For Digital Sakes

The Agency for Hospitality. 

Servicing the full funnel and user journey with data driven production, from master assets to digital campaigns and social assets. We digitally unlock immersive experiences &​ drive action through strategic marketing 🎥✨

In the ever-evolving domains of hospitality & travel, establishing a distinctive online presence requires more than mere visibility – it necessitates a compelling narrative and data driven strategy that deeply resonates with your target audience's needs, wants and desires. 

At For Digital Sakes we excel in the art of digital transformation, elevating hotels into immersive destinations & properties into aspirational spaces. Driven by a commitment to operate from a human first perspective while delivering production and content excellence that translates into brand and business results. 

Our expertise spans from intimate luxury boutique hotels to leading global resorts, digitally bringing brands to life with our adept video marketing strategies. Our approach creates immersive virtual experiences that turn viewers into  guests, supported by well-crafted digital campaigns that leave an indelible impression.

Why For Digital Sakes? Beyond marketing, we are strategic analysts, storytellers, content specialists and video experts. We delve deep into your brand's history & ethos to create narratives that forge an emotional connection & leave a lasting impact while operating from an audience first perspective. Our bespoke strategies are designed to optimise visibility and engagement across relevant platforms, ensuring your message is effectively conveyed to your intended audience.

Co-Founder | Creative Strategist 

ConvaTec

Director of Global Multi-Channel Marketing

Ad-Lib Digital

Head of Europe & Business Development

Nestlé

Social, Media & Partnerships Specialist - EMENA 

Senior Digital Content Manager - EMENA 

Johnson & Johnson

This role saw me drive the number of brands on social by 200% in 2 years, along with increasing media investment on Facebook alone by 148%. 

Great successes during my time in role included the ideation of the creative for the birth of the second royal baby that was used as a global asset. 

My remit included: 
Driving the social and content strategy, right through to execution. I was responsible for the creation and management for digital channels within Johnson and Johnson, across 13 plus brands across the portfolio and across multiple markets, including UK, Ireland and the Nordics.

I was responsible for ensuring that media plans were appropriate responses to brief, targeted the right audiences, were executed accordingly and ensuring that reports showed strong results, often over exceeding industry benchmarks.

As the company’s social media expert and champion, I took ownership of the management and growth of our social media communities and key influencer programs. It was also my responsibility to raise the Digital IQ of the Marketing Department, I needed to ensure that all stakeholders were up to date with trends, advancements and social media movements.

My remit extended much further than the above; including the project management of the two year partnership with MSN, seeing 13 brands running various advertorial and editorial activity across the affiliate platform.

Portfolio Digital Content and Online Community Manager - EMEA

L'Oréal

This was a graduate role that I secured over 700 other applicants and after 7 interviews. 

I was responsible for driving the objectives and digital needs for The Body Shop in all global markets. 

My remit included Strategy, Platforms and Operations: Tracking the digital and social evolution to identify relevant innovations. Participating in the digital agency, vendor, and content partner relationship; issue resolution and performance evaluation. 

Collecting, comparing, and synthesising international market data and proposing actions – including analysing competitor data (products and strategies). Creation of strategy for markets - including digital mix for launches, pillar-product innovations. 

Enable best practice sharing and adoption of creation, channel and media strategies across all markets. 

Managing the growth and development of the digital intern. Assisting Digital Producer in ensuring all assets produced are correctly versioned for our key digital channels (social, mobile, web, etc); overseeing the implementation and maintenance of all digital tools inclusive of diagnostics (skincare, fragrance, etc)

Digital / eCommerce Management Graduate

GLOBAL ETHICS LIMITED

This was a role I sought out after seeing the amazing one for one business model that One Difference adopts at Marketing Week. Post discussions with them they created a role for me while I was at Kingston University. 

I was responsible for assisting the marketing department, maximising in-store promotional activities and acting as a Brand Ambassador for the One Brand.

I had to ensure that promotional activities across 21 Tesco Express stores were maximised for the brands FMCG products. I was then required to survey stores to find new ways to display products, and ensuring managers ordered enough stock to meet demands and build new displays.

Ambassador - One Hero

A+E Networks UK

Publicity Assistant

The purpose of this role was to support the Digital Marketing Manager and the Digital Marketing team. Across all digital touchpoints. This included SEM, Social Media strategising and management of social pages and CRM support, along with other digital projects. This role also included asset management such as copy writing,  image sourcing, clip, promo and short form coordination.

