Podcast · Business

Hotel Moment

Welcome to the Hotel Moment Podcast, presented by Revinate, where we discuss how hotel technology shapes every moment of hoteliers’ experiences. Join us as we explore cutting-edge technology that is transforming the hospitality industry and hear from experts and visionaries who are shaping the futur

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest: 14 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026 · 20 minNew

Is hotel marketing ready for its next evolution?

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer, Revinate sits down with Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate. Together, they analyze how hotel technology has shifted from basic CRM contact records to identity resolution inside a CDP, and now into real-time data activation. Dylan explains why relying on OTAs for repeat bookings cuts into property margins, while Karen outlines how Revinate Pathways and Revinate Chat combine PMS data, booking history, and AI messaging to deliver contextually relevant guest communication across every stage of the stay.

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

E200 · 7 Oct 2026 · 19 min
How The Claremont turned haunted lore into hotel demand
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Mickey Stout, Director of Marketing at Claremont Resort & Club, to mark the podcast's 200th episode. Drawing on over 20 years of marketing and operations experience, Mickey explains how the historic property turned former taboo ghost stories into an annual commercial engine. She outlines how a single media familiarization trip generated a 200-person waitlist, how CRM profiles turn seasonal tour visitors into repeat guests across 276 rooms and four restaurants, and how veteran staff help surface authentic, bookable history.
E199 · 30 Sep 2026 · 27 min
Recast: Garbage in, garbage out: Why hotel data will make or break AI
In this recast episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, sits down with Charlie Osmond, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of TripTease, to explore what data quality really means in an AI-driven hospitality landscape. With over twelve years building technology at the intersection of behavioral psychology and the direct booking channel, Charlie argues that clean, unified data is not just an advantage, it is the difference between outstanding decisions and consistently wrong ones. From guest persona strategy to vendor API lock-in, Charlie reveals why the hotels…
E198 · 23 Sep 2026 · 25 min
The hidden revenue opportunity in your hotel budget
In this episode of Hotel Moment, we bring you another AI-generated conversation examining what hotel leaders should consider before replacing reservation teams with voice AI. Using findings from Revinate’s 2026 Secret Shopped Call Report, the discussion looks at why overloaded front desks struggle to convert callers, where automation genuinely improves efficiency, and why hotels need better visibility into their voice channel before making major staffing decisions. It also explores a less obvious consequence of automation: as AI absorbs routine inquiries, the human reservation role may…
E197 · 16 Sep 2026 · 23 min
Recast: Building relationships through reservations: Insights from The Broadmoor
In this recast episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Sarah Stephens, Room Reservations Manager at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs — the world's largest and longest-running Forbes Five-Star hotel. With 14 years of managing a 13-15 person reservations team, Sarah shares how the voice channel creates unforgettable guest experiences through personal connections. From surprising guests with Doritos and handwritten notes to generating nearly $1 million in outbound call revenue over three months, Sarah reveals how luxury hospitality thrives on listening, training, and…
E196 · 9 Sep 2026 · 59 min
The lost art of a reservation call: How to build trust, capture data, and close bookings
In this webinar episode of Hotel Moment, Brent Sanders, Sr. Customer Education Specialist at Revinate, sits down with Colton Bean, Director of Reservations at Suncadia Resort, to unpack Revinate's Secret Shopper Call Report, which analyzed 308 calls to 135 luxury properties. The findings are stark: 92% of unbooked calls collected zero contact details, and 56.6% skipped discovery questions entirely. Colton shares how Suncadia trains agents to ask the right questions, secure bookings before guests hang up, and use call recordings to coach a fully remote team. Their message: technology should…
E195 · 2 Sep 2026 · 20 min
Recast: Sky Mitchell on succeeding in modern hospitality
In this recast episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Sky Mitchell, Founder and CEO of Basecamp Resorts. From getting fired and using a car loan to buy her first piece of land to building a $600 million hospitality empire, Sky shares her remarkable journey of entrepreneurship. Listen as she discusses her approach to staffing, the development of her new Everwild Nordic spa concept, sustainability initiatives, and her candid advice for aspiring entrepreneurs to succeed in the modern hospitality landscape.
E194 · 26 Aug 2026 · 23 min
We secret-shopped 300+ calls. Here’s what we found.
