Hotel Moment

In this celebratory New Year's Eve episode of Hotel Moment, host Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, reflects on an extraordinary year for the podcast that saw it reach over half a million listeners and climb to the top three on Apple Podcasts for Hotel Technology. Rather than simply counting downloads, she curates the wild stories, crisis moments, and bold decisions that reminded listeners why hospitality is such a special industry.

What you'll learn:

• Redefining luxury service: Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley with over 20 years in luxury hospitality including former global senior vice president of learning and development at Forbes Travel Guide, defines luxury as "the ability to not have to think" where guests simply show up and pay while every need is anticipated, explaining how intentional interactions move guests from past travel stress to present moment awareness to future excitement.
  
  
• Training philosophy transformation: Jeff challenges conventional staff training by asking whether teams are taught what and how to do tasks versus why they do them, demonstrating how bell staff asking "how was your trip?" while guests enjoy beautiful views disconnects them from the moment by making them think about cramped airplane seats instead of being present at the property.
  
  
• Hiring smarter than yourself: Sky McLean, founder and CEO of Basecamp Resorts, describes building a $600 million hospitality empire by acknowledging she had no idea how to run a hotel after managing just two Airbnbs, immediately hiring an operations manager and accountant, emphasizing that success comes from putting the right people in the right seats by matching their skill sets and desires with organizational needs while treating people the way she wants to be treated.
  
  
• Scaling through empowerment: Sky's approach from those first two hires grew Basecamp to 300 employees and expansion into wellness tourism with Everwild spa concept combining Nordic spas, hot and cold therapy, and stunning mountain settings, demonstrating the innovation that happens when entrepreneurs hire great people and empower them to run.
  
  
• Crisis management under impossible conditions: Ben Campbell, president and CEO of Hospitality America, describes Hurricane Helene's devastating impact when two feet of rain in 24 hours caused mudslides and left hotels without power for a week and one property without water for three weeks, creating sanitation challenges for toilets, linen, and basic operations while serving as shelter for FEMA workers and displaced residents whose homes washed away.
  
  
• Operating without systems: Ben shares running a hotel for 14 days without internet or property management system during a previous hurricane in South Florida, managing everything on spreadsheets with room matrices, demonstrating resilience when digital systems fail completely and paper emergency binders become the lifeline for operations.
  
  
• Values-driven crisis response: Hospitality America's PEACH values (Passionate, Excellence, Adaptable, Community, Humble) weren't just poster words during the crisis but the framework guiding every decision as teams rented box trucks to transport linen between properties, with staff staying late to do laundry for hotels without water, showing hospitality isn't just about good times but being there when things fall apart.
  
  
• Emergency preparedness essentials: Ben emphasizes never taking anything for granted, maintaining fully updated emergency binders on paper because digital systems fail, creating comprehensive crisis binders with step-by-step documentation covering all bases, and choosing to be more prepared than underprepared for any threat to the area.
  
  
• Culture as first strategic priority: Agnelo Fernandes, CEO of Cote Hospitality managing properties including a dude ranch in Arizona with over 200 horses, reveals his strategic priorities start with culture and leadership rather than top line revenue, spending his first two years as CEO resetting culture with minor tweaks in some cases and major cleanses in others because culture is the beginning and end of pretty much any organization.
  
  
• Long-term thinking over quarterly returns: Agnelo's unconventional approach told investors and boards that culture would be fixed first before growth, maintaining a "brag book" of positive feedback and accolades as reminders of the leader he wants to be and the impact he wants to have rather than focusing on immediate returns that typically drive quarterly decisions.
  
  
• AI exploration without implementation pressure: Agnelo's team spends one hour weekly playing with AI by thinking through problems faced during the week, using artificial intelligence not to solve issues directly but to be inspired to think about different options, identifying 40 different aspects of their business that could be transformed while emphasizing that people will never change even as technology evolves.
  
  

Throughout the compilation, Brenna emphasizes the common thread connecting these diverse stories: hospitality is fundamentally about people, seeing what others need and showing up to meet that need, having the courage to do things differently when different is what's required, whether through massive financial risk based on vision, showing up daily during crisis, prioritizing culture over short-term revenue, or redefining luxury as effortless care.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[03:10] Luxury is the ability to not have to think - Jeff Wielgopolan from Meadowood Napa Valley delivers a memorable definition: "Luxury is the ability to not have to think. It's the greatest luxury that you can give somebody. From a guest perspective, all you should have to do is show up and pay." This reframes luxury away from marble bathrooms and thread counts toward anticipating needs before they're expressed.

[03:44] Moving guests through time - Jeff explains intentional interactions: "Upon arrival, I will always say that my best arrivals move the guest from the past into the present into the future. The front drive deals with the past, the front desk deals with the present, and as the bell escorts you to your room, they tell you about the future." When bell staff ask "how was your trip?" while guests enjoy beautiful views, they disconnect guests from the moment by making them think about cramped airplane seats.

[06:00] Hire people smarter than you - Sky McLean shares her scaling strategy: "The key in this whole thing is hire people smarter than you at the thing you need them to do. I knew I have no idea how to run a hotel. I ran two Airbnbs. That doesn't make me a hotelier. So I hired an operations manager and an accountant. It's always about putting the right people in the right seats."
[07:25] Hurricane Helene crisis management - Ben Campbell describes devastating conditions: "Two feet of rain in 24 hours. We had two hotels. One lost power for about a week. One hotel lost water for about three weeks. How do you stay sanitary without running water? I rented a box truck, drove up to that hotel, got all their linen, drove it down to our Embassy Suites in Greenville. The staff stayed late, did the laundry, then did all the laundry for the hotel that didn't have water."

[08:54] Operating without technology - Ben shares previous hurricane experience: "I went 14 days without internet. I went 14 days without a property management system. We were running a hotel off of a spreadsheet that I created with a room matrix." In 2025, his team ran hotels on paper for two weeks because they had no other choice during the crisis.

[11:12] Culture before revenue - Agnelo Fernandes reveals his priorities: "If you look at our strategic priorities, it starts with culture. It doesn't start with top line. It doesn't start with anything else but culture and leadership. I spent a good part of my first two years resetting culture. In some cases, minor tweaks and in some cases, major cleanses. Culture is the beginning and end of pretty much any organization."