Key Achievements 
-Working on an award winning social media project with Foursquare & HISTORY that achieved features across key media including Variety, Broadcast, C21 and PR Week. 
This went on to win the CorpComm Award for Best Use of Location Based Marketing in July 2011 for Foursquare partnership with HISTORY

Digital Marketing Assistant

AETN UK / BSKYB

International Marketing Assistant

Founder of For Digital Sakes | The Agency for Hospitality | Ultra Lux Hospitality 🌎 | Podcast host: The Digital Concierge by FDS🎙️ | Driving Direct Bookings with Grand Walkthrough Tours | Human 1st Perspective always ✨

| |  We are The Agency for Hospitality | | 

At For Digital Sakes, I help leading & luxury hotels and tourism boards thrive with data driven digital strategies and bespoke video marketing approaches that drive strong ROI. 

Working predominantly brand side for 14+ years has given me a tremendous amount of insight into how to most effectively and efficiently reach and resonate with an audience through high performing strategies. 

Such learning of approaches and methodologies has been fostered working brand agnostically for 50+ renowned brands; from global giants like Nestlé and L'Oréal to cutting-edge AI startups and Med Tech businesses. 

While digital marketing is now a broad term, my expertise hones in on brand, content and partnerships which I bring to the industry of hospitality and tourism; ensuring the user and user journey is at the forefront of all that we do, producing assets for the full funnel.

Carrying with me a diverse portfolio of digital experience grants me a unique ability to drive quantifiable results and growth for any brand. 

Having navigated the complexities of high-tier brands and spending $70 million+ in digital advertising, I was granted unparalleled publisher relationships, which gave a tremendous amount of insight that I take pride in sharing with my clients in the hospitality and tourism space.
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💌 I post weekly about various strategies and observations on Digital, Content and Video Marketing; centred around hospitality and tourism, while sharing my personal anecdotes about being a female business owner. 
☕️ Fancy a coffee call with me? Drop me a DM - I'm always happy to extend my network!
🔔 Want to see more from me? Set the bell for me in the🔝 right
👁 Read some of our case studies with leading brands such as Bvlgari, Rosewood, The World’s 50 Best Hotels and more, visit our website: www.fordigitalsakes.com
🌍 Intrigued about working with us? Drop me an email: Holly@fordigitalsakes.com

Hospitality is still male-dominated
and these 8 leaders are shifting the power balance.

Luxury travel is being reshaped not by committees or legacy boards, but by women redefining what leadership looks like in our industry and it must be celebrated!

Here are 8 female CEOs every hospitality professional should be following:


Barbara Muckermann — Group CEO, Kempinski Hotels
Leading one of the world’s oldest luxury hotel brands into a new era of design, heritage and human-centred service.


Linda Bekoe — CEO & Founder, APLBC (About Partners Luxury Brands Collection)
Driving global visibility and commercial success for hospitality brands.


Natasha Shafi — CEO, Mr & Mrs Smith
At the helm of the world’s leading boutique hotel platform, shaping curated, design-led travel.


Claudia Da Rin — CEO, Luxury Hotels, Villas & Yachts Representation
A reference point in relationship-driven luxury and high-touch hospitality across Europe.


Blanche van Berckel — Founder & CEO, Vous Hotels & Retreats
Building a new wave of boutique stays rooted in culture, wellness and meaningful experiences.


Eleni Theochari — CEO, MYKONOS LUXURY CORPORATION 
Leading a women-led firm advancing AI-driven hospitality consulting and elite travel design.


Carolyn Turnbull MBA GAICD — CEO Nammos Hotels & Resorts  
Having led major destination development and tourism strategy initiatives with global impact.


Katerina Giannouka — former CEO, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts
Instrumental in elevating design, brand strategy and guest experience across Jumeirah’s global portfolio.

These women are raising the standard and shifting the industry with them.

Who else deserves to be recognised? Who would you shine a light on? Ladies I'm looking at you! Let's keep lifting one another up!

Holly Phillips

Founder of For Digital Sakes | The Agency for Hospitality | Cinematic Grand Tours & Digital Toolkits that Drive Direct Bookings | Podcast Host: The Digital Concierge 🎙️ | Human-Led Always ✨

8 female CEOs in hospitality you should follow

I message 10 men → 7 reply.
I message 10 women → 2 reply.
Men reply 3.5x more often on LinkedIn.

