StayAltered ??

Help us put amazing woman-owned accommodations on the map! We've partnered with Wanderful and Seeker to showcase woman-owned businesses worldwide on Woman-Owned Map, and here's where you come in. Over 40% of the 160+ places to StayAltered are owned by women – but we know there are so many more out there. Tag a woman-owned accommodation in the comments and we'll gift them $20 off their first year of StayAltered membership, so they can join our global network of independent hosts and get added to the map. Oh, and PS: When they join, we'll give YOU a $20 credit good for any place to StayAltered worldwide. Already on our map? ? Mey (L'Ermitage d'Akchour ????) ? Alessandra (La Palomilla Bed and Breakfast ????) ? Ale y Fran (Casa Pancha ????) ? Helen (Wild Fox Hill ????) ? Renny (Birmingham Tree House ????) ? Rachel (Prodigal Daughter Gourmet Lodge ????) ? Som & Som (The Yard Hostels ????) ? Karina (Espa?ol Interactivo Language School ????) ? Maria (El Diablo y La Sandia Bed & Breakfasts ????) ? And many more here: https://lnkd.in/g66FJft6

Last year, in our application to join #Travel4Impact, I shared how inspiring it was to find a global program that specifically supported impact startups and sustainability MSMEs, and how joining would give StayAltered ?? the opportunity to better support independent, local, and alternative hospitality entrepreneurs globally. Finally, almost a year later and after six months of training, we can announce the news: StayAltered is now one of the first North American members of Travel4Impact! Thank you to Ines de Agueda, Carmen álvarez-Margaride Marcos, Concepción Galdon PhD., and all the IE University faculty and staff for herding us cats and whipping us all into shape. The early mornings and late nights of learning were worth it. Thank you as well to Cecilia Serravalle, Audrey Mourguiart, Esther Villena, and everyone on the Amadeus sustainability and social innovation teams for your support, for seeing our potential, and for believing in our promise. If Ewan Cluckie at Tripseed ???? is any indication, we can't wait to meet even more past cohort members. We're also excited about more collaborations with our cohort members like Napanji Mogha of Lake Tanganyika Resort ???? and Umer Latif of Beyond The Valley ????. And we're looking forward to helping grow the Travel4Impact network by sharing it with our worldwide community of independent hospitality entrepreneurs like Alessandra Perez-Cirera of La Palomilla Bed and Breakfast ???? (Carmen, I still can't believe you have met Alessandra before I have!). Applications to join the fifth cohort are opening soon. Startup founders and small business owners, want to learn more? Shoot me a DM and I'll be happy to learn if I can support you.

There are over 10,000 hostels in Europe – but we can't think of many more deserving than Hostel Ruthensteiner ???? for this award. Solo travelers know what few others know: It's not where you go nor what you do that matters – it's where you stay and who you meet that turns travel into a transformational experience. Congratulations to the Ruthi tribe – 56 years running, hosting, and changing the world one guest at a time.

???? Why do foodies and wine lovers stay at Prodigal Daughter Gourmet Lodge when visiting Martinborough's boutique, family-owned wineries? Meet Rachel – chef, owner, and hostess with the mostess. After over a decade honing her culinary skills in Italy and France, Rachel returned home to Te Ika-a-Māui / North Island to open her gourmet lodge where food, wine, and hospitality meet. Every stay is an experience in wine country living, with welcome bubbles, delicious nibbles, and four-course dinners paired with local wines. Rest in your choice of cozy rooms or cottages nestled amongst gardens teeming with the ingredients you’ll use in her pasta making and meat curing workshops. Rachel’s love for Wairarapa will make your stay feel like pure magic. ?? Learn more about Rachel's hospitality journey: https://lnkd.in/gSthxrJs

Hospitality has one of the worst turnover rates of any industry: 70-80%. But not at The Yard Hostels. What's their secret? ? Since first opening in Bangkok over 10 years ago, only 25 employees have ever departed. ? If you were a guest in 2015 and you revisit in 2025, you'd see many of the same folks working back then still working there today (and even more astonishingly, they would probably remember you too). ? When a new position opens, hundreds apply for just one or two roles. Hear from Lil' Som – co-founder of The Yard and one of our StayAltered Host Ambassadors in Thailand – as she tells it all in this video that has gone absolutely viral (250k views on YouTube and almost 1mm views on TikTok).