Chapters:00:00 - Intro
03:10 - Jeff Wielgopolan on redefining luxury and intentional service 
06:00 - Sky McLean on building a $600M empire through smart hiring 
07:25 - Ben Campbell on crisis management during Hurricane Helene 
11:12 - Agnelo Fernandes on culture as first strategic priority 
15:00 - People-centered hospitality


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this celebratory episode of Hotel Moment, host Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, takes a different approach by curating the most impactful moments from the podcast's archive this year. Rather than featuring a single guest, she presents a carefully selected compilation that showcases both the entertaining personality and serious innovation driving modern hospitality forward.


What you'll learn:

• Rethinking loyalty beyond points: Bashar Wali, founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality and This Assembly, with over three decades in hospitality, delivers his unfiltered perspective that points programs represent bribery rather than genuine loyalty, arguing true loyalty comes from making guests feel seen, understood, and valued rather than simply rewarded with transactional benefits.
  
  
• Simplifying direct booking friction: Bashar also compares buying shoes on Instagram with three button presses to hotel websites requiring 75 steps, including keyboard switches between alpha and numeric inputs, emphasizing that hotels with perishable inventory shouldn't fight guests every step when they're trying to give you money.
  
  
• Entrepreneurial origin stories: Sky McLean, founder and CEO of Basecamp Resorts, shares how she took a $38,000 loan check from a BMW dealership for a car she couldn't afford and used it to buy land in Canmore, then lived in a camping trailer on the construction site while building what would become a $600 million hospitality empire, advising that "there's no right time, so just do it."
  
  
• Cybersecurity's human element: Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews, warns that cybercriminals now use AI to impersonate voices and buy Google ad words to create fake login pages, emphasizing that teams at the frontline with access to sensitive data must be trained because IT departments can't provide 100% protection when human error creates vulnerabilities.
  
  
• Never Google your login pages: Matthijs shares the critical practice of bookmarking login pages or using single sign-on instead of searching on Google, where criminals set traps with ads looking exactly like legitimate pages that steal credentials when employees enter them.
  
  
• Master data management as a foundation: Dimple Jethani, CIO of Aramark Destinations, overseeing technology for iconic properties in Yosemite and Yellowstone, emphasizes, master data management becomes critical when implementing systems like Salesforce because failing to integrate properly ruins your master data and creates silos, preventing actionable insights.
  
  
• Starting with guest questions: Dimple stresses defining what you want to know about guests before collecting data, building systems to answer specific questions about how you know them, engage them, and understand what's important to them, rather than accumulating information without purpose.
  
  
• Transaction-level personalization: Dana Cariss, Senior Vice President of Revenue Strategy at CoralTree Hospitality, describes how their four-year investment consolidating data from PMS, point of sale, and sales systems into a single warehouse enables them to see not just whether guests used resort credits but exactly where they spent them, allowing hyper-targeted campaigns sending spa packages to spa lovers rather than generic promotions.
  
  
• Technology for social impact: Georgine Muntz, CEO of Visual Matrix, explains how their PMS and housekeeping tools enable staff to safely document suspicious activity related to human trafficking without confronting potentially dangerous criminals, feeding information into databases that help identify patterns and assist law enforcement.
  
  
• Partnerships over integrations: Georgine emphasizes that while APIs and integrations are important, hotels operating 24/7 in real time need partners who will fix issues at 2 a.m. rather than point fingers, achieving 98% issue resolution without referring customers elsewhere through relationship-focused support.
  
  

Throughout the compilation, Brenna reinforces that great hospitality happens when human connection balances with intelligent technology, using data to enhance rather than replace intuition while building systems that free teams to make guests feel welcome, understood, and valued.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[02:20] Points are bribery - Bashar Wali delivers his bold perspective: "Points are not loyalty. Points are bribery. If I stop giving you points, are you still coming? No, that's not loyalty. I'm buying your loyalty, not earning it." His point underscores that true loyalty comes from making guests feel seen and valued, not just rewarded.
[03:05] The 75-step booking nightmare - Bashar compares retail to hotel booking: "I go on Instagram, I see a pair of shoes, I press three buttons, they're in the mail. I go on a hotel website to book a room, and on step 75, they're making me change my keyboard from Alpha to Numeric. Please don't fight me every step of the way when I'm trying to book my room on your website."
[04:16] The BMW loan origin story - Sky McLean shares her wild beginning: "I end up with a check for $38,000 from BMW. I'm like, done, sold. I'll take this car I can't afford with a $1,000 a month payment, and I'm gonna take that check and buy a piece of dirt in Canmore, which is the land where the first Basecamp Resorts now sits."
[06:44] The human cybersecurity vulnerability - Matthijs Welle warns: "We have to teach everyone who works at the frontline that has access to sensitive data how to protect that data. You can't look at an IT department to do 100% protection. That's never 100% unless you really make your teams aware of it."

[08:43] Master data management matters - Dimple Jethani emphasizes: "No one wants to talk about foundational things, but master data management matters. If I decide to implement a system and I don't integrate it, my master data has just been ruined."
[09:59] Transaction-level personalization - Dana Cariss explains hyper-targeting: "We can see quickly if the guest is using resort credit or not. Do we understand where they are actually spending that credit? Once we do, are we tailoring our ongoing messages based on that guest spend? Once you understand at a transaction level, then we can truly tailor personalized communication."

Chapters:00:00 - Intro
02:20 - Bashar on loyalty and booking friction 
04:16 - Sky McLean's entrepreneurial leap of faith 
06:44 - Cybersecurity with Matthijs Welle 
08:43 - Master data management with Dimple Jethani 
09:59 - Transaction-level personalization with Dana Cariss 
11:07 - Technology for social impact with Georgine Muntz 
13:00 - Closing reflections on high-tech, high-touch hospitality


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this strategic episode of Hotel Moment, host Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, brings together six powerful direct booking strategies covered throughout the year into one connected playbook specifically designed for holiday demand. Rather than treating each strategy as standalone, she demonstrates how loyalty, segmentation, OTA win back, cart abandonment, lead nurture, and upsells work together as a unified system that turns December into the most profitable direct booking season while setting properties up for strong Q1 2026 performance.