And if replies drive opportunity…
men and women aren’t playing on the same field.

I run an agency, so outreach is part of my job.
Every day I message creators, founders and leaders no pitching, no spam just genuine connection.

To caveat this stat is also in line when sent in response to those people adding me...

But after sending hundreds of messages, a strange pattern kept repeating.


The gender gap wasn’t in who I reached out to.
It was in who replied.
At first I brushed it off.
But after tracking the numbers, the difference became impossible to ignore.


If communication is the foundation of opportunity, then reply rates aren’t just a social behaviour.

They’re a signal of access.

And that’s where it gets uncomfortable.


Because the gender gap everyone talks about leadership, pay, representation might actually start in a far smaller, quieter place:

Who gets a reply.
Who gets ignored.
Who gets access to the next conversation.



Behavioural psychology tells us two things:
→ People reply to those they perceive as “useful.”
(Consciously or not, we prioritise status signals.)
→ People are more cautious replying to “unknown” contacts of the opposite gender.
(This is unconscious defensiveness, not malice.)

Combine both and suddenly reply rates become a mirror of deeper cultural patterns.


It’s not about men vs. women.


It’s about how differently each group is conditioned to navigate digital communication.


This matters because online platforms are the modern room where opportunities happen.
A reply can lead to:
a job
a collaboration
an introduction
a client
a new idea
a mentor
or simply personal growth

But silence kills opportunity before it even exists.


If we want equity at the top, we can’t only look at the big systems.


We need to fix the micro-behaviours that quietly decide who gets seen, heard, or linked into the right rooms.

Equity starts in the inbox long before it reaches the boardroom.

No debate, no provocation just curiosity:

Do you reply equally?
Or do you decide based on the message, the person, or the context?

and cheers, from Bvlgari Hotel London last week!

Digital Strategies and Video Marketing for Agencies, Hotels and SMEs || I successfully scale brands through high performing digital and social strategies|| At For Digital Sakes we showcase the essence and energy of your brand through the form of bespoke video production and marketing. 

I have 13 years experience in digital working for some of the biggest brands in the world from Nestle, to L'Oreal to Anantara to Intercontinental. Working across such high tier status brands and spending over 70 million on advertising and media gives you tremendous amounts of insight with publishers that not all brands or businesses get the privilege of having access to. from content best practice to leading media tactics, enabling you to most efficiently and effectively reach your audience.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

💌 I post weekly about various strategies including: Digital, Content, Brand and Digital  
⏳Steal 30 mins of my time and book a discovery 📞 via the link  
👀Want to see more from me? Follow Holly Phillips   
👁 Fancy seeing more of my posts? Set the 🔔 for me in the🔝 right 
🌍 Want to work with me drop me an email: Holly@fordigitalsakes.com
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

See some of our work: www.fordigitalsakes.com

Bvlgari Hotel London

karen wilkins

Friction is the fastest way to lose a guest and a tiny Athens bar just solved it brilliantly.

I popped into Minnie Moochers in Athens this week and noticed something so small… yet so smart.

On each table, there’s a little light you twist and it turns red when when you’re ready to order or stays white when you're all sorted! 
No waving.
No waiting.
No awkward eye contact.
No ignoring your friends while you try and get attention.


Just a simple, elegant way to remove friction from the guest experience.
And it reminded me of something we talk about constantly in hospitality and digital strategy:

The brands that win are the brands that reduce friction, the ones that really get insider the guests head and step in their shoes, for each step of their journey! The true drivers of seamlessness. 

Not with big gestures but with clean, intuitive, human-centred micro-moments.


That light is more than a clever touch.
 It’s a lesson in user journey design:
 👉 Anticipate needs
 👉 Reduce effort
 👉 Respect time
 👉 Make action obvious


Every business not just F&B has its equivalent of that tiny light.

A single moment in the journey where clarity, ease, or intentionality can change everything.


Oh and if you’re in Athens and want to chat hospitality, travel, experience design, or the little details that make brands unforgettable I’m here until the end of the month and would LOVE to chat!

Drop me a message or tag any hotels who would benefit from connecting with us!

Oh and what smart journey integrations have you seen lately? I would love to hear below!

