Travel Trends with Dan Christian
#1 B2B Travel Podcast. If you are looking to stay ahead in the travel industry, this new podcast hits all the highlights! The Travel Trends Podcast is where industry leaders converge to share & shape the future. Whether you're an emerging entrepreneur, a seasoned industry executive, or a dedicated travel professional, you’ll be able to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Uncover valuable insights, innovative strategies, and meaningful connections that will elevate your travel business or career to new heights.
Travel Trends with Dan Christian
Special Hospitality Series: From Napa to St. Augustine. Two Stars Share their Learnings
In this episode of our Special Hospitality Series in collaboration with Forbes Travel Guide, we spotlight two standout leaders from The Summit in Monaco: Scott Campbell, Director of Revenue Management at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa, and Jeff Wielgopolan, Service Director at Meadowood Napa Valley.
What does it take to deliver world-class service—when you've never experienced it yourself? This powerful question sits at the heart of five-star hospitality, and both Scott and Jeff offer deep insight into how they lead teams to create authentic, elevated guest experiences that go far beyond expectations.
From Hammock Beach’s coastal charm and multi-generational appeal to Meadowood’s remarkable comeback following a devastating fire, both properties reflect a unique commitment to service, storytelling, and soul. Jeff’s past life as a Forbes Travel Guide inspector brings rare perspective to training and standards, while Scott’s philosophy balances innovation with emotional connection.
Together, they unpack the secrets to balancing consistency with flexibility, empowering teams to excel, and ensuring that luxury is a deeply personal and unforgettable experience.
Tune in for a meaningful look behind the stars of luxury hospitality—and the people who make it shine.
The final episode of Season 2 of our Special Hospitality Series with Forbes Travel Guide premieres next Thursday - don’t miss the grand finale!
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. Season 5 In Progress.
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/
luxury hospitality is the only industry that I could think of in the world that the staff are asked to perform something that they themselves rarely experience. You know, if you work for hermes, you can touch the leather and learn about the bag, and but I'm tasking you to perform a five-star arrival, and you've never stayed at a five-star hotel. And then I tell you oh, by the way, it also has to be different for every single guest. What does that mean? How do we train someone's brain to think like a luxury guest? How do we take standards and something scary like an inspector and demystify it to the point where it's actually pretty inspiring to be able to deliver?
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome back to our special hospitality series in partnership with our friends at Forbes Travel Guide. This is your host, dan Christian, and we are in season two of our Leaders Behind the Stars series, and this is episode nine of our 10-part series, which means that next Thursday will be our final episode, so make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when that goes live. And then we are posting clips and highlights on all of our social channels at Travel Trends Podcast, which is LinkedIn, youtube and Instagram, and our friends at Forbes Travel Guide are also posting at Forbes Travel Guide on Instagram and LinkedIn, so be sure to check those out, because I've got some great highlights from both of these interviews that were recorded live at the summit in Monaco. So today we're bringing two individuals in, one a rising star and one certainly a leader behind the stars. We're speaking to Scott Campbell first, who is the Director of Revenue Management at the Hammock Beach golf resort and spa in beautiful saint augustine, florida. They're actually just south of saint augustine, right along the coast, a luxury oceanfront resort with a spectacular golf course as well. And then we're going to be speaking to jeff, who's the service director at the meadowwood napa valley. Now their website is meadowwoodcom, so you're going to want to check both of those out while we're having these conversations.
Speaker 2:But what's really interesting about Scott is that he spent 15 years at Forbes Travel Guide and his last role was the senior vice president of learning and development, so he knows all about service and hospitality and he has been at Meadowood Napa for the last four years and, very interestingly, they are the only property in Northern California with a Forbes Travel Guide five-star rating for their hotel and their spa.
Speaker 2:And when you check out their website and look at the private club and this incredible hotel that has a 250-acre wine estate, you'll see just exactly why they've earned this recognition for their lodging, their spa and just check out the cuisine. Both of these properties are truly extraordinary. I've definitely been inspired to check them both out, but I think you'll just hear in the conversations that we're having with Scott and Jeff their commitment to excellence, leading their team and making sure that the recognition is spread out across all of those individuals within the organization that certainly deserve the recognition for achieving this status, although these two individuals get to travel to Monaco and be at this spectacular event, so it was great to be able to sit down with them and have this conversation. So first I'd like to welcome in Scott, the Director of Revenue for Hammock Beach Golf Resort. So tell us a little bit about what brings you to Forbes Travel Guide Conference in Monaco.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's an absolute pleasure to be here in Monaco. This here a little bit different than Vegas, the place that is the epitome of luxury. So we've been a member of rated by Forbes Travel Guide for the past six years. Now we are proud to have a recommended rating. And yes, like you mentioned, it's an oceanfront luxury resort located just south of St Augustine, right on the Atlantic coast. Absolutely beautiful property.
