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Vegas & Tulum Just Got Smarter — Philippe Ziade’s AI Hotels Are Here!

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Visionary entrepreneur Philippe Ziade takes us deep into the revolutionary world of AI-powered hospitality with his groundbreaking Otonomus hotel concept, set to open in Las Vegas on July 1st. This episode unveils how technology is fundamentally transforming guest experiences while creating unprecedented value for real estate developers.

Philippe's journey from Lebanese immigrant studying engineering at UNLV to innovative developer illustrates the quintessential American success story. After starting with a marble company working on the Palms Casino, he navigated the 2008 financial crisis by pivoting to distressed properties, where operational challenges led him to develop technological solutions. Those early innovations eventually evolved into the sophisticated AI systems powering Otonomus.

What makes Otonomus revolutionary? Picture a property where guests specify exactly what they want—from room configuration to service preferences—and AI puzzles it together in real time. Through what Philippe calls "digital avatars," the system learns each guest's preferences, creating increasingly personalized experiences with every interaction. Imagine walking into a hotel room that already knows your preferred temperature, lighting, and amenities before you even arrive.

Despite the technological sophistication, Philippe emphasizes that Otonomus isn't about replacing humans but enhancing them. "We're in the augmented era," he explains, where digital systems extend our capabilities while preserving the irreplaceable human elements of hospitality. This philosophy extends to Otonomus dining offerings, including Nyla, an elevated Lebanese restaurant named after Philippe's mother.

Beyond Otonomus, Philippe shares his ambitious vision for Las Vegas's evolution into a true global metropolis with branded residential towers, financial districts, and cultural centers. His perspective on Vegas as a blank canvas for innovation will inspire anyone passionate about urban development and the city's unlimited potential.

Listen now to discover how the intersection of real estate, technology, and hospitality is creating the future of travel experiences. Whether you're a technology enthusiast, hospitality professional, or simply curious about how AI is reshaping our world, Philippe's insights will transform how you think about your next hotel stay.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Vegas Circle Podcast with your hosts, paki and Chris. We are people who are passionate about business, success and culture, and this is our platform to showcase the people in our city who make it happen. On today's podcast, we're going to be sitting down with a visionary entrepreneur developer behind one of the world's first AI hotels called Autonomous redefining hospitality, which we're going to get into. We're going to explore the AI impact, his latest projects and his views on global development. So welcome into the circle founder of Growth Holdings.

Speaker 2:

We've got Mr Philippe Ziade. Did I say it correctly? Thank you guys for having me. Yeah, that's pretty good, it's Philippe. It's French, yeah, it's a French saying of Philip, but I go with anything you call me, I like. Philippe, because it makes me feel different. It's a differentiator and then everything I do in my life. We always go after being different. I love that Somewhere somehow. I love that. So Philippe works.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome, let's jump right in, man. So, growth Holdings did you kind of get your first start? What I was reading is you're a marble company, right, so did you get connected with the Palms Casino back in the late 90s? That's how you actually got into last year 2000 actually. Oh, year 2000, okay end of 99.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I came. I came to vegas as a student, you know, to unlv. Okay, came from lebanon, you know was the I have an uncle here and then also was the cheapest for me to. It was cheap living in las vegas and the city was growing. I wanted to be an engineer and and construction wise. Engineering wise it was. It was a good place for me to be. So that's how I end up in vegas, went to uh unlv school.

Speaker 2:

Here I did mechanical engineering oh wow, and then started working ever since okay, so you got brothers, you.

Speaker 1:

You got your brother over here, chris that's my man.

Speaker 2:

He's part of the lebanese background, my lebanese, my Lebanese man.

Speaker 3:

Yes sir, yes sir.

Speaker 1:

So what makes Vegas like the perfect place to kind of jump into this AI world, man? Because we've got so much going on. What we're talking about offline is we're becoming like the Mecca for food, becoming the Mecca of development, like we were talking about. But what makes Vegas kind of, you know, the top, you know, to focus on?

Speaker 2:

I mean, for me, vegas is home right and home usually reflects comfort and the place you like and you like to be, and when you're at home you're more creative.

Speaker 3:

I love that You're comfortable.

Speaker 2:

So it's not necessarily that I thought, hey, ai and Vegas, they're going to come together. It's just, I'm here, I'm comfortable, I can be innovative and Vegas also give us a platform. Las Vegas is an international, huge name, right, and and if you understand that we have that opportunity to, to be and start from Vegas, uh, it's a, it's a push for you. You know you're, you're on the international scene, you're one of the big names. Las Vegas, miami, dubai, singapore, london, new York, I mean, you're at that caliber, right, and that's for us it's an advantage, but for me it's.

Speaker 2:

You know the sequence of what I went through when I came here as a student and the normal progression of your life and who you want to be. And, coming from a place like Lebanon where you don't have a lot of opportunity, your only opportunity is to get a visa and come to the US, and then you come here and you start dreaming and fighting the fight to get where you want, to be always scared from going back where you came from or go back to the situation that you were in and and that will give you the drive. Now, as I was in Vegas starting in the early 2000s, it was booming and, you know, for Vegas we say if you're over 20 years, you're, you're from Vegas.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm almost 17. I feel like it's home.