Michelin just released its 2025 hotel list.
Here’s how inspectors actually decide who gets a Key.


Since 1926 Michelin has defined excellence in dining.
Now, it’s doing the same for hospitality with Michelin Keys, the equivalent of Michelin Stars for hotels.

The system is simple, but the implications are huge:
🔑1 Key : A very special stay
🔑🔑 2 Keys : An exceptional stay
🔑🔑🔑3 Keys : An extraordinary stay a destination in itself.


Each hotel is evaluated on five measurable criteria applied globally:

1️⃣ Architecture & Interior Design : the quality, originality, and harmony of the spaces.
2️⃣ Quality & Consistency of Service : how reliably excellence is delivered across the guest journey.
3️⃣ Personality & Character : whether the experience feels distinct and authentic.
4️⃣ Value for the Price : how the stay delivers relative to its cost.
5️⃣ Contribution to the Local Area : how well the property reflects and enhances its surroundings.

A recognition system that values experience design, operational precision, and sense of place more than sheer opulence.

In 2025, the United States counts 16 Three-Key hotels, with most in New York and California, and others in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Montana, and Utah.
These are the hotels that achieved the highest honour

Here are the 16 Hotels: 

1. Amangiri Resort — Canyon Point, Utah
2. Canyon Ranch — Tucson, Arizona
3. The Beverly Hills Hotel — California
4. Hotel Bel-Air — Los Angeles, California
5. Post Ranch Inn — Big Sur, California
6. SingleThread Farm - Restaurant - Inn — Healdsburg, California
7. Auberge du Soleil — Rutherford, California
8. Meadowood Napa Valley — St. Helena, California
9. Canyon Ranch Woodside — California
10. Little Palm Island Resort & Spa — Little Torch Key, Florida
11. Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort — Kailua Kona, Hawaii
12. Sage Lodge — Pray, Montana
13. Aman New York — New York City, NY
14. Casa Cipriani New York — New York City, NY
15. The Crosby Street Hotel — New York City, NY
16. The Whitby Hotel — New York City, NY


The Michelin Keys create a global benchmark for measurable hospitality excellence; based on design, consistency and sense of place rather than brand prestige or price.

Which other hotel do you think deserves a Michelin Key?

16 hotels 3 Michelin Keys 

From zero clients and no roadmap to working with the top of the top.
Belmond. Bvlgari. Rosewood.

What started as a shared idea between myself and Thibault Selderslagh has grown into an agency shaping how luxury hospitality shows up online.


To close out Season One of The Digital Concierge by For Digital Sakes, I’m sitting down with someone who’s been there since day one my co-founder (and partner in life), Thibault Selderlagh!


People often ask what it’s like working with your partner so in this episode, we go behind the curtain on both our business and our relationship.


Together, we unpack:

 💡 How we built For Digital Sakes from scratch

 💬 The reality of growing a company as a couple

 ⚖️ Balancing vision with execution

 💭 The lessons, mistakes, and mindset shifts that shaped it all

 🌍 And what’s next for FDS  and the future of hospitality

It’s honest. 
It’s personal. 
And the perfect way to wrap up this first chapter.

🎧 Listen to the Season Finale now on Spotify or YouTube link in bio.

 And if you’ve been here since episode one a massive, massive thank you.

Season Two will be back with us in Q1!

Give it a listen and tell me what resonated most I’d love to hear your thoughts before Season Two begins. ✈️

Come and meet me in London on the 12th November. 

We’re living in one of the most connected eras in history.

You can reach anyone at any company in any corner of the world, if you really want to.


Platforms like LinkedIn have made that possible.


It’s how I’ve built relationships across time zones, grown our agency, and even switched industries entirely.

It's how I recommend everyone starts investing in their personal brand, because regardless of the company you work for you can carry your audience with you through any stage of your career. 


What used to take years of networking dinners and introductions can now start with a single thoughtful message.


But still nothing beats being face to face of course. 


So, I’m putting digital to one side for a moment and arranging a little London meet-up on the 12th (after work) for anyone I’ve been meaning to catch up with in person.


If we’ve been chatting, collaborating, or planning to meet please drop me a DM and I’ll share the details.

Would love to finally connect beyond the screen 🤍

6 things that should be on your radar from this week’s What’s Hot in Hospitality.