What you'll learn:

• Holiday demand psychology - The holidays bring emotional, motivated guests willing to spend more who actively choose places to create memories, making this the moment when direct booking strategies either shine or miss out, because while OTAs spend aggressively in Q4, properties have something more powerful through knowing guests and having their data.
  
  
• Duplication and inclusion framework - Renee Murrieta explains that 70% of travelers expect personalized communication but this can feel intimidating, solving it through creating one strong targeted campaign using data points like geolocation, family status, interests, or past stay behavior, then duplicating it for other segments while adjusting only pieces that need to change, ensuring every guest gets something relevant without reinventing the wheel while avoiding leaving large database segments untouched for months.
  
  
• Scalable personalization tactics - Renee emphasizes that not every piece needs to say "I know you live in the northeast and need to get down south to Florida," but rather you can reference location once in the subject line or lead story while keeping remaining content evergreen, achieving higher engagement rates through strategic customization points rather than over-personalization that becomes unsustainable.
  
  
• Transactional plus emotional loyalty - Ellis Connolly from Laasie breaks loyalty into two components, the transactional "parking fee loyalty" and the emotional piece, explaining that Laasie blends both to tie transactional and emotional loyalty together so guests feel the hotel has thought about them regarding reward content while giving them things to experience outside of just staying at the property.
  
  
• Loyalty as December multiplier -True loyalty isn't just points but personalization and recognition where maintaining relationships beyond the stay becomes critical, and when paired with first-party data, personalization, and incentive-driven rewards, loyalty becomes the engine underneath all direct booking efforts, mattering more during holidays because travelers want belonging, family moments, and traditions rather than just rooms.
  
  
• Segmentation for relevance increase - Segmentation isn't about narrowing audience but increasing relevance, where families planning multi-room stays, couples seeking New Year's Eve experiences, remote workers chasing sunshine, past holiday guests, local staycation visitors, and OTA bookers from last year each respond to different emotional drivers requiring geo-targeted escape messaging, family-specific experiences, romance-led getaway content, local event features, loyalty early access, and past guest reactivation.
  
  
• OTA win back as margin recovery - OTA reliance spikes in Q4 because OTAs spend aggressively to capture holiday traffic, but most OTA guests don't actually prefer OTAs and lack compelling reasons to book direct, making holiday campaigns with festive storytelling, exclusive access, tradition-driven content, loyalty perks, and early booking windows change dynamics instantly, with OTA win back campaigns consistently performing at 41% open rates and $5-6 revenue per email sent.
  
  
• Cart abandonment for high-intent capture - Holiday shoppers bounce frequently because budgets are tighter, families coordinate, and travelers compare rooms, dates, and packages, but most cart abandoners have extremely high intent and convert quickly with automated nudges including reminders about dates they were considering, gentle urgency about filling weekends, loyalty member pricing, and add-ons they viewed during sessions.
  
  
• Speed-based lead nurturing - In hospitality, speed equals sales, and holiday leads go cold even faster when someone fills out forms for holiday parties, winter retreats, Christmas family stays, or New Year's Eve packages where response time determines booking outcome, as demonstrated by French Lick Resorts where Jason Wells from Revinate explains that reservation agents lead guest journeys by catching interests early even when guests don't book spa, restaurant, or golf initially, marking it on reservations so outbound experience design teams know exactly what to focus on during follow-up calls.
  
  
• Voice-led emotional upselling - Digital upsells handle scalable revenue while voice upsells capture memory-making moments, with holiday guests wanting to feel excited through offers like "We notice you're traveling with kids, want us to arrange a hot cocoa welcome?" or "Would you like an add-on for holiday breakfast with Santa?" or "We have a New Year's Eve wine pairing, should I reserve you two seats?" proving that when agents are emotionally invested and excited, guests say yes.
  
  
• System integration for Q1 momentum - The holiday season's highest intent, highest emotion period paired with these six strategies through segmentation, loyalty, OTA win back, cart abandonment, lead nurture, and upsells doesn't just optimize December but fills direct funnels with engaged, known, loyal guests who book again early in Q1, as demonstrated by Brittain Resorts and Hotels whose unified strategy generated $63 million in direct revenue while increasing repeat visits and loyalty conversions.
  
  

Throughout the episode, Brenna emphasizes that using first-party data to tell seasonal stories, segment smarter, nurture faster, upsell with emotion, and win back every possible OTA guest creates a connected system where December becomes the direct booking breakthrough that determines Q1 2026 performance.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Read more about The latest hospitality trends for 2026 here

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[02:02] Duplication and inclusion framework - Renee Murrieta explains the recipe for success: "70% of your database wants you to talk to them in a personal way. And you do have that data. So I think there's a recipe for success that involves both duplication and inclusion. Customizing a message to a specific audience, you have the data points to do that. You can get something in front of them that you think is going to resonate with them, and the results show that it does."

[03:20] Scalable personalization strategy - Renee continues: "It doesn't mean every part of it has to say, 'Hey, I know you live in the northeast and you need to get down south to Florida pretty soon because it's cold.' You can say that once. Maybe your subject line calling out something that's gonna catch their attention. But the rest of the content could be rather evergreen. That inclusion piece means you don't want to leave big sets of your database out and untouched for months on end."
[04:10] Transactional plus emotional loyalty - Ellis Connolly breaks down loyalty components: "There's two types of loyalty that we think about. There's that parking fee loyalty, which is transactional, and then there's the emotional piece to that. What Laasie does really well is we're able to really blend those two to tie both together, your transactional and your emotional loyalty, so you get full circle on making that guest feel really good."

[06:00] OTA win back performance metrics - Brenna shares compelling data: "OTA Win Back campaigns consistently perform with 41% open rates and a $5 to $6 revenue per email sent. That's not just a marketing channel, that's a margin recovery machine. When you combine OTA Win Back with segmentation and loyalty, you reclaim holiday demand instead of losing it to commissions."
[08:31] Speed-based lead nurturing - Jason Wells from Revinate describes French Lick's approach: "They're actually leading that guest journey and getting that guest excited and wanting to book and picking up on those interests. Even if they don't book the spa, the restaurant, the golf on that initial call, it is marked on that reservation and that lead form. So when your outbound experience design team's giving them a call, they know exactly what to focus on."

