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Published on:

23rd Dec 2025

Behind Phuket’s Villa Boom: Community, Systems, and Hospitality at Scale with Bruno Barone | EP 2

Episode Overview

In this STRA special episode, Justin Sun speaks with Bruno Barone about building a hospitality ecosystem in Phuket that extends far beyond villas, focusing on people, systems, and long-term responsibility.

Episode Description

This episode is part of The Art of Short-Term Rentals in Asia, a six-part special series created in collaboration with Short Term Rental Asia (STRA).

Phuket’s villa market may look effortless from the outside, but behind every great stay is a complex network of people, systems, and responsibility.

In this episode of The Curious Concierge, Justin sits down with Bruno Barone, a hospitality entrepreneur who has spent over a decade building an interconnected ecosystem in Phuket. Bruno shares his journey from Europe to Thailand, the evolution of property management on the island, and why staff empowerment is central to service excellence.

The conversation explores Phuket’s shift toward long-term living, the rise of wellness and medical tourism, and why storytelling has become a strategic asset through Bruno’s media platform, Closer. Bruno also discusses legal support for expats, sustainability, and what it means to build hospitality with accountability in a fast-growing destination.

Why This Conversation Matters

As Phuket continues to grow as a global destination, Bruno offers a rare operator’s view on what happens behind the scenes. This episode is about building trust, infrastructure, and community in a place where hospitality touches everyday life.

Timestamps

(00:00) Phuket’s evolving hospitality landscape

(04:06) Bruno’s journey to Phuket

(07:19) Quality of life and inner happiness

(09:59) Building a hospitality ecosystem

(13:01) The evolution of property management

(16:02) Technical systems and service philosophy

(19:00) Staff development and service excellence

(22:20) Long-term living and rental shifts

(24:53) Storytelling in hospitality

(26:38) Legal support for expats

(28:01) Community-driven hospitality

(30:39) Phuket’s regional role

(33:51) Sustainability and future development

(40:04) The future of hospitality in Phuket

(41:53) Closing reflections

Connect with Kadek, STRA & The Curious Concierge

Bruno Barone

Email: info@closercsslaw.com

Short Term Rental Asia (STRA)

LinkedIn

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Justin Sun | The Curious Concierge

LinkedIn

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TikTok

Email: justin@thecuriousconcierge.com

Fourth Space Hospitality: https://fourthspacehospitality.com

If you know a hotelier, villa operator, designer, or founder shaping hospitality in Asia, feel free to reach out or make an introduction.

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About the Podcast

The Curious Concierge
Conversations with the builders, operators, and innovators redefining hospitality across Asia — from hotels and short-term rentals to the spaces shaping how we live, travel, and gather.
The Curious Concierge is a podcast exploring how hospitality is being redefined across Asia — told through the people building it from the inside.

Hosted by Justin Sun, the show features in-depth conversations with hoteliers, founders, designers, operators, and innovators shaping the places where we stay, gather, and experience care. From hotels and short-term rentals to wellness spaces, serviced apartments, and new hospitality models, each episode goes beyond surface-level trends to explore the ideas, systems, and human stories behind great experiences.

This is not a travel guide or a list of “top stays.”
It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how hospitality actually works — the emotional labor, the operational realities, the cultural context, and the long-term thinking required to build places that matter.

Beyond check-ins and keys, there are legends and legacies.
The Curious Concierge exists to tell those stories — and to spotlight why Asia is where the future of hospitality is being built.

About your host

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Justin Sun

Justin Sun is a hospitality and real estate professional with experience across hotels, short-term rentals, luxury stays, and emerging accommodation models in Asia and the U.S. He has worked behind the scenes on hotel openings, portfolio scaling, acquisitions, and operations, and now advises owners and developers through Fourth Space Hospitality.
He created The Curious Concierge to spotlight the people and ideas shaping hospitality in Asia — and to explore how space, service, and culture intersect to create meaning.