From Soho’s newest opening to Costa Rica’s rainforest hideaways and the rise of women-focused wellness, here’s what is shaping the industry right now.

1. London’s freshest opening: Honest Greens, Soho
A new wave of wholesome, vegetable-forward dining lands in central London, bringing relaxed, real-food energy to Soho, yes please!


2. Hotel of the Week: Nayara Tented Camp - Leading Hotels of the World, Costa Rica
Stilted safari tents overlooking Arenal Volcano, private hot-spring plunge pools, and rainforest immersion at its finest. Think high design meets deep nature.


3. Destination of the Week: Kiruna, Sweden
Snow-dusted landscapes, aurora skies, ice hotels and Arctic wellness rituals make Kiruna one of the most magical festive-season escapes.


4. Experience of the Week: Kith Ivy, New York City
A members-only concept blending fashion, wellness, padel, dining, and retail under one roof. A glimpse into the future of lifestyle-led hospitality.


5. Book of the Week: The Design Hotels Book by Design Hotels
A global collection of independent hotels merging architecture, culture, and storytelling. Essential inspiration for design-led travel lovers.


6. Trend of the Week: Women-Focused Resorts
From Canyon Ranch to SHA Wellness, female-centric retreats are shaping the next era of wellness with a focus on hormone health, longevity, movement, and community.


Travel is evolving fast, and these six touchpoints highlight exactly where the industry is moving: more emotion, more immersion, and more intentionality.


If you want the full Radar every week, subscribe to our newsletter for trends, hidden gems and industry insights landing in your inbox weekly! Link in comments and bio! 

And as always what was on your radar that we missed?

Weekly Wrap up - whats hot in travel and hospitality

Travel is entering a transformative era, one that’s as much about meaning as movement.

This morning I had the chance to attend The Future Laboratory Breakfast Briefing at beautiful The Roof Gardens, where Sam Blenkinsopp  (Trippin & All Corners ), Natasha Shafi (Mr & Mrs Smith ), Fiona Harkin and Seyi Oduwole( The Future Laboratory) unpacked the Optimised Odysseys report, exploring how technology, culture and community are reshaping luxury travel.


Here are a few takeaways I scribbled down during the insight packed session that stayed with me ( and I loved the naming conventions!):


To Gather Travel – a return to collective connection; families and communities seeking shared rituals.

Selfscapes – solo travel as self-definition; journeys that shape identity.

Gilded Luxury – from status to sensation; the rise of stillness, craftsmanship, and human-centred luxury.

Intellitrips – technology as an invisible enabler; AI-driven, seamless journeys.

Souljourns – travel to reconnect with nature, local culture, and night-time experiences.

Emerging Epicentres – the decentralisation of travel; new creative capitals rising.




And under Foresight:

Climate-conscious check-ins – low-footprint luxury.

Future nostalgia – design that blends heritage and innovation.

Cloud citizens – borderless, frictionless, digital-first travellers.

The Travel-Verse – the merging of physical and digital journeys, from storytelling to spatial design.


It’s clear: the next chapter of travel will be defined not by destinations, but by depth.

By experiences that align with identity, wellbeing, and belonging.

What struck me most is how the conversation is shifting from “How do we travel better?” to “How do we travel truer?”

Guests are craving design that feels personal, wellness that feels purposeful and journeys that feel like stories they want to keep telling.l not necessarily documenting. 

At For Digital Sakes, this aligns so closely with what we’re seeing daily the rise of digital storytelling that brings meaning, mindfulness, and emotion back into the experience.

Which of these insights speak to you? 

Thanks Kayleigh Owen for putting this on my agenda while I was in the UK! To Sam Blenkinsopp for popping me on the list and for Martin Raymond and his team for a super fruitful session!

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There’s a quiet rebellion happening in luxury right now and it’s playing out in pen strokes instead of pixels.

Burberry and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts are both leaning into illustration (and even AI-assisted illustration) as a new form of brand expression and I’m here for it.


Because honestly, 
Animated clips? 
A short film with an incredible cast? 
A conceptual illustrated campaign? 
Yes please!

The Burberry social team are ones to keep their eyes on because they’re not just producing content, they’re shaping culture.


So what does this shift actually mean?

✨ Luxury is slowing the scroll.
Illustration forces stillness. It signals confidence the kind of brand that doesn’t need to prove itself. 