[09:00] Voice-led upselling for holidays - Brenna explains the emotional closer: "Holiday guests want to feel excited. 'We notice you're traveling with kids. Want us to arrange a hot cocoa welcome? Would you like an add-on for a holiday breakfast with Santa? We have a New Year's Eve wine pairing. Should I reserve you two seats?' Digital upsells handle the scalable revenue, voice upsells capture the memory-making moments."

Chapters:00:00 - Intro
02:02 - First-party data and personalization 
04:10 - Strategy one: Loyalty as emotional multiplier 
05:00 - Strategy two: Segmentation for relevance 
06:00 - Strategy three: OTA win back margin recovery 
07:30 - Strategy four: Cart abandonment capture 
08:31 - Strategy five: Speed-based lead nurturing 
09:30 - Strategy six: Voice and digital upsells 
10:45 - System integration for Q1 2026 momentum


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this special trends episode of Hotel Moment, hostKaren Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer at Revinate, and Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, take a collaborative approach to previewing what hoteliers should expect in 2026. Rather than featuring an external guest, they synthesize insights from the podcast's conversations throughout 2025 to identify five critical themes that will reshape the industry.


What you'll learn:

• Hyper-personalization becomes mainstream: Building on Carlo Del Mistro from Ennismore's 2025 prediction, personalization shifts from collecting preferences and stay histories to actually using that data for tailored experiences. The evolution moves from "one size fits some" broad segments to "one size fits one" individualized offers, with generative AI creating messaging and real-time triggers activating upsells based on guest behavior.
• Unified tech stacks replace legacy patchworks: Ideas' Future Forecasts report reveals only half of hoteliers currently use mostly integrated tools, but 2026 will drive adoption of cloud APIs and microservices architectures enabling faster innovation. Customer Data Platforms emerge as the anchor, consolidating siloed data sources into single guest profiles while enabling activation across channels through embedded CRM functionality.
• Real-time decisioning transforms operations: Moving beyond retrospective analytics, hotels will use live data from local events, weather patterns, foot traffic, and travel trends to adjust demand forecasts and revenue strategies dynamically. Unified dashboards pulling live stream data rather than batch data enable occupancy forecasting, dynamic pricing, staffing optimization, and event-based interventions based on actual conditions.
• Cybersecurity and privacy become non-negotiable: As guest data grows richer with behavioral and location information, regulatory frameworks including GDPR, CCPA, and global equivalents continue evolving. Hotels must transparently explain data usage with clear opt-in/opt-out controls, treat every IoT device and integration point as potential vulnerability, and prioritize unified clean data since fragmented data creates open doors for cyberattacks.
• Guest communication evolves into orchestration hubs: Platforms move beyond separate email tools, chatbots, and messaging apps to create connected guest journey systems. AI virtual concierges access full guest history and current context to trigger hyper-personalized offers, mobile apps integrate real-time request handling with upsell opportunities, and API-first approaches enable seamless data exchange while maintaining human-led service for complex interactions.
  
  

Throughout the conversation, Karen and Brenna emphasize that 2026 represents a pivot point where initial digital adoption waves complete and the focus shifts to real-time activation, deep personalization embedding into operations, and viewing technology through added privacy and safety measures as must-haves rather than nice-to-haves.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Check out the Idea’s report here

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Connect with Karen Stephens here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[01:35] The action frontier - Karen sets the stage: "We've had a watershed year for digital transformation, and the next frontier is not just about adoption, it's about action. We've got to weave together guest experience, operational agility, and data-driven decision making."
[02:25] Beyond name and greeting - Karen explains evolving expectations: "Guests expect more than name and greeting. They really expect tailored stays, meaningful upsells, and experiences that anticipate their needs. It's really about show me that you know me and market to me as if you know what I'm gonna want pre, post, and during stay."

[04:20] From accumulation to activation - Brenna identifies the critical shift: "2025 has been about guest data and accumulation. 2026 will be the year of guest data activation. It's going to shift from just purely collecting the data to really translating it to actual personalization from pre-arrival to post-stay."
[08:45] Real-time decisioning emerges - Brenna highlights operational transformation: "Data has long been a hot topic in hospitality, but many hotels still use it retrospectively. In 2026, the emphasis is on growing towards real-time operational decision-making using occupancy forecasting, dynamic pricing, staffing optimization, and event-based intervention."

[13:23] Security as loyalty driver - Karen addresses escalating concerns: "Hotels are going to need to transparently explain how they use data. Opt-in, opt-out controls and secure infrastructure will gain loyalty. You've got to make sure you're using a platform that's got best-in-class security embedded."


Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to 2026 trends 
01:43 - Trend 1: Hyper-personalization goes mainstream 
05:49 - Trend 2: Unified tech stacks and microservices platforms 
09:15 - Trend 3: Data analytics and real-time decisioning 
12:57 - Trend 4: Cybersecurity and privacy escalation 
15:36 - Trend 5: Guest communication platforms as orchestration hubs 
19:01 - Recap and looking ahead to 2026


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this strategic episode of Hotel Moment, Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, challenges hoteliers to identify their most expensive guest. It's not the early check-in requester or the upgrade seeker — it's the guest who continuously books through OTAs, not because they prefer third-party channels, but because they're missing a compelling reason to book direct.


What you'll learn: 

• Why OTA-dependent guests are your most expensive customers and how commission costs compound over time 
• The power of OTA winback strategies: 41% average open rates and $5-6 revenue per email sent 
• Kathleen Cullen's insight on redirecting OTA investment into your own direct booking infrastructure 
• Marc Winchell's "turning off the faucet" metaphor: gradually reducing OTA dependency while incentivizing direct bookings 
• Why direct bookings consistently deliver higher average revenue per reservation beyond just commission savings 
• How to transform random "book direct" emails into strategic, data-driven winback campaigns 
• Voco Belfast's successful approach: using segmentation, seasonal experiences, local storytelling, and brand voice without discounts 
• The holiday opportunity: why Christmas and New Year represent the highest intent booking window for winback campaigns 
• Strategic holiday messaging: festive experiences, family traditions, winter moments, early access, and nostalgic content 
• Why personalization builds trust, trust drives bookings, and bookings drive lifetime value 
• How to create always-on winback conversations that guide guests toward direct relationships
  
  

Discover how properties like Voco Belfast prove that connection and experience-led messaging converts OTA bookers far more effectively than discount tactics.