In this episode of Hotel Moment, we bring you a special AI-generated conversation dissecting the 2026 secret shopped call report. Based on 308 secret-shopper calls placed across 135 luxury and upscale properties, the discussion explores why 92.2% of calls fail to capture guest contact details and why staff ask zero discovery questions over half the time. It examines how lobby check-in chaos forces front desk teams into triage, why evening voicemail loops destroy paid ad spend, and how semantic AI call scoring restores accountability across hotel voice channels. Download the secret shopped…
E193 · 19 Aug 2026 · 22 min
Why the first 10 seconds make or break a guest's stay
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Andrew Shepherd, General Manager of Resorts at The Malcolm Hotel. Drawing on more than 25 years leading luxury hotels, resorts, and casinos, Andrew shares how proactive service transforms initial arrival moments into lasting loyalty. He explains why digital channels shape first impressions long before check-in, how front desk agents read body language when exhausted families arrive, and why logging details like a guest's favorite dessert turns software into real human connection. Andrew also breaks down how building 154 employee…
E192 · 12 Aug 2026 · 22 min
The blueprint for iconic hotel F&B
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens talks with Ami Alexander, Managing Partner at Barrel Aged Management. Drawing on two decades of experience with brands like Hakkasan Group, Sydell Group, and Virgin Hotels, Ami breaks down how guest expectations shifted from standard corporate consistency to local, intentional storytelling. She explains why developers must underwrite F&B concepts early to avoid forcing operations into poorly planned kitchens. Ami also outlines what allows concepts to scale without compromising design, and how tailored management support helps hotel teams…
E191 · 5 Aug 2026 · 23 min
The end of beigification: Why travelers are searching for something real
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Lindsey Ueberroth, CEO of Preferred Travel Group, home to Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest independent hotel brand with over 625 hotels in 80 countries. Lindsey shares her unconventional path from change management consulting into hospitality, the key findings from Preferred's Luxury Travel Report on heritage travel and hyper-personalization, and why she believes "beigification," the sameness across branded hotels, is losing out to authentic, independent experiences. She also explains why AI visibility, not just…
E190 · 29 Jul 2026 · 21 min
Why the best luxury hotels don't sell exclusivity — They build connection
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director, EMEA, Revinate, sits down with Lily Wecker, CEO of Aethos, a next-generation hospitality brand built on experiential luxury and meaningful connection. With leadership experience at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Lily shares how a personal health scare reshaped her definition of luxury, from material ownership to internal validation, and why Aethos designs its properties for "high emotional density" instead of privacy. From the brand's emotion-first marketing philosophy to its new London restaurant Mitsu, Lily makes the case that…
E189 · 22 Jul 2026 · 36 min
Recast: Immersive hotel experiences: Bridging technology and human connection
In this episode of Hotel Moment, we're bringing back one of our favorite conversations where Karen Stephens engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Bashar Wali, founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality and This Assembly. Bashar, with over three decades of experience in hospitality, shares his passion for creating memorable hotel experiences that transcend the ordinary. He discusses how hotels can balance technology and human connection, why points aren't true loyalty, and how the industry should look outside itself for innovation. With candid insights and practical examples, Bashar…
E188 · 15 Jul 2026 · 18 min
Why great guest experiences start before check-in
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Lydia Bates, Director of Sales and Marketing at Dream Inn Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz's only exclusive beachfront hotel. Lydia explains why independent lifestyle hotels win on storytelling rather than transaction, how Dream Inn's on-site reservations team begins curating the guest experience from the very first call, and how targeted email campaigns convert OTA visitors into loyal repeat guests. She also shares how Dream Inn fights seasonality with creative campaigns like "Ride Out the Storm" and leverages sister property partnerships…
E187 · 8 Jul 2026 · 28 min
How AI uses personalization to beat pricing and win bookings
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Chris Anderson, Professor at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, who has spent more than two decades studying how pricing, distribution, and revenue management shape global hospitality. Chris explains why pricing guests differently based on willingness to pay is heading for legal prohibition, why AI will shift customization from price to offer set, and why being in the AI consideration set is already harder to earn than a first-page Google ranking. His central argument: hotels that are still waiting for AI to…
E186 · 1 Jul 2026 · 25 min