Speaker 2:

I'm 26 years in Vegas, so I'm I'm native and I'm proud of it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so as the, we started with a marble company working on the on the strip, starting with the Palm. The Palm was the first project I've ever done. I didn't even know how to price it, I didn't even know what, how it works, and I learned as we were doing the project, of course, at a cost, like everything else, but also you learn. And that was the start. And then the market crash came in 2008 and you know, vegas was hit very, very hard and I was forced to like pivot quickly and I started going to japan and raising money, because you know there were no money here.

Speaker 3:

So I had to go somewhere else and get creative.

Speaker 2:

So we raised money in japan and we started working in the distressed market, buying packages from the banks and and repositioning properties. So we went through all of that and at the time I was the biggest in Nevada. I was ranked nationally 13 by the Wall Street Journal with the number of transaction and dollar volume. So as we were doing all of this, we had a lot of challenges controlling the operation right and houses going on fire. Where's the insurance? Oh, we never put insurance. How come you didn't put insurance? Oh, we missed it that day.

Speaker 2:

You know you go into these kind of issues and I couldn't control it. And then I the only I looked at a technology to help me and I was like, okay, can I streamline? How can I take my brain and share it with everybody? Like, how can we make these mistakes and make sure we're efficient? And then that's how I got into technology. I hired the first company couldn't perform. Then I had a person in the office with me that had a computer science background. He's like, hey, I can code it for you. I said seriously.

Speaker 3:

He's like yeah.

Speaker 2:

So he started coding. I was sitting with him and then we get two more guys helping and I really mapped everything I wanted to be and at the time it was equivalent to AI. So basically, you buy the property and automatic work orders will go to everybody that's working with you Locksmith guy, the insurance guy, the remodeling team, right, everybody gets work orders from the second. They get the work order until they're done. They take a picture, for example, you're the locksmith guy we purchased, you get the work order, you go change the lock, take a picture and upload it.

Speaker 2:

The system will time you. Then I run an average on you, right, and then if you, if your performance on that specific project is above your, your average, the system will flag you for me and tell me he's slowing you down, right. So I was able to track everything. And then, and it became fascinated with technology and what technology can do for my operation. So as we got to the end of 2012, we were sitting on a lot of rental properties and then airbnb became popular I was like what is airbnb?

Speaker 2:

hey, let's, let's try it. So we were renting a lot of houses on the market and we started. I said, let's try an Airbnb. So we furnished one property, we did one Airbnb and suddenly the house that was renting for $1,500, $1,600 a month started generating $3,000, $4,000 a month. I'm like, oh wow, this is changing the game. We're going to stop long-term lease, we're going to furnish all of them and we're going to do Airbnbs. I got so excited, yeah.

Speaker 3:

And especially the price.

Speaker 2:

We bought these houses at the time. It was like such a low price, and so the house was generating 40, 50,000 a year. You bought it at 70, 80,000. That's a no brainer. Yeah that's a no-brainer. Yeah and uh. So let's do that. And we started doing the airbnb and then, before we know it, everybody's against you everybody hates you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the city. The city hates you.

Speaker 2:

The neighbor hates you, hoa hates you, and and we try to do everything like we. We try to like, hide and and change the address. We try to go and and bribe the neighbors like, hey, I'll give you four, five hundred dollars a month to be quiet nobody wanted it, yeah, but then then that becomes a challenge. Okay, that cannot be a business plan, but it's so lucrative. So how can we do this like, how can I take advantage of that?

Speaker 1:

market.

Speaker 2:

It works yeah yeah, the the market, that sector in the market that people want. It's just insane. And as we were doing this, every house or property that has two or three bedrooms with a pool, we couldn't keep up with leasing it. You know, because they come sleep eight, ten in a house, they create their own kind of experience, especially if there is a pool. So people are we're paying for that and then we start charging like $40 a head.

Speaker 2:

If you're more than four, five, six in a house, depending on the number of rooms. People were just paying it. So then I started like, how can I solve that? How can I provide that kind of product? And that's where the autonomous concept started, right.

Speaker 2:

So how can I provide a product that really hotels cannot provide or don't have, because hotel gives you, you know, a studio, basically, uh, and everything beyond that. You're into the suite and it's expensive and it's limited in number. So how can I one not be hated by by you know, your community, and and not not be like doing something that's that's against the laws here, and especially with the zoning, zoning laws, uh, and that's one. How can I provide that product to the end consumers because they want it? Uh, and that's how the concept started. And then what autonomous is today is actually providing the best of both worlds. So if you look at the airbnb product, it gives you the flexibility and variety of whatever you want. If you go to book on Airbnb, you're not going to look for a flag or a hotel name or a Marriott or a Hilton or a W.

Speaker 2:

You're looking for the right product at that right price that works for you, so that flexibility and variety of the product. That's what Autonomous offers today. So the concept is we're building kind of a similar to a class A. If you want apartment complex or condo project, sure, but then the entire floor is interconnected, right, okay, all the units are interconnected. Then we created the layer of AI technology where you book whatever you want, starting from a studio up to a six, seven, eight bedroom penthouse, and the AI will puzzle it for you on the fly in real time. So we changed the way you book, so we created that AI powered booking engine. So usually in a hotel, they offer you three, four room types, right, and then you pick at a price and then you pick which one fits you.

Speaker 2:

So, it's like a one-size-fits-all kind of like whatever fits you. We changed that and we created what we call an attribute-based booking. So you tell us what you want, We'll puzzle it in real time for you right.

