Think about what hospitality offers you. It doesn’t matter if you’re staying at a luxurious hotel or an entry-level Airbnb. Every option tries to give you the most value for your money.
Every time you choose a place to stay, you face a flood of options. Price, convenience, location, and amenities all compete for your attention. Now add automation to the mix, and the number of choices keeps growing. Planning your next vacation starts to feel overwhelming.
But what happens if you don’t want any of this?
In an era of constant stimulation, more travelers are craving less. Less noise. Less light. Less sensation. The intense energy of busy cities may be losing its appeal. Peace is becoming more desirable.
The real challenge is offering that peace.
This week’s conversation focuses on silence and disconnecting from a digital world. The idea may seem unrealistic, yet some see it as the next major opportunity in hospitality.
It may sound niche, but the opposite is true. Digital fatigue is no longer on the fringe. It is now mainstream.
If AI continues to accelerate content overload, constant notifications, and algorithm-driven noise, demand for analog experiences could rise faster than many in hospitality expect.
STR Global Unlocked Podcast | Episode 30
EPISODE WITH HECTOR HUGHES, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF UNPLUGGED
Cabins are everywhere. If you offered cabins as part of your hospitality startup, you would be offering nothing new.
Now make it more interesting. Your startup doesn’t exist on OTAs. Guests can only book directly on your platform, and there’s a three-night minimum.
And there’s no technology allowed. No phones, no internet, no TVs.
Nothing.
It sounds extreme, but this is exactly what Hector Hughes created. The concept was built to help people detox. The idea came from burnout, when life drained his energy and led him to the Himalayas for 10 days, completely cut off from the outside world.
What he discovered there was simple. Detox is possible. You can disconnect from screens and constant noise. That insight became the foundation of Unplugged.
Unplugged is a UK-based cabin brand built around one core belief. Spending three days offline in nature changes people.
Founded in 2020, Unplugged operates a portfolio of off-grid cabins across the UK. It runs a direct-only booking model with a mandatory three-night minimum and has never listed a single property on an OTA. The company is on track to achieve profitability and generate a 40–45% return on capital per cabin.
Hector sat down with Simon Lehmann, CEO of AJL Atelier, to explain why he believes Unplugged can succeed by going against the rules many investors and founders follow.
In his words, Unplugged doesn’t need a hypergrowth timeline. The startup can reach venture scale, but not within traditional venture-speed windows. The company knows it will not outspend large players or outperform others through inventory. Instead, it will grow through a clear identity, one that offers relief from chaos, excess supply, and sameness.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Why going direct-only was never a revenue decision, and how removing OTAs as an option forced Unplugged to build brand and community muscles most STR operators never have to develop.
How the three-night minimum, a deliberate friction point in a market averaging 1.8 nights, became one of Unplugged’s most defensible product choices.
Why direct bookings only work at scale if you are remarkable enough to stay front of mind, and how Unplugged engineers word-of-mouth as a core growth mechanism.
How Unplugged's movable cabin model, built off-site on trailers, solar-powered, delivered to leased land, redefines the unit economics and risk profile of STR supply expansion.
What the tension between venture time horizons and brand compounding reveals about the type of capital Unplugged needs, and why most funds are structurally the wrong fit.
What the rise of AI-driven distribution means for experiential hospitality brands that don't live on OTAs, and why being genuinely remarkable is no longer optional.
Connect with Hector Hughes on LinkedIn to learn more about Unplugged.
"We need to make people feel something. And I think that is the whole game, because it's not scalable if you can't be remarkable."
Key STR Trends
INDUSTRY CHECK-IN
The entire hospitality industry is racing to embrace agentic artificial intelligence, as it will take travel to a new level. Agentic AI is an autonomous system that performs complex tasks without relying on a human to give commands.
At the same time, key players are asking an important question. Are you ready for agentic AI? Its potential in travel is vast, and companies need to adopt it.
Photo Credit: Google is working on an agentic AI travel booking tool. Courtesy of Google
Google recently demonstrated how this shift could simplify one of the most complex processes in tourism. Cruise bookings involve multiple variables such as passenger tier levels, options, room sizes, and in-ship dining reservations. This makes them an ideal testing ground. You can read more about how agentic AI handles these tasks here.
Cruise ships represent only one part of the tourism industry. This raises a broader question. How will agentic AI affect OTAs, especially in areas like hotel and STR distribution? Our own Simon Lehmann spoke with Altexsoft to share his perspective on what lies ahead in the short and mid term, and what OTAs need to do to remain relevant.
You can read his thoughts here.
Weekly News
WORTH A READ
Stay current on the industry. Each edition covers key insights, major headlines, and the technology shaping travel and short-term rentals.
The new guest whisperer
For years, everyone in STR knew that part of the job meant answering guest messages by hand, at any hour. Now, that has changed.
House supply in Arizona
There are 57,000 new STR listings in Arizona. Are they affecting the state’s housing supply? A new analysis offers a different perspective on housing affordability in AZ.
Airbnb fines reach €1 million
In Q1 2026, Paris cracked down on short-term rentals. The result was nearly €1 million in fines, as France moves toward stronger regulatory enforcement.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Not everyone in the hospitality industry needs to be massive or grow at breakneck speed. You also don’t need to offer what everyone else offers.
If you stay true to your identity, you can carve out a niche that values what you bring. More often than not, you will find that people don’t want more of the same.
In many cases, they want less. Sometimes, nothing at all. Just silence.
This newsletter and podcast are brought to you thanks to AJL Atelier.
AJL Atelier is a globally recognized consultancy, specializing in the Short-Term Rental (STR) industry, known for our unique blend of trend forecasting, consumer insight, brand strategy, and innovation.
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