Speaker 2:Now it looks like I was checking the website out before our conversation this morning, but tell everyone just a little bit about St Augustine, where you live, and just for the historical context, because it is a unique part of the US.
Speaker 3:Yeah, st Augustine is proud to be the oldest city in the entire United States, longest colonized from the Europeans when they came up here, and we pride ourselves on our history there.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Did you grow up there? Is that originally home for you?
Speaker 3:No, I've moved all over the world, but I've got a huge love of history and all of that. So that's why I had to choose that for home.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's awesome. So, yeah, tell us a little bit about your journey with Forbes Travel Guide at the Hammock Beach and Golf Club and how it's contributed to your team's success and growth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I've worked in luxury resorts for many years 20 plus years now so I've had the great pleasure of understanding what luxury means for not just the guests, but for also our internal guests, our staff. So it's something that we've really grown. And again we've got a wonderful team that's helping this and watching everyone kind of turn into a competition of how much more can we do to make these experiences better? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's great. Now one of the things I'm keen to ask all the hoteliers here is what sets their property apart. As you mentioned, being here in Monaco the epitome of luxury and certainly it is probably one of the best places for this conference to be hosted, and we certainly saw that in the introduction this morning. But tell us specifically about the Hammock Beach Club and what sets your business apart from the competition and really, I guess, what makes it unique in the luxury hospitality space and the reason that you're here to represent it.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We are extremely unique, just like you said we are again. Like I mentioned earlier, we're an oceanfront luxury property located right on the Atlantic Ocean, unspoiled beach that will never be developed. We've got two signature PGA golf courses, again right on the ocean, more holes on the Atlantic Ocean than anywhere else on the East Coast. Pride ourselves in a 90,000 square foot water park. Many, many restaurants, pools, just a little bit of everything for everyone so they can come and you know, I like to describe it kind of as an all inclusive. That's not all inclusive, but it has everything that you'd be looking for without ever having to leave.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's cool. Now, obviously, given the journey you've been on with Forbes, I'd like to give you the opportunity to share any advice that you might have from that experience with especially those hoteliers that are only starting their journey to become part of the rating process and ultimately, a five star rated property. So what would be some of the tips and suggestions you have from your experience?
Speaker 3:The great thing about Forbes is they pride themselves in the service. It's what carries the most weight in their ratings and that's one thing that we don't take for granted. And again, we use our staff to create that service and create those memories that our guests will take. And you know I was talking to a gentleman the other day that we actually had a lady that remembers vacationing at the resort many years ago and said that when she gets older wants to get married there. And, sure enough, just this past fall got married at Hammock Beach.
