The Hotel Investor Playbook
Welcome to The Hotel Investor Playbook, hosted by real estate investor and hospitality operator Michael Russell. Michael is the co-founder of Malama Capital and Howzit Hostels, and has built a personal real estate portfolio exceeding $20 million.
With an operator-first mindset, Michael brings a practical perspective to hotel investing. On the show, he breaks down what it actually takes to scale from short-term rentals into boutique hotels, covering deal sourcing, operations, capital strategy, and risk.
Each week, Michael shares real lessons from the field as he builds toward a $400 million real estate business, giving listeners an honest look at the decisions, challenges, and strategies behind the growth. Subscribe and follow along as he documents the journey in real time.
The Hotel Investor Playbook
The $600K Treehouse Earning $200K a Year | Dustin Feider E79
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In this episode, you'll discover how a single ultra-niche lodging unit can outperform a full hotel on cash-on-cash returns and what that signals for boutique investors paying attention.
A treehouse designer whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Architectural Digest, and HGTV joins us to break down the real numbers behind experiential lodging. Dustin Fighter has spent two decades building one-of-a-kind suspended structures, and his original pine cone treehouse, 60 feet in the air and $600K to build, is now generating over $200K per year at $850/night.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- Why a single $600K unit can deliver 30% cash-on-cash returns unleveraged, and whether it actually scales
- The 3 biggest obstacles that kill treehouse hospitality deals before they start: permitting, insurance, and bank financing
- How crowdfunding raised $600K from 700 investors and why equity outperformed revenue share
- The pre-booking capital strategy that lets you fund the build before you break ground
- Why banks won't touch tree-supported structures and what builders are doing instead
- How tariffs are driving up construction costs and forcing a pivot back to high-end custom builds
If you're interested in high ADR niches where limited supply drives outsized returns, don't skip the unit economics breakdown. The math speaks for itself.
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Connect with Dustin Feider
Website: https://www.o2treehouse.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinfeider
Connect with Michael on Instagram or LinkedIn.
Email Us at info@hotelinvestorplaybook.com
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