Sign up for the Direct Booking Mastery Certification here.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[00:38] Your most expensive guest - Brenna reveals the truth: "Your most expensive guest is the guest who books through an OTA and keeps doing it. Not because they honestly prefer OTAs and not because the offer is necessarily better with OTAs, but because guests are missing a compelling reason to book direct with you."

[01:35] Invest in direct, not commissions - Kathleen Cullen from PTG Consulting makes the business case clear: "Many times we're investing in the OTAs. Why not invest those same dollars that you're currently giving to third parties and shift that investment into your own website, into your own direct booking strategy."

[02:08] The faucet metaphor - Marc Winchell from Pacific Hospitality Group offers a perfect analogy: "It's so easy just to dial it up. We're slowly turning that faucet off and we're incentivizing guests to book direct." It's about controlling the flow, not shutting it off completely.

Chapters:00:00 - Intro 
00:38 - Your most expensive guest revealed 
01:35 - Why direct bookings are critical 
02:08 - OTA winback campaign performance 
03:30 - Voco Belfast success story 
04:45 - Holiday opportunity: Christmas and New Year strategy 
06:15 - Direct Booking Mastery Certification overview


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens welcomes Jordi Solé, president of UMusic Hospitality and Lifestyle, whose two-decade career in hotel operations across Europe and the Americas led him to create one of hospitality's most innovative concepts. Backed by Universal Music Group, UMusic represents a fundamental reimagining of what hotels can be: entertainment with a room, where music becomes the storytelling platform connecting guests, places, and communities.


What you'll learn: 

• Music as storytelling platform: How hospitality naturally amplifies emotion, and music transforms that into memorable experiences from pre-arrival through departure, creating brand awareness that generated 3 billion digital views and 35 million euros in marketing media value since opening.
• Entertainment-driven hospitality model: The Madrid property features a 900-seat theater hosting Universal Music artists, a piano bar with emerging talent, and activations throughout the property including rooftop performances and album launches, creating over 900 events in two years.
• Personalization through technology: Their "digital twin" platform captures guest music preferences across touchpoints, then curates customized vinyl selections from Universal's extensive library, delivered to rooms with turntables or available in their dedicated music lounge.
• Community integration strategy: Partnerships with local music schools bring young musicians to perform throughout the property, local painters reinterpret Universal Music artist imagery in their own styles for each hotel floor, and local sourcing creates transparent supply chain impact.
• Packaging entertainment experiences: Direct channel bundles combine accommodations with theater tickets, backstage passes, meet-and-greets with artists, and premier access, with suite packages offering the most exclusive experiences for superfans.
• Global expansion vision: Beyond hotels, UMusic manages entertainment venues, retail stores, and restaurants, with properties opening in São Paulo, a second luxury Madrid location, and upcoming US properties, all unified through their loyalty platform.
• Finding your differentiation: In competitive hospitality markets, properties must identify their unique niche whether gastronomy, education, or music and become recognized for delivering that specific curated experience better than anyone else.
  
  

Jordi also discusses how music serves as the universal language connecting diverse guests, why purpose-driven community impact creates authentic brand value, and how their partnership with Universal Music provides access to 7,000 artists across 70 labels to create experiences impossible for independent properties to replicate.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Jordi Sole here:

• LinkedIn
• UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle

Connect with Karen Stephens here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights
[02:17] Music transforms hospitality - Jordi explains his revelation joining Universal Music Group: "Music could change everything. Hospitality is about emotion and how we make people feel, and music naturally amplifies that. Music is not just a theme, but it's a storytelling platform that could transform the entire guest experience from even before arriving to the hotel until they leave the property."

[04:57] The Madrid property's impact - Since opening in September 2023, Jordi shares remarkable results: "We had more than 900 events since we opened, all musical events with Universal Music artists. And these events brought more than 200,000 superfans to the property. We had three billion digital views and 35 million euros marketing media value."

[10:49] Personalization through the digital twin - Jordi describes their technology approach: "We have a digital twin, a tech platform. We learn from the client before they arrive, when they do check-in, and at different touch points. We learn what they like in terms of music. We have a music library where we can curate and craft the vinyls that they like and bring them to the room."

[13:10] Community as creative partner - Describing an emerging artist's organic performance, Jordi illustrates authentic engagement: "She just grabbed the guitar, stayed on the stage, played, and she gave those organically, naturally, because when she gets to the hotel and the way that my team personalizes her stay, she feels home. That's one of the examples on how she personalizes the stay of somebody else."

[17:38] Advice for differentiation - Jordi offers his key insight for hoteliers: "They need to find their niche. Maybe it's gastronomy, maybe it's education, it's different, but they need to find and be recognized by one thing and stand out from the rest of the competitors. If you find something unique and something different you can be known for, it's easier for guests to recognize you."

Chapters:00:00 - Intro02:17 - Discovering music's power in hospitality03:25 - What UMusic Hospitality represents04:57 - The Madrid property and remarkable results06:49 - Packaging entertainment with accommodations07:59 - Community partnerships and local integration12:36 - Personalization through the digital twin platform15:05 - Global expansion plans17:38 - Advice for hoteliers: Finding your differentiation


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this actionable webinar episode of Hotel Moment, Anisha Yadav, Vice President of Customer & Product Marketing at Revinate, and Melissa McMullen, Product Marketing Manager at Revinate, welcome Angela Berkley, Senior Director of Reservation Sales and CRM at CoralTree Hospitality, for a deep dive into strategies that convert during the competitive holiday booking season. Drawing from CoralTree's success across their portfolio, Angela shares specific campaigns, team motivation tactics, and segmentation approaches that drive measurable results.