Speaker 3:Cool, so it's again it's creating that kind of feeling at home. It's a place where they feel that they belong. Yeah, and we just we enjoy what we do and how we are. So unique and again, as we're looking at other hoteliers especially that are new is, you know, be natural. You know, luxury should not be forced. It should be something that you have a passion for and you really like to do. And we don't want our guests to feel that it's something that's kind of being being pushed down there or anything else. We want them to come and, you know, get the value that they're expecting and then going above and beyond something that they would never expect. And again, it's those memories that they take, that they can take home.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Thanks for that, scott. Now, given that we're at this iconic event together and this is early in the conference that we're having this conversation, but I'd be keen to know what some of the things you're looking forward to, because clearly you haven't experienced all the highlights yet, because we're just in the first day. But tell us a little bit of what it feels like to be here at such an iconic event like Forbes Travel Guide in Monaco and what you're hoping to get out of being here at the conference.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the network is absolutely incredible to be able to be among the world's best leaders when it comes to hospitality. Understanding what works for them and what we can learn from each other is something that I've taken with me on previous summits and I'm looking forward to it here. Monaco has opened up the doors to a lot more properties around the world that maybe not able to get to Vegas. So understanding that and again going back to the living in St Augustine and the history and understanding how history plays such an important role, not just here in Monaco but kind of all over the world, and how you can tie that into your property and what that means as well so excited to explore Monaco and see what this principality has to offer for us and how I can bring some of these experiences back and kind of curate them in a different way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sure you'll have a lot of insights at the end of this conference. I mean, the opening sessions were certainly quite inspiring, but, given your role in the industry and specifically at the Hammock Beach Club, I'm sure there's some interesting trends that stand out to you as we sit here together in 2025 that you're paying attention to, especially in your role as director of revenue, trying to figure out how this business can best be optimized and bring in more guests and expand revenue opportunities across the clients that are coming to the Hammock Beach Club. But tell us, what are some of the trends that you're paying attention to in 25? And how are you seeing some of the customer behavior changing this year?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think it was one of the panelists mentioned in the opening symposium that we don't like to follow trends. But I like to look at is how can we create those trends, how can we beat those trendsetters? And you know one thing that we see, especially in Florida, a lot is the growth in cruises and you know the stat was mentioned that 70% of cruises for 2025 already booked. And that's one thing you know, the stat was mentioned that 70% of cruises for 2025 already booked. And that's one thing you know, especially for us, even going back to with COVID and the pandemic and especially when cruises opened back up, is that whole revenge. Travel and cruises just took off and they still have.
Speaker 3:And as a director of revenue, again, I have to kind of shift quickly and understand, you know, what can we do to help optimize revenue. And as cruises were shut down, we had to realize well, what can we do. And that's where we use our destination as a true opportunity of, you know, kind of making those excursions for them. You know we're kind of their home port and then where can they go around there. So you know, continuously shifting around is, you know, again, europe is huge right now with travel and what can we learn from what's working around the world and keep guests domestic and staying with us?
Speaker 2:Well, along those lines, I'm sure you're starting to see that. You know, especially with the luxury, they're more discerning and the expectations continue to rise. Given the competition that you have in the luxury space and I think that was even something that was mentioned this morning I was like what is luxury anymore? Because there's so many different classifications now. Ultra luxury, it doesn't mean what it used to. But when you're figuring out how you innovate your business and anticipate some of those evolving expectations, how are you at the Hammock Beach Club adapting your business to evolve to meet those needs?
Speaker 3:It's a very challenging place right now because, like you said, and it's been mentioned, there's luxury and there's ultra luxury and what is luxury and trying to understand what is that, and that's where we're always having to kind of up our game and look to see what can we do and what can we grow from. Again, going with trends is we've got the benefit of our property, having multi-bedroom condos, up to 11 bedroom houses, and understanding that multi-generational travel is huge right now, a lot of people wanting to create those experiences and those memories across all of their family. So that's been something that we've seen a big shift in in the past, where it used to just be couples or retirees or someone just wanting a golf escape, or now it's let's bring the entire family. We've we've got the golf, the spa, the fine dining, something that all of the family can explore and enjoy, so kind of setting ourselves apart from the rest of it that you know most places don't have that. They have a hotel room and they can't bring the family together that way.
Speaker 2:Scott, one of the other questions I wanted to ask you, given your high level executive role in the industry the fact you're all the way here at the Forbes Travel Guide Conference in Monaco I'd love if you wouldn't mind sharing some advice from your perspective for those people who are looking to work their way up in the hospitality industry.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. It's great to. One thing I've learned over the many years is be moldable, understanding that growth takes many forms. Step outside your comfort zone. You know I've got a degree in hospitality. I never expected to be in revenue, but it was something that someone saw, something in me and and helped me move forward with that Um, understanding the different operations and and you know, be able to step in and ask where else you can help and what more you can learn. It's something that I'll never take for granted because it's definitely allowed me to move up into where I'm at and continues open doors to see what else is available. But you know travel, go through and you know it's. The benefit of our industry is we do get to travel and we understand what that is and see what it's like in other properties and you might see something from the outside that wants you to, uh, to move into another direction that you don't expect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally no. I appreciate you sharing those tips. Now, I'm sure there's people who've listened to this that are now just checking out your website to get more familiar with the hammock beach club and where it is in Florida, and and I see you highlighted some of the amazing features of your resort that certainly does make it distinct and unique. So if those people who are listening to this want to book with the hammock, I'd love for you to be able to share some more details on where best to go about that, especially, or travel industry partners, for that matter, that might be interested in promoting the hammock to their clients. And then the other thing, if you wouldn't mind leaving us with how best to connect with you.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Easiest way for us is our website. It's hammockbeachcom. We're on all the major social media channels, so you know, definitely follow us on there. You can connect throughout that and we personally. Linkedin is definitely the easiest door. You can always email me directly through the property.