✨ Imagination is back.
In a world obsessed with “authenticity,” there’s power in mystery. Illustration invites emotion instead of instruction it lets the viewer feel rather than just look.


✨ AI is becoming art.
We’re past the panic. The smartest brands are using it to elevate creativity, not automate it  merging digital precision with emotional depth.


✨ Emotion is the new aesthetic.
Luxury branding isn’t just about showing reality anymore. It’s about capturing resonance the mood, tone and energy of a brand’s inner world.

Why it matters
This isn’t just a trend it’s a shift in how we tell stories. It gives permission to others to lean into other storytelling methods!

At For Digital Sakes, we’ve been calling this the rise of emotive storytelling where art, AI and authenticity collide to create something that actually moves people to take action. 

What do you think about illustration in luxury hospitality?

Are we entering an era of illustration?

Tourism isn’t just bouncing back it’s breaking boundaries.
From Saudi’s $113B future-focused vision to Bhutan’s soulful restraint, this week proved that the next decade of travel will be defined by intention, innovation, and intelligence.

What’s on our radar this week, so we're putting it on yours. 

A wrap-up of what’s shaping travel, hospitality, and digital storytelling right now from Saudi’s tourism surge to AI-driven brand worlds.

News of the Week
The inaugural TOURISE Summit in Riyadh marked a major milestone for global tourism, with Saudi Arabia unveiling $113 billion in future-focused investments across hospitality, wellness, retail, and AI-driven platforms.
A global call for cities to elevate urban tourism safety and sustainable development through responsible governance and intelligent systems.

Trend
Brands trading lenses for lines. And I'm not sure I'm here for it... 
Luxury brands like Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and Burberry aren’t just showing reality anymore they’re sculpting resonance. Through AI-driven visuals, generative illustration, and motion storytelling, they’re creating brand worlds where every line, animation and pixel feels intentional. 

Destination
 Bhutan. Still one of the world’s most exclusive travel frontiers, Bhutan’s “high value, low volume” philosophy continues to attract travellers seeking purpose over passport stamps.
 From Aman kora’s lodges to the Trans Bhutan Trail, this is where spiritual renewal meets sustainable design.

Hotel
Ciel Dubai Marina, Vignette Collection by IHG / The First Group
Opening this month, Ciel is set to become the world’s tallest hotel at 377 metres, redefining luxury from the ground up with 82 stories of design, scale, and spectacle.
 More than architecture it’s an elevation of experience.

Experience
Dior Spa at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.
Wellness with couture precision. The newly unveiled @Dior Spa brings haute fragrance rituals, lymphatic sculpting, and Côte d’Azur calm into one cinematic journey. Book me in right away please!

Book
“Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly” by Hannah Selinger 
A sharp, honest memoir that captures the reality of working behind the scenes in hospitality raw, real, and deeply human. For anyone shaping the future of travel and service, it’s a reminder that every great experience starts lonnnng before the guest arrives.


Which story stands out most for you this week the rise of AI storytelling or destination storytelling? Or what did we miss that should have been on our radar?

Weekly Wrap Up x For Digital Sakes

If you work in travel or hospitality, these are the stories you should know this week.

From new openings to rituals, here’s what’s shaping the world of travel, hospitality and storytelling right now.

Our Hotel of the Week is Rosewood Hong Kong: recently crowned the number one hotel in the world by The World’s 50 Best Hotels. Set along Victoria Harbour, it blends skyscraper quiet, artful interiors, and intuitive service into a stay that feels effortless, refined, and deeply personal.


Our Experience of the Week takes us to Aman Kyoto, where a guided tea ceremony rooted in Japanese tradition offers a slow, meditative and sensory escape designed to reconnect guests to place, presence, and the art of quiet luxury.


This week’s Book of the Week is Honing the Human Edge by Edward Mady, not a typical hotel operations manual, but a leadership playbook grounded in hospitality’s highest standards, where culture, presence and genuine care define the guest experience.


The Trend of the Week? 
Wellness as Philosophy. 
The wellness traveller isn’t escaping anymore, they’re evolving. 
They want stays that feel aligned in the scent of the lobby, the ingredients of the shampoo, the quiet of the room. Not wellness as a feature, but wellness as the foundation.