What you'll learn:

• Industry trends shaping holiday strategy: McKinsey data shows personalization is no longer optional, with hoteliers investing in technologies that activate guest data. Deloitte reports guests are taking longer trips focused on experiences rather than destinations, while CoStar reveals food and beverage revenue is growing 20% faster than rooms revenue, creating new opportunities for total revenue optimization.
• Strategic repeat guest targeting: Rather than treating all guests equally during busy seasons, Angela advocates calling previous year's guests to offer courtesy booking before inventory sells out, creating recognition and preferred access that drives loyalty while filling peak periods at optimal rates.
• High-value guest segmentation for cyber sales: The most successful approach treats top spenders differently through exclusive early access before public sales launch, personalized communication that acknowledges their value, and tailored packages that match their historical preferences and spend patterns.
• Post-stay communication using NPS data: With Revinate's CDP integration, CoralTree now varies outreach based on satisfaction scores, potentially calling detractors personally while crafting different marketing messages for promoters, turning feedback into relationship-building opportunities.
• Team incentive programs that work: Angela shares lessons learned about building profitable incentive programs with proper gatekeepers including inbound conversion goals and call result audits to prevent gaming, understanding what motivates different team members beyond money such as PTO days or schedule flexibility, and creating recognition approaches that match individual preferences for public versus private acknowledgment.
• Gamification tactics: From front desk upsell bingo to reservation Monopoly boards to spinning wheels for gift cards, Angela provides creative examples of making outbound fun while maintaining accountability and driving consistent performance.
• Attribute-based upselling tactics: Melissa outlines practical approaches including targeting families with interconnecting room offers, leveraging mountain or ocean view inventory for upgrade campaigns, offering early check-in to guests with early flights, and creating pet packages for guests booking pet-friendly rooms.
• Experience-driven packages: Beyond rooms, properties should bundle spa treatments, golf course access, restaurant reservations, and adventure activities, creating compelling offers that drive total revenue per guest while enhancing the stay experience.
• Real campaign success: Angela shares their current three-phase campaign where personalized postcards to loyal summer guests followed by agent phone calls, generated nearly six figures in phase one alone, demonstrating the power of combining traditional mail with personal outreach.
  
  

The webinar also provides preparation tactics, including giving reservation teams advance access to offer details for valuable feedback, creating campaign-specific phone numbers with URLs in Revinate's platform for seamless team access, and launching early access sales to stand out before Black Friday inbox clutter overwhelms guest attention.


Links mentioned in show:
● Black Friday/Cyber Monday Landing Page
● BFCM webinar series
● Attend NAVIGATE

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Anisha Yadav here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Connect with Melissa McMullin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Connect with Angela Berkley here:

• LinkedIn
• CoralTree Hospitality

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[03:15] Experiential travel trend - Anisha shares critical market data: "Customers are taking longer trips, so guests are booking longer stays, and it's the experiences that are moving the needle. It's not so much about the destination, but that one coffee shop in Spain that was trending on TikTok, that's driving the demand to that city."
[12:25] Segmenting high-value guests - Angela explains CoralTree's cyber sales approach: "Are we segmenting out our highest value guests? And do we treat them differently? This can be a great opportunity to do an outbound initiative before a cyber sale goes public. How are we leaning into that highest value guest? That can be a good success strategy."

[14:00] Building effective incentives - Angela shares hard-won lessons: "Not everybody is a salesperson. Outbound sales just doesn't come naturally for a big percentage of humans. So really leaning into a profitable incentive program for our team is important. Making sure there's some gatekeepers in there, making sure we're auditing those, is really key here."

[18:00] Attribute-based upselling - Melissa provides practical tactics: "You've already got the reservation, so think through how you can maximize that revenue. Maybe you have some room types available for upgrade, or you have an open room with a mountainside view or oceanside view. These are great ways to upsell to current reservations through email or through your reservations team."

[26:40] Standing out from the crowd - Angela emphasizes timing: "We don't want to be another email on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. When you are segmenting, does your strategy look different for highest value guests? We've already launched many of our properties. We want to stand out from the crowd."


Chapters
00:00 - Intro 
03:15 - Experiential travel and F&B revenue growth 
06:17 - Everyday outbound fundamentals 
09:34 - Targeting repeat guests strategically 
12:13 - Segmenting high-value guests for cyber sales 
14:00 - Building team incentive programs 
18:00 - Attribute-based upselling tactics 
20:13 - Experience-driven package creation 
23:17 - Preparing teams for Black Friday 
25:48 - Real campaign success story


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, CMO of Revinate, sits down with Geoffrey Toffetti, CEO of Frontline Performance Group, whose journey from hotel valet to technology CEO uniquely positions him to solve one of hospitality's most overlooked opportunities. After working his way through front desk, night audit, and hotel management at TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida, Geoffrey spent over a decade in technology startups before bringing his dual expertise to hospitality in 2011. Today, his company serves nearly 3,000 hotels across every major brand, transforming how frontline teams drive revenue while enhancing guest experiences.

What you'll learn: 

• The service-sales connection: How reframing upselling as service rather than sales helps front desk agents see they're solving guest problems, not pushing products, leading to simultaneous increases in both revenue and service scores.
• TRevPAR over RevPAR: Why measuring total revenue per available room instead of just rooms revenue provides owners with better insights for integrating food and beverage, front desk, and reservations into one cohesive ancillary revenue strategy.
• Incremental daily revenue benchmarking: How Geoffrey's proprietary IDR metric normalizes for price and occupancy, allowing luxury resorts and mid-scale airport hotels to be compared fairly, helping portfolios identify which properties sell most effectively for their opportunity.
• Closing the training loop: Why most hotel training fails because companies check a box without measuring if learning actually improved performance, and how connecting learning management systems directly to revenue analytics solves this problem.
• The discretionary effort framework: How recognition, financial reward, and accountability unlock the difference between doing just enough to avoid being fired and giving maximum effort as the best possible employee.
• Agentic AI for personalized coaching: How artificial intelligence diagnoses specific skill deficits across dozens of dimensions, then prescribes tailored video training and manager actions for each employee's unique performance gaps at scale.
• From order takers to revenue makers: Why front desk agents earning $100,000 annually through incentive-based upselling elevates the role from entry-level to mid-level, reducing turnover and creating virtuous cycles of engagement and performance.
• Service beyond conversations: Why exceptional guest experience encompasses everything from parking lot cleanliness to website functionality, not just the people directly speaking with guests, and how this holistic view transforms operations.
  