Speaker 2:

So now even your physical space is personalized. Whatever you want, we'll have it. I will puzzle it for you. So we created the software, we created the hardware, the, the locking mechanism, the actual lock. So once you book, let's say, a three bedroom, stay with us once you, you virtually check in, the system will lock and unlock and open the doors. That makes that configuration on that specific floor right. And when I say attribute-based booking, there's two parts. There's the hard attributes, which is the physical space, but we also have the soft attributes, which is I want a room away from noise. I want cleaning every day, every other day. I don't want cleaning, just clean after me when I leave. Everything you pick changes the price.

Speaker 2:

So you really it's very dynamic in real time. So you really custom tailor what you want, and people usually pay more if you offer them what they really want, right. But it's not about. It's about being efficient. So that side of the concept covers the flexibility and variety of a product. The other side is the consistency in the guest experience, right. So the downside of Airbnb is because you have different hosts and sometimes you have a great experience, but sometimes you're not happy.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I've been there, something like beautiful pictures, but you go there.

Speaker 1:

It's not similar to the pictures.

Speaker 2:

Wi-fi doesn't match. The towels are not like clean, you don't have enough towels, whatever. Whatever the reason is, so that consistency in the guest experience is is the downside of airbnb, and that's what hotel gives you. Like if you go stay in a, in a hilton and marriott and a four season depends what brands you know the expectation of, at minimum you're gonna get what. What you expect so from that aspect also is is our ai and the adaptation.

Speaker 2:

So, when we do, and and if I'm gonna explain that concept with you, uh, simply, it's it's in four different phases, right? Phase one is the booking engine that I explained to you. So you, you book, it's custom tailored to you. Tell us what you want, we'll put it together. Phase two once you book, we start with what we call the onboarding process, and that onboarding process is two simultaneous approaches at the same time. First approach is with the guest okaying that we can go scrape the web, all social media, all publicly information on you. We can go and gather all of that. The AI will gather all of that, and what we create here, what we call your unique digital avatar, and the digital avatar is basically a digital twin of you, the guest, or, in different ways. It's a digital. If you want mapping of your preferences, so it's a blueprint, digital blueprint of your preferences. So that's a unique avatar just for you. This is really cool.

Speaker 2:

This is awesome At the same time we start a gamified approach and and the system will reach out to you in a very cool way, uh like when you sign up to apple or you snap, like you see, like asking you the questions that you want answer or not answer right, and we want to know are you a coffee or a tea person?

Speaker 2:

are you a morning or a person? Are you a vegetarian? Are you like into outdoors? Are you an indoors? We try to ask you the cool stuff and then we give you. We give free perks and upgrades and and and hey, you're two questions away from a free drink at the bar, right? So we have that cool approach, but the ai will take all of this and create your avatar and and and.

Speaker 2:

What the avatar is is actually a correlation of all this data we collected with an output, and that output is in that digital avatar, right? And that avatar will keep improving. As long as you stay with us, we connect with you. That's improving the avatar. So that's the onboarding process and also the output of the avatar is also monetary. It will tell us hey, chris is staying with you for three days and he's going to spend $1,000 and here's how you're going to spend it. He's going to spend $200 on dining. He's going to spend $100 on this. He likes to be by the pool, he likes some music, he likes golfing. It will help us understand what he likes and how we can monetize him. So when he comes and stay, what he likes and how we can monetize him. So when he comes and stay.

Speaker 2:

So you go from phase two. So phase one was the booking, phase two was the onboarding, now is the actual stay. So during the actual stay, we track everything in real time of your behaviors, being room temperature in the room, lighting in the room, what time you woke up, what you ate, how you took your coffee, everything you stay with coffee, everything you stay with us, we track. And then to give you and it's all based also on what your avatar told us. So now we customize the offerings for you and what that does. It will give you a better experience, but also we can monetize you much more than knowing nothing about you. Yeah, the data mining of every specific data mining.

Speaker 1:

So that's during this day experience, but also we can monetize you much more than knowing nothing about you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's the data mining of every specific data mining. So that's during the stay. Now, when you check out and usually when you check out in a traditional hotel that's the end of your experience With us. It's the start of your next stay with us, and what the AI will do during the offboarding is similar to the onboarding where we start another gamified approach. And what the AI does it will capture the gap of what the avatar told us you're going to be doing and what you actually did, right.

Speaker 2:

If it tells us you're going to spend a thousand and you spend 700, then we're going to know why, what happened and, if anything go wrong, what is that that went wrong and why we couldn't monetize, why was the projection not accurate? So we ask the questions in a very smooth way where you don't feel what we're doing, but we're trying to really capture that gap and understand where it came from and how we can fix it for next time. So the more you stay with us, the more your avatar and your actual stay will align and, at the end of the day, we're giving you a very personalized experience tailored only for you through your avatar, right? So at the end of the day, what we're doing is we're giving the flexibility of an Airbnb and giving a five-star service Better than any high-end hotel, right At the cost of an Airbnb. So that's the concept and I think that's the future of hospitality, because today, you know, it's the satisfaction and experience. It's not measured with experiences anymore, it's measured with milliseconds.

Speaker 2:

You have to do everything on time, the right way every time and and if you don't have the data in real time and the data is latent, then you cannot give that experience. And I mean look at you, you on social media, you go through your finger and you can't. You can't look at any video more than three, four seconds.

Speaker 2:

You just get bored like everything is so quick, so fast and everything is now and you want to be satisfied now and and that's the direction that everything is going. And if you look in the hospitality uh industry, where they're way behind these huge big systems that don't speak to each other, and the only way to do that is when you have a centralized brain we have the o brain and where the different parts of the brain speaks to each other in real time, accurate information for you to be able to give that service. And that doesn't exist with hotel, with the hospitality industry, because there are different systems that manage different parts of that experience.