Keeping an authentic voice when AI can't read the room
In this episode of Hotel Moment, host Karen Stephens, CMO of Revinate, sits down with Dina Niekamp, SVP of Brand and Marketing at Aparium Hotel Group, a lifestyle hospitality company known for building hotels that feel deeply rooted in the neighborhoods around them. Dina explains why emotional connection, not just amenities, has become the new standard for luxury travel, and why she believes AI will never replace the most important skill in hospitality: reading the room. Dina shares the story behind Aparium's "As Told By" campaign, which puts local collaborators and small business owners at…
E185 · 24 Jun 2026 · 19 min
How hotels turn data overload into profit growth
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Jeff Michael, Area Director of Revenue Management at Sage Hospitality Group, who brings more than 25 years of hospitality experience spanning operations and commercial leadership. Jeff explains why the explosion of hotel data has created a new kind of paralysis, why "commercial alignment" so often fails when departments chase different incentives, and how AI is finally turning guest lifetime value into a metric hotels can actually use. His core message: stop drowning your team in reports, tie every department back to one…
E184 · 17 Jun 2026 · 27 min
The AI booking shift: What hoteliers need to do now
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, CMO at Revinate sits down with Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, to unpack the most consequential shift in hotel distribution in years: the rise of AI-powered booking discovery. With insights from leaders at Starwood Hotels, Highgate, and Twilio woven in, Karen and Dylan trace the arc from Google's Universal Commerce Protocol announcement to the not-so-distant future of agent-to-agent vacation planning. Their message is direct: properties that invest in clean data, direct booking infrastructure, and first-party data strategy now…
E183 · 10 Jun 2026 · 23 min
Recast: How Swiss Deluxe Hotels redefines luxury hospitality with tech | with Wilhelm Luxem
In this recast episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens sits down with Wilhelm Luxem, head of quality commission at Swiss Deluxe Hotels and former GM of the iconic Baur Au Lac hotel. With 50 years in luxury hospitality, Wilhelm shares his philosophy on technology adoption in five-star hotels, emphasizing that tech should always complement service DNA while staying in the background. From his experience with a seven-generation family-owned hotel to his insights on evolving guest expectations, Wilhelm offers valuable perspectives on maintaining luxury standards while embracing innovation.
E182 · 3 Jun 2026 · 22 min
How to win direct bookings with AI search | with Jarrett Tomback
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer of Revinate, sits down with Jarrett Tomback, Vice President of Digital Strategy and CRM at Starwood Hotels, for a conversation that moves from rethinking loyalty to the most urgent distribution question in hospitality: how do hotels win direct bookings in a world where AI search models give guests three to five recommendations instead of pages of links? Across 1 Hotels, Baccarat Hotels and Resorts, and Treehouse Hotels, Jarrett has built guest engagement strategies grounded in purpose, clean data, and a human-first AI…
E181 · 27 May 2026 · 30 min
Why luxury hotels should focus on revenue, not cost-cutting | with Robert-Jan Woltering
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, sits down with Robert-Jan Woltering, Managing Director of De L'Europe Amsterdam, to make a case the luxury hotel industry needs to hear more often: cutting costs is easy, but it is the wrong strategy. With more than 30 years across five continents and a 130-year-old Amsterdam landmark celebrating three Michelin keys under his leadership, Robert-Jan shares why top-line revenue maximization, authentic guest experience, and entrepreneurial ownership thinking are the only levers that actually build a luxury hotel's…
E180 · 20 May 2026 · 24 min
Will guests trust AI with their travel plans? | with Aaron Miller
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens welcomes back Aaron Miller, Senior Vice President of Digital Marketing and CRM at Highgate, for a grounded conversation on AI's real role in hospitality. Drawing on more than 20 years across brands like The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Trump Hotels, and Turning Stone Enterprises, Aaron explains why the direct booking renaissance depends on hotel-owned content, why guests still want a curated website over a chat window, and how Highgate is pivoting its FIFA World Cup demand strategy from inbound international travel to local markets, staycations,…
E179 · 13 May 2026 · 21 min
How to prepare for hospitality's AI future: Inside NAVIGATE 2026
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer of Revinate, and Bailey Yeats, Marketing Manager at Revinate, recap NAVIGATE 2026, the annual Revinate customer conference held this year at the Wigwam in Phoenix. Featuring clips from CEO Bryson Koehler, Suncadia's Colton Bean, Pyramid Global's Abby Waski, Cote Hospitality's Angelo Fernandes, and Noble House's Jennifer Barnhart, the episode moves from the opening question that set the tone: 75% of the room had used ChatGPT to book travel in the last six months, through the AI strategies, product roadmap reveals, and…