Our Destination of the Week is Menorca, Spain; quietly becoming the Mediterranean’s most refined escape, trading Saint-Tropez energy for something softer and slower. Hidden calas, turquoise waters, pine-framed trails, and boutique farm-to-table stays where time feels elastic. 


Stay at Experimental Menorca for its warm minimalism, or Son Vell, a restored 18th-century manor with candlelit dinners under the stars.

And finally, 

the News of the Week Soho House & Co Pool House Barcelona has officially opened. Housed in a restored early 1900s Catalan villa with gardens, a 14m pool, and interiors rooted in local design, it marks a more grounded, elegant chapter for Soho House.

The world of hospitality continues to evolve not louder, just deeper.

What did we miss? What would you add?

What's on Our Radar this week

Regenerative travel is the biggest shift since eco-tourism
and is becoming the new benchmark in luxury hospitality.

Sustainability is no longer enough.
Guests don’t want "less harm" they want positive impact.

And the smartest hotels are already building it into their DNA, not juts slapping it onto their marketing.

Here’s who’s leading the way 👇

1. Regeneration Built Into the Land

The most forward-thinking destinations are designing for restoration, not extraction:
• The Red Sea (Saudi Arabia)
→ Only 5% of the total area will ever be developed.
→ Over 50 islands remain untouched and protected.
• Kiri Private Reserve
→ Coral propagation programmes, marine conservation, and waste-to-wealth recycling centres.
• Fogo Island Inn (Canada)
→ Operates under the Shorefast Foundation, reinvesting profits directly into the island and its community.

These projects don’t just reduce harm they regenerate whole ecosystems.


2. Regenerative F&B Is the New Luxury

Luxury travellers increasingly judge hotels by how they grow, source, and repurpose food.
• Six Senses
→ Organic gardens, composting, and regenerative farming initiatives across their properties.
→ Some locations even run seed-preservation programmes.
• Daylesford Stays / Bamford (UK)
→ A true closed-loop farming model powering their hospitality experiences.
• Patina Hotels & Resorts Maldives
→ Zero-waste culinary philosophy, extensive recycling, and hydroponic gardens.

This is farm-to-table — evolved.


3. Community Regeneration as Core Strategy

Communities are no longer a marketing story they’re part of the business model.
• andBeyond Travel
→ Conservation levies fund anti-poaching units, local schools, and community programmes.
• Shinta Mani Wild (Cambodia)
→ Works with Wildlife Alliance to employ and train anti-poaching rangers from nearby villages.
• Singita
→ Long-term partnerships with conservation funds and community development trusts.

Regeneration now means ecological + social impact.


4. Radical Transparency Is the New Trust Signal

Luxury travellers want proof.

Leaders are publishing:
• biodiversity impact metrics
• waste + water circularity data
• community economic reports
• regeneration KPIs (coral growth, forest expansion)

Red Sea Global, Soneva, Singita, andBeyond and Wilderness all publicly report impact.

This is where the industry is heading:
Hotels judged not only by experiences but by measurable restoration, and rightly so I would say!



You should care about this, and in fact we all should because this isn't a 'trend' as such... It’s becoming the new luxury badge.

Travellers will soon ask:
“What did my stay restore?” and use it to virtue signal on their socials perhaps... but it still drives impact.

And the brands that can answer with data and not just slogans will own the next decade.

Which property do you think is setting the standard in regenerative travel?

Regenerative travel is in, sustainability is out. 

The internet is loud but people are craving connection more than ever.

Today Outlander Magazine shared an older mana’s handwritten flyer inviting strangers to “smoke a cigarette with me” for five minutes in Washington Square Park… and can you imagine thousands showed up.

Not for a brand.
Not for a launch.
Not for a celebrity.

For a moment.

A moment that reminded people what it feels like to belong to something even something that was essentially a ‘five-minute smoke break.’

And that’s the truth cities, brands and even leaders forget:

Community doesn’t form around products. It forms around shared emotion, shared curiosity, shared presence.

People are exhausted by algorithms, ghosting, and digital distance.

They are seeking frictionless ways to gather low-stakes, human, spontaneous.

That’s why something as simple as a flyer printed at home can create a crowd big enough to trigger real-time “incident alerts.”
It wasn’t the cigarette. It was the invitation.

The permission to pause.
The permission to show up.
The permission to be part of something bigger than your screen.

And this matters far beyond a viral moment.