Speaker 3:

Yeah well, philippe, you put a lot on us there. I think you gave me a lot to think about. I'm blown away.

Speaker 1:

I have too many questions for you, so first I want to start. I have too many questions for you, so first I want to start. So Autonomous was the first one in Tulum, mexico.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we opened in Tulum, mexico, because that property is beautiful. Yes, we haven't deployed the technology yet. We're going to deploy it at the same time here in Vegas and in Tulum In Vegas. We're set to open July 1st. We opened the bookings right now so you can go online and book.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And Tulum will be the technology will deploy at the same time.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, kind of just to dig in a little bit further. You know, so it seems like you, from a business standpoint, you live multiple lives.

Speaker 3:

Right, you go from being the marble to the housing development and acquisition and redistressed properties and now moving into this, like you could see, like a small correlation between the two, but this is a very ambitious project, right? You know how? How did your kind of prior experience, you know, with the distressed houses lead you to this point? Because it's almost like it seems like there's a line there, but it's a full overhaul of an experience which is very different than you know renting out distressed properties.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it really comes down to you as a person. I mean, you can. You can do the same thing for the rest of your life and never improve. That's what makes you comfortable, that's what you want to do. But if you're really ambitious and and and you want to push the envelope and and what you like to do is is is to innovate, and that's what I like to do, is to innovate, and I think, uh, innovation.

Speaker 2:

If our motto as a company is connecting minds, creating the future, and I I'm a big believer that if you connect minds across different industries where people see the same thing and from different lenses, you're able to create a new product or the future. But if you don't have that different view of the same thing from different angle, as, let's say, in this, in this instance, is is as a real estate developer and as a technology developer, right, I started developing technology in 2008. I got fascinated by it by now. I look at the solution from two different angles. As a real estate solution, how do I design and build that place and connect these units together where it works? And then, how do I create that technology to really bring that concept to life? And I'm lucky to be able to be both right, and that puts me in a very unique positioning, especially in the real estate development world. So real estate development is the opposite of technology 180 degrees.

Speaker 2:

And not only that. I mean for you to succeed as a real estate developer is like you do the same thing every day, with a discipline, and it works, and don't change it. You know location, design, layout. You do it exactly the same thing. Don't try to innovate. That's what works. You need to do it. Right now.

Speaker 2:

You look at technology, where innovation is the heartbeat of the technology. If you don't innovate every week, you're dead. So now you put these two together and it's a challenge. It's a challenge even with the mindset, with the people working around you. They're totally different mindsets and you've got to put them together and you've got to go through challenges. You've got to go through pushbacks. You've got to go a lot through like no, you can't, it doesn't work from the contractors to the people around you, to the operation, to the tech guys, and then you put it's just challenging.

Speaker 2:

But I think what I look for is always is driven by a need and, as a real estate developer, to answer really your question as a real estate developer in real estate, it always comes down to the value creation piece. How do you create value to an asset that you have? Right Back in the days, in a distressed market. We were hey, we buy a house, we remodel, you reposition, you put it back on the market. You create value. Sometimes you buy a land and build a concept. The concept creates value. The building on the land creates value. Sometimes, time only creates value. Buying at the right time and sit on it creates value, right?

Speaker 2:

So I wanted to add a layer that creates value to a real estate asset that no one else has, and that value? That was the layer of technology. Can I add a layer of technology that will add a value to an asset, right, uh, that no one else can do and that's a home run for me. So now, what I did is I told you this the hotel concept is similar to a class, a condo project, right so? Or a multi-family. So if you look at multi-family, they trade at five, five and a half cap in the market. Today, my autonomous concept is going to be 17% cap, oh, wow.

Speaker 3:

So now you take you said 17%, cap 15 to 17,.

Speaker 2:

That's the performer we have now. So now you come and look at okay, it's the same asset, same building, but now you're generating much more income. And the enabler is your tech. That's the layer. Of course, tech alone is not going to be successful if you don't have the right pillars of real estate development the location, the design, the hallway, the ceiling heights, the doors, the layout. You have to hit every single one of those for the tech to add value right. You cannot say you can add technology on a building that's designed wrong or in the wrong location, you're going to fail.

Speaker 3:

But really I technology on a building that's designed wrong or in the wrong location you're going to fail, but really I wanted to add that layer and, uh, that gives me the advantage and the differentiator.

Speaker 2:

That's when we started my name being I like it to be different. So I want, I want that differentiation everything I do and I think, and vega and the us, is there's two ways to do it either big volume or something really innovative and new. And you know I can't compete with the big national companies. The big volumes in the US is huge big corporations. So you go into how can I create a unique product?

Speaker 3:

When you're creating that innovative product and with so many various touch points, right Like there's a lot of moving pieces through this customer experience, like, how do you make sure that? How do you test that cohesiveness of that experience? Because when you're brand new it's hard to kind of there's no test run right Like you can't really. You're building it with anticipation versus without really understanding how it could be.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's a challenge, but that's also the advantage for us. So, imagine I'm only the tech company. I'm going to pitch this, for example, to the Marriott. You have too many bugs, you're dead, and that's the high risk of technology. But because I'm both, so we're going to go live. We're expecting to have bugs or issues, and usually when you expect to have 10, you'll have 1,000. But because we own the hotel, we own the concept, we'll make it work, we'll, we'll. We'll work with the guests and and and I just want to also mention something very important that the concept is based on human talent. People think when they hear AI, they think it's oh, it kind of hotel. You're not going to see people, you're going to see robots. That's what we're talking about.

