EkoStay Launches ‘Ekostay Stories’, a Podcast That Opens the Doors to the Real World of Villa Hospitality

EkoStay Launches ‘Ekostay Stories’, a Podcast That Opens the Doors to the Real World of Villa Hospitality

Mumbai, Jan 15: EkoStay, one of India’s fastest-growing professionally managed vacation rental brands, has announced the launch of Ekostay Stories, a new in-house podcast series that pulls back the curtain on the villa and homestay industry. Designed as both an industry conversation and a storytelling platform, the podcast captures the unfiltered realities, untold stories, and behind-the-scenes moments that shape the vacation rental ecosystem.

Moving beyond curated travel imagery and surface-level reviews, Ekostay Stories spotlights what truly goes on behind a stay—from guest behaviour and homeowner dynamics to operational challenges, humour, conflict, and unexpected moments. The podcast brings together voices from across the ecosystem, including co-founders, guests, homeowners, vendors, and internal teams, offering a rare, multi-perspective view of the business of hospitality.

At a time when hospitality content is dominated by influencer narratives and star ratings, Ekostay Stories delivers a refreshingly honest format. Industry insights indicate a growing appetite for long-form, narrative-driven content that explains how brands operate behind the scenes rather than simply showcasing outcomes. Ekostay Stories taps into this shift by blending real-life drama, humour, and learning into engaging, story-led conversations.

Explaining the thinking behind the initiative, Varun Arora, CEO & Co-Founder, EkoStay, said the podcast was born out of a clear communication gap in the homestay industry.

“Guests already speak online about their experiences, often when something goes wrong. What rarely gets discussed is everything that happens behind the scenes—the coordination, the people management, the homeowner conversations, and the pressure points. Ekostay Stories is our way of opening that door and showing how the industry truly operates,” he said.

He added that building and managing vacation homes involves layers of complexity that are often invisible on social media—from property onboarding and guest readiness to balancing expectations across homeowners, teams, competitors, and local authorities.

“It’s not always simple or polished. There’s a lot that goes on backstage, and we felt it was time to talk about it honestly—from a founder’s, management’s, and industry’s perspective,” Arora noted.

Internally described as “not just a podcast, but a full tea party,” Ekostay Stories embraces candid conversations, villa secrets, guest confessions, and real moments that range from humorous to hard-hitting. Early episode titles such as “Gayi Bhais Pool Mai” and “Signed & Shattered” reflect the show’s unfiltered, experience-led tone.

The podcast is designed for a wide audience—hospitality and travel industry professionals, property owners, aspiring hosts, entrepreneurs, and travellers curious about how villa brands actually function. It also serves as a transparent window for hospitality professionals, offering insight into the realities of working in a fast-growing, people-driven industry.

Ekostay Stories will release one episode every week, covering themes such as homeowner relationships, guest management, operational challenges, competition, workforce dynamics, regulatory navigation, and evolving traveller behaviour. Future episodes will also explore longer stays, remote work-driven travel trends, and the growing role of technology and AI in educating hosts and enhancing transparency in alternative accommodations.

As India’s vacation rental sector matures, Ekostay Stories reflects the industry’s shift toward authenticity, openness, and deeper engagement. By turning real experiences into shared conversations, the podcast aims to carve out a distinctive space in India’s travel and startup content ecosystem—one that informs, entertains, and sparks honest dialogue around modern hospitality.