The Wellness in Hospitality Podcast · 2026-05-24 · 27 min
Think about your most loyal returning guests, the ones who come back year after year, without a discount, without a loyalty programme, without being chased. Now ask yourself honestly: why are they coming back? It's not your brand. It's a person, a special place, an indescribable feeling that exists nowhere else on earth. That distinction is key. Because if you're trying to grow your boutique hotel collection by borrowing the playbook from larger hotel chains, you may be destroying the very thing your guests keep returning for. I'm currently working with a family who own seven boutique hotels, beautiful properties in beautiful locations, built over two generations. The second generation recently took the reins and, quite naturally, started looking at what the big brands do: collections, brand standards, a recognisable guest journey across all properties. It made complete sense on paper. So they went down that road. Within a year, they started to notice an important change they didn’t expect. The waiter who knew every returning guest by name and their favourite table was being retrained on service standards.
167. Find The People Who Can Build And Hold Your Dream44 / 100166. Build The World First165. The Ripple That Starts With An Impossible Idea164. Hospitality’s Wellness Deficit163. The Self-Audit: Know Exactly Where Your Wellness Offering Stands