Speaker 3:

Yes, robots going to go everywhere like, but but you see, I mean even the way, if you, if you see the units and I'll invite you guys to come and see it.

Speaker 2:

It's very, very homey, very comfortable, uh, and and I'm a big believer in the partnership between, between technology and humans, right, and? And we're into that era now, and I think I call that era the augmented era, okay, where your nature, your natural capabilities are being augmented by technology. You know computational systems that will help you think, robots that will help you make and, most importantly, a digital nervous system that will connect you to the world far, far beyond your natural senses. Right, and, and this is when I when we say real data, in real time, that that digital nervous system that captures the data and and understand the feedback quickly, right, and then act on it. So, so that augmented era is is augmenting our capabilities and therefore augmenting everything we do, starting from the google days up until today. Right, so it augments what you know, it augments your, your access to data, it augments everything is under your fingertips and now, with ai, it's way beyond that.

Speaker 2:

So we want to take advantage of that augmentation and we want to use that as a support and enhancing, uh, the the human, if want interaction and not replace it. There's a big difference if you're enhancing or you're replacing and we're enhancing, and I think, especially in Vegas. We're talking about Vegas and the name and the talent we have, the best talent in the world in hospitality in Las Vegas and we assembled a very strong team. And we assembled a very strong team and I'm very aware of the difference between having an experience that is functional and efficient versus an experience that's unforgettable, and I think the differentiator between the two is that partnership and that's that human interaction. Right? So your body language, your smile.

Speaker 1:

That's what Vegas is human interaction, right so your body language, your smile.

Speaker 2:

That's what Vegas is all about. Right, like being hospitable. It's the team that's going to come with the tech and the tech is going to help the team to perform better. So that's very important to mention that, because people really, when they hear AI-powered hotel, you just think you're going to see robots and we have a few robots as part of the operation. But they're they're cool addition to the team, right, so they're always working along alongside team that's managing we're overstaffed. It's not an onset so?

Speaker 2:

so we have the team and and also what, what the technology we're developing, it's not only guest facing. A big part of it is on the back end, right? So? So, the same way, you want to offer the guest a good experience, you want to offer your team a working, a nice working experience, where, where a lot of things are easy for them. So I'll give you an example in our o-brain think of it like a chat gpt, right, that's the o-brain.

Speaker 2:

So our processes, uh, our in-house processes situation that you're going to have to handle everything that you do, the, the, the team, they can simply go and ask their phone, like what do I do here? And then it tells them exactly what to do based on all the processes that we have. So you don't have to. So, really, we, we give them all these information. It's easy for them to operate. There's systems and in places like, for example, room service, right In our system, when the team, let's say, go to clean the room, the minute they go into the room they check in.

Speaker 2:

So they have their phone and they scan and they're checked in. So we track, like I told you what I did back in 2008,. They track from the minute they start until they're done. They can report everything through the system If something is missing, something is stolen, something needs to be fixed to the engineering department through a work order. But then, when they're done, we track them and then we know the average performance per team, per room type and what the system does. Based on check-ins and check-outs and based on the request, the system can project the labor force that you need on that specific day, specific week, based on all the averages and the data that we have. So really there's a lot of and the system has a lot of backend efficiencies for the operation, where it just improves. At the end of the day, your team will have more time to focus on the guest, because that's what hospitality is all about, right, instead of going and manually doing all these operations, we want to support that through tech and have them focus on the guest.

Speaker 1:

So tell me something. So say Chris and I, here with our wives too is we want to check in. We can set up, say we want to stay there for a year. We can set up a lease and stay there for a year.

Speaker 2:

We have a long-term short-term. Right now it's 29 days. It renews every 29 days, but you can stay as long as you want. We would love to have you. That's pretty cool Give you a very nice experience and take your money.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I bet you would. Yeah, it was 17% cap rate. Jesus Christ, yeah you know that.

Speaker 2:

I mean the cap rate is coming from efficiency and operation and added value Monetizing.

Speaker 2:

So okay, big corporation, right now they have their generic loyalty program. You know the tiers, you know generic loyalty program, you know that, that, that that tears. You know you start with silver, gold and platinum and then they have data points and and the data points is how many times you stayed with them and how much you spent, and that's it. And I don't know what they do with it. They do nothing. So there is no correlation of that data. And what does it mean to you and what does it mean to them? There's a lot of money being left on the table and I think it's not being monetized. But look around you, look how everything is Like I told you, people want their own experience.

Speaker 1:

And you have no gaming, correct? There's no gaming, no gaming.

Speaker 2:

But I mean for me, you go to restaurants. You don't always go to the best restaurants out there. A lot of times you go to the places that know you and they know what you order. And then you go in and then the server sees you. It's like oh the same.

Speaker 3:

this, this, this is like yep you're happy like they get you the stuff because they know you.

Speaker 2:

I want to have a dry cleaner for 10 years, no matter where I live, but you have to go 15, 20 times a year for them to know you. We want to know you from the first time and it doesn't matter if you come 15 times or you come one time. You're going to get the same service because we know you, the system knows you and we want you to have that kind of special personalized experience what kind of disclosures do you need to have to have that experience?