  

Together, Karen and Geoffrey discuss expanding into food and beverage across 8,000 restaurants in their hotel portfolio, why frontline employees are the future leaders of your company, and how in markets with RevPAR headwinds, your people become your true differentiator over decor and amenities.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Geoffrey Toffetti here:

• LinkedIn
• Frontline Performance Group

Connect with Karen Stephens here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights
[06:44] Sales and service as two sides of the same coin - Geoffrey explains his philosophy: "When you're selling something and you're trying to sell them something they don't need, that's sales. If you're trying to provide a solution to a problem they have, that's service." He describes how a family with teenagers trailing behind them, checking into a double room, genuinely benefits from a suite or adjoining rooms, making the upsell an act of service, not manipulation.

[11:06] Why TRevPAR beats RevPAR - "RevPAR stands for revenue per available room. We actually don't prefer RevPAR. We prefer TRevPAR, total revenue per available room," Geoffrey explains. By measuring all hotel revenue instead of just rooms, properties can integrate front desk, food and beverage, and other revenue centers into one strategic approach, similar to how theme parks measure per capita guest spending.
[14:01] Agentic AI diagnosing performance gaps - Geoffrey describes their breakthrough technology: "If you're a front desk agent and you have a lot of upsells but your average rate is $30, and you have someone else that doesn't do very many but their average rate is $200, you can infer what's wrong. One is selling a one-tier product they're comfortable with. The other is only selling the highest-end suites." The AI diagnoses these opposite problems and prescribes different training for each employee at scale.
[17:13] The training paradox solved - "Most companies struggle to evaluate whether training worked or not," Geoffrey notes. Because their platform combines learning management and performance analytics in the same data structure, they close the loop that most training programs leave open, monitoring whether recommended videos actually improve specific skill deficits.

[22:02] The 42-year transformation story - Geoffrey shares how a cynical front desk veteran at an iconic New York luxury hotel crossed his arms during their first session until realizing upselling was actually service: "He said, 'For 42 years I've been doing a disservice to my guests because I haven't been educating them on what their alternatives are.' He became the number one seller in the hotel and more than doubled his income." This story captures the mindset shift that drives results.

Chapters:00:00 - Intro01:47 - Geoffrey's journey from valet to technology CEO05:07 - Sales as a service philosophy11:06 - TRevPAR and new revenue measurement metrics14:01 - Agentic AI and closing the training loop19:03 - The discretionary effort framework22:02 - The 42-year veteran's transformation story24:12 - Expanding into food and beverage26:05 - Service as a holistic guest experience28:00 - Why frontline staff are your brand differentiator


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Brenna Turpin, Marketing Coordinator at Revinate, challenges the conventional view of lead nurturing as simply automated emails and phone calls. Instead, she reveals how effective lead nurturing serves as "the bridge between a potential guest's curiosity and your hotel's next direct booking — a multi-channel effort that builds trust and value at every stage of the guest journey.”

What you'll learn: 

• Why lead nurturing goes beyond automated follow-ups to building trust before guests click "book now" 
• JC Thompson's insights on human emotional connection vs. criteria-driven sales training and QA scorecards 
• How executive coaching and one-on-one agent engagement drives revenue better than secret shops 
• Why hotels using automated nurture workflows see up to 50% higher conversion rates on direct booking campaigns 
• The Ranch at Rock Creek's storytelling approach: showcasing experiences (horseback riding, fly fishing, culinary events) without discounts 
• The power of triggered sends: how warm/cold lead classification triggers automated emails within one hour to create urgency 
• Holiday strategy shift: why hotels engaging leads early with inspiring content see 8x more engagement than last-minute discount promotions 
• Travel Tuesday opportunity: hotel bookings jumped 28% last year — how to warm up databases before big sales hit 
• Evermore Resort's remarkable results: 36% of total monthly revenue from outbound call center nurturing and 92% reduction in call abandonment 
• The omnichannel approach: combining automated email flows with agent-led outbound call strategies 
• How personalization breeds trust and trust drives bookings through data-driven nurture campaigns
• Practical frameworks for measuring ROI beyond open rates and building sustainable direct booking engines
  
  

Learn why JC Thompson emphasizes "the customer wants a human connection" and discover how properties like The Ranch at Rock Creek and Evermore Resort prove that storytelling, timing, and genuine engagement convert warm leads far more effectively than price slashing ever could.

Sign up for the Direct Booking Mastery Certification here.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Brenna Turpin here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:
[01:32] Replace rigid QA metrics with one-on-one coaching to drive conversions - JC Thompson shares how strict QA scoring creates “human robots” instead of genuine hospitality. His coaching model replaces secret shops with hands-on leadership training, where managers review data and coach agents one-on-one. Evermore Resort used this approach to reduce call abandonment by 92% and generate 36% of monthly revenue through authentic, relationship-driven conversations.

[02:58] Implement triggered urgency emails within one hour of failed calls - The Ranch at Rock Creek built a “triggered send” system that automatically emails guests one hour after a failed booking call — timed while interest is still high. By classifying leads as warm or cold and tailoring the message, they drove higher click-throughs and repeat stays without discounts. Urgency plus personalization keeps guests engaged and ready to book.
[04:12] Use storytelling and brand immersion instead of discounts to drive 8x more engagement - Instead of flash sales, The Ranch at Rock Creek leaned into storytelling — inviting guests to imagine experiences like fly fishing and horseback riding. Hotels that use experience-led campaigns see up to eight times more engagement than discount blasts. Emotional storytelling builds brand value and long-term loyalty that price cuts can’t match.

[05:30] Segment and personalize your lead database to build trust and drive direct bookings - Lead nurturing works when every message feels personal. Segment leads by intent, purpose, and engagement, then tailor communication around real guest interests. Evermore Resort proved this by personalizing follow-ups with abandoned bookers, converting them into high-value stays that made up 36% of monthly revenue.