Speaker 2:That's great. Thank you, Scott. Pleasure to meet you here in Monaco. Thanks so much for joining us on Travel Trends.
Speaker 3:Dan, it's a pleasure. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I now have the privilege to sit down and speak to Jeff Wiegopolen, who is the service director at Meadowood, napa Valley, and he is a two-star general with Forbes Travel Guide. They have a five-star for the hotel and a five-star for the spa, and I had a chance to speak to Jeff yesterday and I was keen to bring him into the conversations here at the Forbes Travel Guide the Summit in Monaco. So, jeff, welcome to Travel Trends. Thanks for making the time to join us.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Dan, for allowing me to have some time with you today.
Speaker 2:For sure. So tell us a bit of background about Meadowood, napa Valley, because obviously part of the answer is in the name. You're in Napa Valley because when I said to Jeff yesterday, I'm like where are you based? He's like Napa Valley, and I was like right, not everyone's always based where their name or their place is, but he is, and so he gets the privilege of not having to travel as much as he used to because he used to work at Forbes Travel Guide as well.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, tell us about Meadowood first, and then we'll talk about your background.
Speaker 1:All right. So Meadowood, napa Valley, is a in tradition in our American wine country. We have a 36-room property set on 250 acres, a beautiful eight-room five-star spa, three pools, and what's interesting is that the property actually started as a country club back in the early 1960s. It was purchased by our current owner in 1979, and then it was transitioned into a hotel and since then has obviously been very much part of the local community. So sort of the idea is that you could be swimming laps next to a winery owner and then go visit their winery. So it's not just that you're at a hotel, but you feel like once again you're part of the local community.
Speaker 2:Very cool. And then your background with Forbes Travel Guide tell us your journey there, because you only three years ago jumped from Forbes Travel Guide over to Meadowood. So yeah, restaurant division and then was a hotel restaurant spa inspector.
Speaker 1:So if you ever want to know what a secret hotel inspector looks like, you're looking at one. And then myself and my former colleague Amanda Frazier, who's now the president of standards and ratings, sort of thought that you know, we're putting all of this amazing information about these incredible experiences into a computer and then they die. No one is learning from them, no one gets to see. So, through a lot of effort, started a learning and development division where we would work directly with hotels and restaurants and spas to help them understand what sort of this very cloudy vision of what five-star service is, and through that sort of obviously honed and refined all of those, all of those programs.
Speaker 1:And you know when I we got to a point where what was really interesting is that I always like to think that luxury hospitality is the only industry that I could think of in the world, that the staff are asked to perform something that they themselves rarely experience. And so you know, if you work for hermes, you can touch the leather and learn about the bag, and but I'm tasking you to perform a five-star arrival and you've never stayed at a five-star hotel. And then I tell you oh, by the way, it also has to be different for every single guest. It's's like what does that mean? How do we train someone's brain to think like a luxury guest? How do we take standards and something scary like an inspector and demystify it to the point where it's actually pretty inspiring to be able to deliver?
Speaker 2:Totally, that's fascinating. So, given you have that background, I think this is really interesting because certainly when hotels get to work with Forbes Travel Guide and understand the ratings and standard systems, which obviously you know very well given your background, that's obviously when they go on this journey to improve their customer excellence and once they get that stamp of approval, obviously it helps increase business. Was your property associated with Forbes Travel Guide before you got involved? Yes, oh, yeah, they were Okay, and so I guess that was part of what I want to understand. But then also, it's one thing to get certification, it's certainly another thing to keep it. So you mentioned you now have two stars. Did you add an additional star in that time, or was there two when you arrived and you're focused on keeping those and growing it?