Speaker 2:

I think just from a legality standpoint it has to be a very challenging disclosure standpoint. Yes, I mean you'll sign. Did you ever read these disclosures?

Speaker 3:

no, I love the experience. I'll sign all day me neither. Probably everybody will read it. Just you ever read these disclosures? No, I love the experience. I'll sign all day Me, neither.

Speaker 1:

Probably everybody I've ever read. It's just sign, sign, sign, keep it moving.

Speaker 2:

But that's a good question. And also we always take the guest will always have to allow us to do whatever we need to do, but also we don't own the data. We're like a custodian of the data, so we give a lot of flexibility to the guests.

Speaker 2:

So first, you can up out of any of that data collection from day one that makes sense and you can go to the the front desk and get a key and go to your room. If that's what you want to but also, at any time during the experience, you can go back and erase all your data. We give the guests that access, so it's full transparency. We're just here to give you a better experience, and that's the objective of collecting the data. That's smart. And people complain all the time. But if you're holding that phone, you gave away all of that anyways.

Speaker 2:

And I haven't seen a person without that smartphones in the last five years. I haven't seen one person that that smartphones. In the last five years, I haven't seen one person that doesn't have, that you ain't lying and the kids too. Everybody, your dog, your cat.

Speaker 1:

Everybody got their phones. Now let's talk about the food man. So you got a Lebanese restaurant and what's some of the amenities that's going to be at Autonomous?

Speaker 2:

Autonomous. We have two pools, we're going to have a rooftop, fifth floor lounge. We want it to be like a new experience for Vegas. Like we travel all over Europe and Miami and Dubai and all these places and there's a lot of cool concepts that we don't have in Vegas. Like everything is focused on this trip, these big corporations and just similar experiences everywhere you go Different colors, different this, different that, but at the end of the day, it's the same experience.

Speaker 2:

You got to walk through the casinos, go up there, you got to be mixed with a lot of people, especially if there are special events in vegas. And for us locals, we want we really want something different. Uh, I think vegas is lacking and and that that's going to be a private club. Uh, not too private. It's going to be difficult. We want to make sure we filter the people that goes there. It's going to be difficult. We want to make sure we filter the people that goes there, but it's going to be like a supper club DJ music from like 11 to like 2, 3 am. It's on the roof, the whole strip is in front of you. It's beautiful views, beautiful space, very well designed and it's just a different experience. I want you to experience. What I always wanted is pull up with my car in the front of the door and then have a guy that knows me and go up all the way.

Speaker 1:

I don't have to walk and go through the casinos to get to that experience. This will be open to the public and not just for the guests, yes, yes.

Speaker 2:

And then we have also. We're going to have like four restaurants. Uh, one of them is the Lebanese the one I'm doing, because I'm Lebanese and I think Vegas is missing a really elevated Lebanese experience. We don't have that. And we partnered up with a top chef winner, a younger chef, sherbal Hayek, that he's doing very well in LA. He has the Laia restaurants and he has the Lady Hog, so he's going to be the main chef to deliver that experience.

Speaker 3:

I'm looking forward to that.

Speaker 1:

We're naming the restaurants after my mom. This is exclusive on Vegas Circus.

Speaker 2:

That's the first time I say it and I hope she's not going to see that.

Speaker 1:

We'll wait. We'll wait to put that out. That's beautiful.

Speaker 2:

The name will be Nyla.

Speaker 1:

Nyla, nyla and A-Y-L-A. This is like the coolest project. I'm just saying that you're sitting with this like just coming from the app.

Speaker 3:

I could just hear my kids.

Speaker 1:

I hear this episode I got my own little avatar to be able to do it. That's pretty cool to be able to build that, and then you really know who that customer is. That's pretty cool. Yeah, I'm assuming the goal is to build these around the world.

Speaker 2:

So it's it's building. It's building them all over the world. So so the the only way to do it. I'm not a hospitality guy, right, I'm, I'm the innovator, I'm the visionary, but but it's I'm not a name in hospitality, where I, I, you say my name and everybody's gonna come throwing money at me. So I really have to do the concept, prove the concept right and then scale.

Speaker 2:

So right now we're in, uh, we're improving the concept kind of a phase. So we have a second one being designed in the not being designed. We're in actually building department right now for a permit in the art district downtown las vegas. Yeah, so we really want to wrap them around this trip because, like I said, we're going after that like kind of airbnb, uh, and and I think we don't want to be on this trip you want to be as close as possible to the strip, but still off the strip so you can give that experience, and so we're going to wrap around. And then we have an expansion plan in the next seven years to, once we prove the concept, then to go out, because when we went for financing it was challenging to people hey, you're not a hotel, you're not an apartment, you know, I know I'm somewhere in between. It's like, okay, well, that's our whole conversation before.

Speaker 1:

I'm like what is he like? What do you put it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I had to go through that challenge of putting that financing together somewhere of a hybrid. You know, with the financial institutions they don't have anything hybrid, everything is boxed and you're either in the box or outside the box. But it was a challenge. But I think proving a concept right now is the focus. But, like I said, I'm not a hospitality person but I'm excited to step in and make a difference.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you said this is open up in July July.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, this is super exciting man.

Speaker 2:

Very quick. What would?

Speaker 1:

you say, just one of the biggest differences as far as development. I know we were talking a little bit offline, but the difference between because you do business in, obviously, the States, you do business in Europe, you do business in the Middle East what would you say is that difference that you see, is it harder to get approved to do certain things or what's kind of those in the us in us, compared to, like a europe or middle east?