Let's meet up at #FITUR! Alessandra Perez-Cirera – one of our Mexico host ambassadors and owner of La Palomilla Bed and Breakfast in Mexico City – is attending and representing StayAltered ?? as well. Find her at the Amadeus #Travel4Impact event tonight and at the fair this weekend!

Thank you Vincie H. for sharing the spotlight on RISE Travel Institute with us! We're proud to continue supporting you and your efforts to center local communities in global tourism.

What it's like to be a repeat guest at The Yard Hostels. This is the hospitality we celebrate. These are the hosts we advocate for.

Over 35 million people visited Thailand in 2024 but less than a few thousand set foot on this heart-achingly beautiful (and tragic) island I want you to know about. AI didn't spit it out when I asked for "the most untouched islands best for ecotourism". Little Som, the co-founder of The Yard Hostels (our first places to StayAltered – in Bangkok and Chiang Mai), came here years ago and told me about it. This island is the opposite of Phuket and Koh Pha Ngan. While it's also got miles of white sand beaches, there's nearly nothing but crabs, coconut palms, pine trees (this is Thailand's beachside savannah, if you could imagine such a setting), and so few bungalow resorts you can count them all on one hand. For now. The hosts who run these places have each created their own place to StayAltered. A Thai family from the nearest landside town donate 2% of rooms revenue to fund scholarships for the local children. An Italian-Swiss woman who came nearly 30 years ago and worked at the first resort on the island now has her own place with a conservation project to protect the three species of turtles (there are only seven species in the entire world) who lay their eggs here. A man from Surat Thani who bartended almost every island in the Bay of Thailand and even Berlin before he heard about this magical spot (not more than a few hours from his hometown) built the second place on the island. All of them were here when the tsunami wiped this entire coast out just over 20 years ago today. Chuoi survived by climbing a tree and watched as the ocean surged over five kilometers onshore. Lory scrambled up the closest rocky point with her newborn son – the same rocky point we climed this afternoon – escaping waves over four-stories tall. They were the lucky ones. Sitting with them each, we asked how long they thought this island could stay like this. Their faces showed hope and trepidation. This island is not easy to get to. Electrical power only arrived last year, they said with some pride and dismay. Beers are colder now, but hungry developers are coming too. "How can I be mad for my neighbors, who may finally make the millions so many other islands' locals have made by selling their land?" "And yet, how can we prevent what happened on so many other islands from happening here?" "And who do we – just a few people ourselves – think we are that we can change anything?" I want you to know about this island because I want you to experience what tourism done sustainably with local communities looks and feels like. But I also don't want you to know about this island because I know what tourism done horribly wrong can go like. They want you to know, though. So come. Come to Koh Phra Thong. When you do, stay with Pam at The Moken Eco Village. Or Lory at Horizon Eco Resort. Or Mr. Chuoi if you're on a shoestring and really like it rustic. This is a step toward how we can do things right.

Thank you to The StayAltered Community: You 3x'd our network from 50 to 150 places to StayAltered in 46 countries in 2024. Thank you to our StayAltered Contributors: Nicola Steenkamp, David Alvaro, Jasmine Carpentier, as well as all of our partners – you 2x'd our membership, 3x'd our member events, and 4x'd our social followers. Tourism – an $11 trillion industry globally – has the transformative potential to 3x its positive economic impact locally when travelers stay with local hosts and support local businesses. So most importantly, thank you to our StayAltered Hosts: Your hospitality enables StayAltered Guests to 3x the positive economic impact of their global travels in your local communities. You are why StayAltered exists. And if you are reading this: Thank you for joining us on your journey – and get ready. In 2025, we will be calling you to do more than simply follow along. Global tourism thrives only when local communities flourish. It's time for every single one of us to stand up and step forward. Are you ready?