E178 · 6 May 2026 · 33 min
2026 Hospitality Benchmark Report: The voice channel playbook | a Revinate webinar
In this webinar episode of Hotel Moment, Bailey Yeats, Marketing Manager at Revinate, sits down with Amanda Wasco Brown, Director of Revenue at Old Edwards Hospitality Group, for the final session of the 2026 Benchmark Report Leadership Series, focused entirely on the voice channel. Amanda has spent eight of her 14 years at Old Edwards embedded in reservations, managing a team of seven agents who handle rooms, dining, spa, and golf across four hotels and three golf courses. Together, she and Bailey translate the benchmark data into a practical voice channel playbook: inbound call volume for…
E177 · 29 Apr 2026 · 37 min
Capture and convert FIFA World Cup demand and win more direct revenue | with Adam Mogelonsky
In this episode of Hotel Moment, host Karen Stephens, CMO of Revinate, welcomes back Adam Mogelonsky, Partner at Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd, to discuss preparing for FIFA World Cup 2026, which will bring 72% ADR premiums to 16 host cities. Adam shares how pandemic-era refundable policies created lead time volatility making labor forecasting difficult despite increased service expectations at premium rates. He explains the science of balancing non-refundable versus refundable rates through data harmonization that associates guest sentiment with rate plans. The conversation covers packaging…
E176 · 22 Apr 2026 · 47 min
2026 Hospitality Benchmark Report leadership series: Unlocking revenue from the guest data you already have | a Revinate webinar
In this webinar episode of Hotel Moment, Bailey Yeats, Marketing Manager at Revinate, sits down with Gitti Hernández, Digital Marketing Manager at Casa de Campo, one of the Caribbean's most iconic luxury resorts to unpack what the 2026 Revinate Hospitality Benchmark Report reveals about database health, and what Casa de Campo's decade of data work looks like in practice. From a pre-arrival itinerary program that lifted guest satisfaction scores by 40%, to merged guest profiles that made a targeted Ultra VIP anniversary segment possible, Gitti demonstrates that the real value of a clean…
E175 · 15 Apr 2026 · 34 min
Why hotel branding is the most underused revenue strategy in hospitality | with Tomas Bäcklund
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, sits down with Tomas Bäcklund, Chief Marketing Officer at Elite Hotels of Sweden, for a wide-ranging conversation on the most overlooked revenue strategy in hospitality: brand. Tomas arrived in the hotel industry from a creative agency background and has spent five years making the case that as costs rise and margins compress, the hotels that can charge more — without guests feeling overcharged — are the ones that have invested in brand strength. Under his leadership, Elite Hotels has grown its direct website…
E174 · 8 Apr 2026 · 46 min
2026 Hospitality Benchmark Report leadership series: Email strategies that drive revenue | a Revinate webinar
In this webinar episode of Hotel Moment, Bailey Yeats, Marketing Manager at Revinate, sits down with Christine Malfair, Fractional CMO for Independent Hotels at Malfair Marketing, to translate the 2026 Revinate Hospitality Benchmark Report's email findings into actionable strategy. With 2.8 billion emails analyzed globally in 2025, the data is unambiguous: cart abandonment campaigns hit 63% open rates and 6.8% conversion, targeted segments under 5,000 recipients convert at ten times the rate of mass blasts, and confirmation emails are generating $93 per booking in upsell revenue. Christine's…
E173 · 1 Apr 2026 · 25 min
From concept to culture: How passion shapes hotel design & guest loyalty | with Diego Calvo
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, sits down with Diego Calvo, CEO and Co-Founder of Concept Hotel Group, to explore what it really takes to build a hotel brand with genuine cultural soul. Diego has spent 25 years in hospitality and founded a group of nine distinctive brands on the island of Ibiza, where he grew up — achieving 35 to 43% direct bookings not through marketing spend but through brand identity so compelling that guests search properties by name. From a conceptual briefing process that begins with music playlists and lobby photography…
E172 · 25 Mar 2026 · 22 min
Is hotel marketing broken? Why siloed data won't drive more revenue | with Evan Crawford
In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer of Revinate, welcomes back Evan Crawford, Vice President of Marketing at Pyramid Global Hospitality, for a wide-ranging conversation on guest data strategy, AI adoption, and the marketing habits that actually move revenue. Evan makes the case that mass outreach without segmentation is a shrinking asset. From connecting OpenTable reviews to hotel CRM profiles, to his grounded take that Revinate emails still outperform ChatGPT as a last-click revenue source, Evan brings the operational credibility of someone managing data…

About Hotel Moment

Hotel Moment is a English business podcast from Revinate. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Revinate
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest episode: 14 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1552987748

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