Speaker 2:

oh yeah, of course, I mean also the cost, especially in the middle east. I mean, if you look at dubai, uh, you dream of it. They'll build it right and that's that's how it is. And and I think I think, as much as I love vegas, this is home for me and and that's why I'm doing these innovations I think Vegas has been lacking behind what's going on in the world. We have a huge name and I think Wall Street now runs the Strip and, like I said before, I think Steve Wynn was the last innovator in the city where he came up with how the hotel can be and should be. And we're still running, trying to, up until today, try to mimic the win after like built in 2006. Every new property they open, they want to be like the win and they want to compete with the win.

Speaker 2:

I mean, that's that's that's huge and that's that's a visionary that changed the way that you know of what we think of of vegas, vegas trip and hospitality, but ever since, nothing came out in ve Vegas as a new direction. The world is changing and we're still, even the latest property they opened.

Speaker 2:

They're still following this well, they're still following the same concept right and the same vision, trying to compete. And I think Vegas I see Vegas. I see like branded residences. I see the Fendi tower. I see the Bentley tower. I see like branded residences. I see the Fendi Tower. I see the Bentley Tower. I see financial districts. I see a soccer stadium. I see art districts, like in Miami. I see all of this should be in Vegas. Las Vegas is a huge name. It's a global name. Everywhere we go in the world they talk about Vegas. They're like, oh man, you're in Vegas. The name is bigger than what we have and I think we need to catch up and and and I invite everybody that come and along and become a visionary to to really because the city I like for me, I see the city now will take a lot of vertical, high-rise, uh, branded towers that we're working on a couple of projects to bring that here. That's a fits perfectly in Las Vegas, I agree.

Speaker 3:

I was always shocked. It never happened. It has to do with the wind. Maybe it's too windy, that's why they haven't done it yet it has no wind.

Speaker 2:

I can see this happening in the next 5, 10, 15 years. I think that's the direction we're going to go, because we don't have a lot of land and if you look at Vegas, we're surrounded with mountains, we're like an island, right, and everything within the mountains is going to become very valuable. And then, because you know, developers now started going behind and around the mountains.

Speaker 2:

So there's a lot of value here and I think and Vegas is going through that transformation and I've always said, when I used to go to Japan and raise money back in 2008, 9, and 10, I used to tell them, hey.

Speaker 2:

Said, when I used to go to japan and raise money back in 2008, 9 and 10, I used to tell him, hey, I think vegas is a huge name and I think the value we're going to create is going to start being created when, when that perception of what vegas is and can be start changing. Right, I agree. And right now, the perception of vegas from being like that transient city of hey, coming for the weekend, have fun, to becoming a metropolitan cities with a, with a sports team and and the type and quality of people moving in here from different states in california and the other states that transformation of the perception of what vegas becoming, you know, the sports capital of the world, of vegas coming, becoming this and that, and I think we need a financial district for vegas. There's a lot of upsides in Vegas and I think, as that perception change, you're going to see a lot of value creation with that and you're going to see a lot of the cool projects on more innovation coming to the city.

Speaker 3:

You're sort of seeing more and more, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1:

I mean just to highlight that. I mean, like I was telling you before, that's why Chris and I we started. That was the goal is like I was just telling you, my wife and I we were just in DC, new York and Boston. As soon as you say you're from Vegas, they're like, oh, you're from Vegas. What it just changes their whole setup but that was what we wanted to do is we wanted to spotlight people that are really growing this city, cause it's a really cool city.

Speaker 2:

This is, this is home for me and, like you said, we don't really go to the strip as much unless it's like a show or things like that, or the restaurants and things, but I love what's happening off the strip. This is amazing, so we're just going to continue. We're so excited for that transformation and yeah, and and you know the city is, is, and people not as much now, but that you live in vegas.

Speaker 1:

It's so hot and it's like there's nine beautiful months of the year yeah, in vegas, like right now, it's 85 degrees and it's clean and it's easy, it's new, it's easy to live and it's new and it smells right, it's just comfortable. That's the key, because New York everything smells crazy Trash everywhere and I go a lot of places in the world and I miss Vegas every time I go I miss home, it's just easy.

Speaker 3:

We talk about it too. It's bright, it's clean. Everything is new to is bright, it's clean, everything's new, like I really everywhere. Where do you go?

Speaker 2:

in the world. You stop at a gas station at midnight and then you wait in line to pay yeah, right, like, really like, and you feel safe and and everybody is very hospitable, everybody's smiling. Every you go to europe and you tell me that experience there they're pissed at you if you ask this something twice, and, and, and, and. You should thank them that they're serving you, and and you always feel like, hey, I want to go back to Vegas, we're spoiled. We're spoiled with that type of service.

Speaker 2:

I say that all the time and the hospitality I mean. I think what makes the US different is the service, is the level and the caliber of the service, and Vegas is top notch of the.

Speaker 1:

US.

Speaker 2:

I love that and that makes us very different. I mean, you go to Dubai even though I like Dubai, because for me it's an intersection between the East and the West and a different culture and gives you really the best of both cultures but still they lack in the service, they lack a lot and they lack the training. Sometimes the server smells and you're sitting in like multi-hundred billion dollar whatever project.