For hospitality.
For destinations.
For communities.
For anyone building experiences.

Because this is the reminder:
People don’t want more noise they want more togetherness.
More small rituals.
More shared stories.
More reasons to step into the world again.

These days everything is automated, curated, and optimised…sometimes the most powerful thing you can offer people is simply a place to meet.

So what is your brand doing to create a community? Or are you letting it happen without you?

This is what great geo-targeting looks like.

I’d barely stepped into Amsterdam and my phone lit up:

“Welcome, Holly. Stop by the House for an event or screening.”

Simple. Timely. Relevant.
Not a campaign but a cue.
Not a broadcast but a nudge in the right moment.

Most brands still treat notifications as noise.
But hospitality brands that understand geo-targeting turn them into touchpoints that feel personal, intuitive and almost anticipatory.

Here’s why this works:

1. It aligns with real behaviour
I’m in the city → I’m near the House → here’s something I can do right now.

2. It reinforces belonging
The message doesn’t sell. It welcomes.
Hospitality is emotional, this uses technology to deepen that feeling.

3. It shifts intent instantly
A well-timed, geo-smart notification can move a guest from “scrolling” to “I’ll pop by.”

4. It respects context
No hard push. No noise.
Just a moment that makes sense in the moment.

The future of digital hospitality isn’t bigger campaigns.
It’s smarter context.

Moments like this.
Delivered to the right person, in the right place, at the right time without ever feeling like marketing. 

Oh and if you’re in Amsterdam tomorrow and want to talk hospitality, travel or marketing drop me a DM! 

Ps nicely done Soho House & Co

Are your sales toolkits stuck in the 70s? When print was king and PDFs were the peak of innovation?


And here’s the truth your best sales asset  isn’t necessarily human. 

It’s video. 🎥

Yet so many hotels are still relying on PDFs to sell an experience designed to be felt.



That’s the challenge.
Fact sheets inform, but they don’t inspire.


A deck can tell me what you offer, but not why I should care.


The modern guest doesn’t buy a room type; they buy a feeling. ( okay some do 😉) 


And in a time where attention is the new currency, stories, not slides, are what convert.


Oh, and your sales teams and trade partners?
They want videos too. And not just the ones they hunt for from your social media channels. 


Because let’s face it when they can show, not tell, they sell faster, more confidently, and with emotion that a brochure just can’t carry.

That’s where digital storytelling comes in.
At For Digital Sakes, we turn static presentations into cinematic brand assets that move audiences, literally and emotionally.


From cinematic hotel walkthroughs to vertical mini films designed for discoverability, we help hotels go from decks to digital experiences that sell themselves.


Because modern guests don’t want to be told.
They want to see it.
Feel it.
Believe it.


Ready to retire the PDF and reimagine your sales toolkit?


Let’s create video assets that sell your story before your team even speaks.
Get in touch to start your hotel’s digital transformation.

Can ‘work–life balance’ really exist when you run your own business?

It’s a question I get asked all the time running For Digital Sakes with Thibault Selderslagh and if I’m honest, it’s one I’ve wrestled with myself.

There’s so much pressure on founders to have this perfect equilibrium…
Work here. Personal life there, all neatly separated and contained, but quite frankly I don't feel that is how it works. 

Sometimes I'm sending an email from my bed, other times it's from the gym or a hotel lobby and I'm lucky if it's from my office! 

But when your business is your passion, it rarely looks compartmentalised!

In this clip, Thib and I share a take that not everyone will agree with  but so many founders quietly resonate with:

Sometimes balance isn’t about working less.
It’s about building a life you don’t feel the need to escape from.

It’s about designing days that make sense for you.
Not the internet.
Not the textbooks.
Not the “ideal routine” you’re told to follow.


And here’s the truth most people don’t say out loud:
If you genuinely love what you do… there’s no shame in pouring more of yourself into it.


Just make sure the life around it supports you, sustains you, and doesn’t disappear in the process.


This is part of the Season One finale of The Digital Concierge by FDS where Thib and I finally share what it’s really like building a business (and a relationship) side by side.

🎧 Tune into the full episode on Spotify or YouTube, link in bio and in comments.
 
👇
I’d love to hear your take:
Do you believe in work–life balance as a founder or entrepreneur? Or are we putting pressure on ourselves to chase something that doesn’t actually exist?

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