Rod Clough: 2026 Hotel Market Outlook, RevPAR, and AI in Valuation

Every so often, an interview is also a reunion.

Before he led a real estate program, Kaushik Vardarajan spent 15 years at HBS, the global consulting firm focused exclusively on the hospitality industry.

For this interview, Kaushik sits down with the man now running it across the Americas.

This is the Distinguished Podcast from the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration.

recorded on the road at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum in New York City.

Our guest is Rod Clough, president of the Americas for HBS, who has built his career there over more than three decades.

With some of the deepest data in the industry behind him, Rod explains why this year's performance has surprised almost everyone, where he sees opportunities well beyond the headline markets.

What brokers and clients are really feeling and how HBS is leading into AI without giving up the human judgment at the heart of evaluation.

Here is the conversation.

Every so often, an interview is also a reunion.

Before he led a real estate program, Kaushik Vardarajan spent 15 years at HBS, the global consulting firm focused exclusively on the hospitality industry.

For this interview, Kaushik sits down with the man now running it across the Americas.

This is the Distinguished Podcast from the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration.

recorded on the road at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum in New York City.

Our guest is Rod Clough, president of the Americas for HBS, who has built his career there over more than three decades.

With some of the deepest data in the industry behind him, Rod explains why this year's performance has surprised almost everyone, where he sees opportunities well beyond the headline markets.

What brokers and clients are really feeling and how HBS is leading into AI without giving up the human judgment at the heart of evaluation.

Here is the conversation.