[06:42] Extend lead nurturing beyond email with proactive outbound calls - Evermore also integrated voice with digital touchpoints — training agents to follow up on high-intent leads through outbound calls. That human connection turned interest into confirmed bookings and dropped call abandonment by 92%. Voice-driven nurturing transforms data into dialogue, driving both trust and conversion.

[08:00]Build segmented campaigns before peak seasons to capture top-of-mind positioning - Don’t wait for Black Friday or Travel Tuesday. Warm up your database early with inspiring, segmented campaigns that tell your brand story. Hotels that engage leads in advance see up to eight times more engagement and book from strength — not from discount-driven competition.

Chapters:00:00 - Intro 
01:32 - Human connection over criteria-driven sales 
02:58 - What active lead nurturing looks like 
04:30 - The Ranch at Rock Creek success story 
05:45 - Holiday strategies beyond discounting 
06:30 - Evermore Resort: 36% revenue from outbound nurturing 
07:07 - Direct Booking Mastery Certification


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill
  
  

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, CMO of Revinate, sits down with Steven Rubin, CEO of Collared Martin Hospitality and adjunct professor at NYU, to explore how boutique hotels can merge innovation with empathy to bring back the soul of hospitality. With nearly three decades of experience across hospitality, technology, and strategy, Rubin leads a growing portfolio of distinctive properties in destinations like Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Jackson Hole, all grounded in his belief that technology should empower, not replace, human connection. 

What you'll learn: 

• The voice channel advantage: How personally calling guests — both dissatisfied and loyal — helps recover relationships, inspire trust, and turn service failures into opportunities for brand advocacy
• Data-driven personalization: How Collared Martin Hospitality uses CRM insights to craft bespoke experiences, from curated in-room surprises to destination-inspired storytelling
• Technology as an enabler: Why AI and automation should enhance, not replace, genuine human connection in boutique hospitality
• Creative use of guest data: Real examples of using Revinate insights to tailor guest experiences beyond standard amenities — like placing a guest’s favorite U2 record in their room or arranging a personalized local experience
• Building a culture of empathy: How cultivating open communication, listening, and curiosity empowers staff to deliver authentic, heartfelt service
• Integrating technology effectively: Why transparent communication between hoteliers and tech vendors is key to successful system integration and data unification
• AI for smaller hotel groups: How emerging tools now allow boutique operators to access data analytics and dashboards once reserved for large hotel brands
• Purpose and storytelling in brand culture: How the symbolism behind the “Collared Martin” swallow — representing homecoming and exploration — grounds the company’s mission: Dream to explore, live to inspire
  
  

Together, Karen and Steven discuss how hoteliers can leverage AI and CRM data to deliver personalized service at scale, why authentic voice communication remains essential for guest recovery, and how strong culture, storytelling, and purpose-driven leadership create memorable experiences that inspire loyalty and trust in the digital age.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Connect with Steven Rubin here:

• LinkedIn
• Collared Martin Hospitality

Connect with Karen Stephens here:

• LinkedIn
• Revinate

Follow the podcast here:

• LinkedIn

[08:05] Pick up the phone - Steven emphasizes the importance of direct, personal communication with guests: “Service failures recovered with sincerity and excellence can turn a dissatisfied guest into a loyal advocate.” He personally calls guests identified through Revinate reviews — both those with negative experiences and top advocates — to listen, learn, and rebuild trust. It’s a powerful reminder that the voice channel remains the heart of hospitality.

[10:55] Recovering with sincerity - When a hotel faced an overbooking issue, Steven personally contacted affected guests, listened to their frustrations, and turned a potential failure into a memorable experience. “We got them front-row seats at a brewery concert — they said they felt like rock stars. The cost to us was picking up the phone.” This story captures how genuine empathy and creativity can turn setbacks into brand-defining moments.

[13:28] Personalization beyond the standard amenity - Steven shares how his team used CRM insights to deliver a personalized surprise for a VIP guest: “We found out this guest loved U2’s favorite song and had that record waiting on the Victrola player in their room.” That small detail, inspired by the hotel’s Faraway brand muse, led to the guest personally thanking the GM and declaring they’d “call Bono.” It’s personalization elevated through storytelling.

[15:54] Culture, symbolism, and mission-driven leadership - Steven explains how his company culture is rooted in open communication, empathy, and symbolism: “We have a strong mission and vision — Dream to explore, live to inspire — that connects every property and team member.” This grounding in purpose, he says, ensures consistency across locations while fostering a sense of belonging and pride among staff.
[19:58] The ‘Homecoming’ principle - “The Collared Martin swallow symbolizes homecoming — sailors knew they were close to land when they saw one.” Steven reveals the inspiration behind his company’s name and brand identity, representing exploration, return, and connection — the essence of true hospitality.

[20:18] The future of boutique hotels - Looking ahead, Steven predicts a new era of democratized data and AI-driven empowerment:“ AI now allows boutique hotels to build data dashboards once reserved for major brands — but the key is using it to enhance human connection.” He reminds hoteliers that the future of hospitality belongs to those who pair smart technology with authentic service.

Chapters:00:00 - The call to bring back the soul of hospitality03:36 - Teaching technology at NYU04:37 - Launching Collared Martin Hospitality06:08 - Boutique hotels and destination storytelling08:05 - Picking up the phone: human connection through voice10:55 - Recovering service failures with sincerity13:28 - Personalization beyond standard amenities15:24 - How AI enhances human service15:54 - Building culture rooted in mission and symbolism19:58 - The “Homecoming” story of Collared Martin20:18 - The future of boutique hotels and data empowerment


If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss a moment! 
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so


Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.


Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.

If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:

• Innovation in hospitality technology
• Guest experience transformation
• Revenue optimization strategies
• Emerging industry trends

Express your interest in being a guest →
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Revinate’s new CEO — on a mission to empower hoteliers with data-driven technology | with Bryson Koehler 
• Guests define what luxury means today | with Shannon Knapp
• Your commercial strategy as an evolution and not a revolution | with Jennifer Hill