Jason Clampet

Few people would expect the CEO of one of the largest hospitality groups to say something fresh or frank, but Hoplamazian did.

If you have a company with multiple product lines and consumer strategies, you want a chairman like Barry Diller to have your back.

Virgin's unique position comes with its own challenges, but it also allows the airline to go it alone when necessary, confident its relationship with its best passengers will help it out.

It's all about scale for Expedia. The company can use its expertise to add vacation rentals to heighten conversion, which in turn enables Expedia to spend more on marketing. That's good for vacation rentals and, in theory, for hotels as well as it should generate increased demand.

Customer experience requires deeper thinking about the guest or passenger, which is why when it's done right it makes such a strong impression.

The more magazines, the merrier. Let's hope LP moves further in the next issue to add its own distinctive take to the medium.

San Francisco housing is a disaster created by city leaders who have failed to plan, greedy residents who are out for a buck, and an economy that's granting outsize salaries to young people without much sense. Airbnb is only part of the problem, and Prop F is only part of the solution.

Beyond the headline-grabbing name is a leader who's building a company one small thing at a time.

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Host Hotels is a benchmark. And as uninspiring as it sometimes may be, it can often lead the way to what will happen in the next quarter for the U.S.-centric chain.