EkoStay Co Founder and CEO Varun Arora explains why the industry needs more honest conversations
A candid look into the realities of villa and homestay hospitality is taking shape through Ekostay Stories, a new in house podcast series introduced by EkoStay. The podcast is designed to move beyond curated travel narratives and surface the unfiltered experiences, operational challenges, and human dynamics that define the vacation rental ecosystem.
Ekostay Stories brings together voices from across the hospitality value chain, including founders, guests, homeowners, vendors, and internal teams. The conversations focus on what happens behind a stay, ranging from guest behaviour and homeowner coordination to operational pressures, humour, conflict, and unexpected moments that rarely make it to public platforms.
The podcast has been positioned as both an industry conversation and a storytelling platform. At a time when hospitality content is often shaped by reviews and influencer driven narratives, Ekostay Stories centres on lived experiences and long form conversations that explain how villa hospitality actually functions on the ground.
Explaining the intent behind the series, Varun Arora, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EkoStay, said that the idea emerged from a gap in how the homestay industry communicates. He said that while guests frequently share experiences online, especially when issues arise, there is little visibility into the coordination, people management, and decision making that happens behind the scenes. According to him, the podcast aims to open that door and present the industry as it truly operates.
He added that building and managing vacation homes involves multiple layers, from sourcing properties and preparing them for guests to balancing expectations across homeowners, staff, competitors, and local authorities. These realities, he noted, are often invisible despite being central to the guest experience.
Ekostay Stories follows an informal and candid conversation format described internally as a tea party, allowing space for humour, disagreement, vulnerability, and reflection. Early episodes explore real incidents and experiences drawn from day to day operations, offering perspectives that range from light hearted to challenging.
The podcast has been created for a broad audience. It is relevant to hospitality and travel professionals, property owners, and aspiring hosts, as well as travellers interested in understanding how villa brands operate. It also serves as a transparent window for students, managers, and entrepreneurs exploring careers or ventures in hospitality and consumer services.
Episodes will be released weekly and will cover topics such as homeowner relationships, workforce challenges, competition, regulatory navigation, and changing traveller behaviour. Future conversations are expected to also examine longer stays, remote work led travel patterns, and the role of technology in shaping transparency and trust within the alternative accommodation sector.
As India’s vacation rental market continues to evolve, Ekostay Stories reflects a growing demand for authenticity and openness. By turning operational realities into shared conversations, the podcast aims to contribute to more informed dialogue around how hospitality brands are built, tested, and sustained.
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