Hotel Moment

In this episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens looks back on conversations with leading hospitality voices across 200+ episodes to unpack key lessons in guest experience, data governance, and brand strategy. Drawing on insights from leaders like Geoffrey Toffetti, Sims Foster, Shannon Knapp, and Dimple Jethani, Karen examines why service extends to every employee, how human connection sets hotels apart from short-term rentals, and why data security is essential before implementing AI. The conversation highlights why protecting guest trust and human connection drives long-term hotel success.

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.

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.

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 that invest in data infrastructure today will be the ones positioned to thrive as AI reshapes the booking journey.

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 become significantly more complex.