Speaker 1:

And server smells and you're sitting in like multi-hundred billion dollar, whatever project. And then this you look at, the service is like okay, something, man, I gotta go back to vegas because we're spoiled. Yeah, I say we're spoiled all the time. Yeah, one thousand percent, right, yeah, but but I love it. Yeah, I agree. Um, just a couple more questions where I could actually talk to you for hours, we have to have a part two with you um, just for business advice, I know we've talked a lot about visionary and putting.

Speaker 1:

I can't even imagine what it took to take your vision and put it to paper and then get the whole investment and whole nine. But what would you share for somebody that's listening right now that they want to build their business? Maybe they want to be a small business owner, they want to be a big business owner, like yourself. What would you share with them? Just one tip that's helped you owner. You want to be a big business owner, like yourself. Um, what would you share?

Speaker 2:

with them. Just one tip that that's helped you. Uh, it's. It's first wanting to do the difference and be and be different is throwing yourself and then throwing yourself into the mix and then you'll figure out as you go. Is is taking that initiative right and, uh, and the risk, uh, to do something different, do something for you, go out for it.

Speaker 2:

You're, you're in the us. I come from lebanon. I told you the only opportunity in lebanon is to get a visa somewhere, right, and the us is like like golden visa, like that's the best place in the world. I came here as I was 22 years old and look what I've done, uh, because of the us and the opportunity that I get. So, if you're here and you're, and I came, I didn't, you know, I didn't speak the language that well, I didn't even know the culture. It was totally new for me. It's totally a new place for me and you're still able to do it.

Speaker 2:

So if you're here and you think that you're unlucky or you think that things are not going your way, that's wrong. I agree, you are. Think that you're unlucky or you think that things are not going your way, that's wrong. You are in the, in the best spot in the world to make it happen, and and and a lot of people don't have that opportunity. So the fact that you're here, that's already an advantage and and a very, very good start. You just got to hustle your way and and make sure you just take the decision to take that challenge on, and if you work hard in the US, you will make it. Yeah, I love that. There's no way that you're going to work and not going to make it in the US.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that. I love that. I tell my kids that all the time we always ask every guest about food. Man, and I know you'll probably say your restaurants at your hotel, but what's your favorite restaurant? Do restaurants at your hotel? But what's your favorite restaurant? Do I look foodie to you? I'm a big foodie. I'm going to tell you right now. But I'm trying to lose like 10 pounds right now because all I'm going to do is eat it. But I'm a huge foodie just because I think we got some of the best restaurants in Vegas. But what's your favorite restaurant?

Speaker 2:

I mean, I like food. I'm a workaholic, I think, but I like food too. Okay, it depends. I mean I don't have a really fixed favorite one. I like Cipriani at the Wynn because, it's traditional For me. The Metri D knows you.

Speaker 1:

They know your name. Yeah, shout out to Rob. I forgot Rob is one of the GMs there. Yeah, robert and David. Yeah, really good guy.

Speaker 2:

So I like the new experiences off the Strip, like the guest house.

Speaker 1:

Oh, shout out to my guys over at the guest house.

Speaker 2:

I like Samba, also, I haven't checked the Indian spot yeah, really good really. I don't like Indian food, but that place.

Speaker 1:

I heard is really, really good.

Speaker 2:

That's on my list and, and I'm you know, uh, nico's at Durango Steakhouse I like we just went to that's why I always look for these experiences off the strip as much as I can, because you know, like I said at the beginning, I don't want to go through the whole casino experience to get to the restaurants that I like and I encourage. You know these concepts and I think these few places that I mentioned off the strip are going to be the start of a movement for these hospitality groups that understand now they can spend less on building non-union labor and still get the same money like the strip if they give you the right experience and the right food, that understand.

Speaker 2:

Now they can spend less on building non-union labor and still get the same money like the Strip, if they give you the right experience and the right food, and they're doing it.

Speaker 1:

And we love it. We got the same palette for all the restaurants you just brought up. So shout out to Guesthouse. We've been to Guesthouse multiple times. I love them over there. Good guys over there too. What's the social handles people can reach out to over there too. What's the social handles people can reach out to? Obviously, you or Autonomous or anything like that. They can reach out to you on or learn more about the project we have.

Speaker 2:

we are on all social media. On Instagram we have Autonomous Hotel.

Speaker 3:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

We have Autonomous Tulum as well, and then we have Growth Holdings, which has the different companies, so they can reach out to us. We different companies, so they can reach out to us. We're online. We're actually online now you can go book. The best way to reach out to me is to book.

Speaker 3:

But we're also hiring.

Speaker 2:

So we have a great team and we're still hiring. So I would encourage everybody to go on the website autonomoushotelcom and then apply for a job. We love the good talent.

Speaker 1:

Well, good stuff man absolute pleasure to pick your mind, man for a little bit. Like I said, we got to run it back on part two, man, but appreciate your time and check us out at the musiccom. It was my pleasure.

Speaker 2:

I liked it, you have a comfortable chair.

Speaker 1:

That's very important oh, that's awesome, man, so I can sit for another hour. There we go.

Speaker 2:

Hopefully we'll have a a phase two.

Speaker 1:

Appreciate that.

Speaker 2:

And next projects that we have.

Speaker 1:

We can write it back, man. Have you come every year all the vision stuff that you do it, man?

Speaker 3:

So yeah, for very rarely we don't talk this much, like we just both out there, like in trance, just listening to what you had to say.

Speaker 1:

Man, give you the platform to talk about it.

Speaker 3:

That was great, that was awesome.