lehmann sits down with Sean for an open conversation on scale, brand building, operational reality, and the tough decisions required to grow during one of the most volatile periods in the industry’s history.
Sean shares the thinking behind AvantStay’s proprietary tech platform, its “Hotel in a Home” thesis, and what it takes to deliver consistency at scale in a horizontal operating model.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Why AvantStay was built around group travel and a “Hotel in a Home” experience.
- How brand, technology, and operational tooling came together to create a vertical hospitality platform.
- Why AvantStay invested in proprietary tech and what it takes to maintain quality across dispersed markets.
- How the company navigated rapid expansion, macroeconomic shifts, and multiple rounds of layoffs.
- Why alignment with homeowners matters more than ever and why asset-light models continue to win.
- How regulation, consolidation, and shifting distribution dynamics will shape the future of STR.
We Say What Others Won’t
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Guest Appearing in this Episode
Simon Lehmann
Simon Lehmann is the CEO of AJL Atelier, a strategic advisory firm for the global short-term rental industry. He has decades of experience in vacation rentals, travel tech, and hospitality, and has advised hundreds of operators, startups, and investors across EMEA, North America, APAC, and LATAM. He’s also a frequent speaker and moderator at global events like VRMA, Phocuswright, and Skift, covering STR tech, market consolidation, and professional hosting. Simon was Co-Founder & Chairman of Vacasa Europe, President of PhocusWright, and a Board Member of HomeAway. He also held executive roles at Interhome, Hotelplan Group, and Swissport.
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