Speaker 1:So there's a pretty interesting part about Meadowood, napa Valley is that in 2019, it was, I believe, one of 11 properties on the planet to actually have a five-star hotel, a five-star spa, along with a five-star restaurant, and then we suffered a very devastating fire in September of 2020 that actually burnt down about two-thirds of our room inventory, along with our five-star restaurant.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker 1:So we reopened in December of 2021 with a much smaller footprint but a more stronger, a stronger focus on the guest experience, that we get to know our guests far more with a smaller hotel, and so we were able to retain our five stars for the hotel and the spa and then look forward to the day in which we have a full service fine dining restaurant back on property.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's great. Well, and obviously having you on board to navigate that, because that certification is obviously going to have to follow, as I understand how strict the ratings process is. Just because you were there before, you know you start from scratch again, right, when you open up that new restaurant now, you have to go through the process of being ranked, recognized and certified. So I guess the other things I wanted to ask you while we're together here, Jeff, is that you have the background with Forbes Travel Guide. You've been now three years with Metalwood and here we are together in Monaco. What brought you here this year?
Speaker 1:I just wanted to actually say it was an immense amount of pressure when that first rating came out, because how would it look if the gentleman from Forbes Travel Guide that's now back at the property level if we didn't do it? So, yeah, that's a big sigh of relief with the team, but obviously I work with an amazing set of colleagues, so it's all well handled on their end. An amazing set of colleagues, so it's all well handled on their end. You know from, this is one of my favorite times of the year to not only be able to be a part of it on the other side, which I not have to work at, which is a pretty nice benefit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you know, I think that when you ask almost anyone in the world where do you go and get the best service, I think many people would probably say a five-star hotel, and so here's a collection of literally the world's best leaders, of the best properties. So just be able to talk, ideate, collaborate, share stories. You gain a lot of insight into an operation and global expectations to be able to take back with your property.
Speaker 2:For sure, and that's why I thought it'd be unique to ask you, because you've seen it from both sides and I guess you know. Here we are in 2025 in Monaco, and I'm sure you know every year is different. I've seen such a transformation from last year in Vegas, which was amazing. So now Monaco is on a whole next level. There's 715 guests this year, which is about 100 more than last year, and it's much more of an international organization. So those are some of the things I've taken away, but what are some of the highlights been for you this year and I guess, the sessions you've attended and some of the highlights from Monaco 2025.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with the discovery session yesterday. We're pretty great with Megan Torrance about storytelling and we had a really lively dialogue amongst all of the the hoteliers and innkeepers about what do we do to keep our staff inspired and our guests enthralled with our offering. I thought like just the overall programming has been remarkably impressive. Like this is a tough group to cater to. We can spot, we can spot something pretty fast. So the kudos to the FDG team for all the efforts that they've put in. It's really remarkable.
Speaker 2:Amanda Fraser, who you mentioned and I've gotten to know quite well over the last couple of years because Amanda and Jennifer are the two that we work most closely with to bring this co-branded partnership together. I love the team and the whole working dynamic that we have, and I guess that's one of the things that I'd said to Amanda is like how difficult it is to entertain entertainers. Right, these are the people that are hosts. You know they not only, as you said, spot everything, but you know you have to put on a whole next level performance to impress this audience, because this is what they do every day. So, in terms of your future, with what you're seeing, another thing I wanted to ask you, given your vantage point, are what are some of the trends that you're seeing in 2025, whether it be in luxury travel or hospitality, and, specifically at Meadowood, what are some of the things you're?
Speaker 1:paying attention to. You know, we always are just trying to focus not only, obviously, on the overall experience, but making it very particular to Meadowood, and so what we really want is for someone to stay at our property and really feel as if they can't get that experience anywhere else. So, you know, I'll readily admit that. Um, you know, there's such an emphasis on technology and putting tablets in the room and putting QR codes in public spaces, whereas we feel like you're in Napa Valley, you're in nature.
Speaker 1:Sometimes sustainability means actually not staring at a screen and not picking up your phone to now see a work email. We print everything on Forest Service Recouncil certified paper, so it's still very sustainable, but we still want you to have a little bit of an old school experience. We want the property to feel like you're staying at an estate of a family member and for it to not feel like you're staying at a hotel, so to speak. Right, yeah, so just the authenticity of the experience from start to finish. I mentioned yesterday in one of our discovery sessions that all of our signage on property is actually inspired by the signs from the early 1960s, and so even visually it's. It looks like not a modern hotel, right? Um, looks like they're all. I mean, they're all brand new signs, yeah, but it looks like it's just a little bit of a throwback with sort of a modern way of the font and the design. Yeah, um, but that it feels like once again very distinctly Meadowood.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's really cool. Well, I've certainly enjoyed our conversation, jeff. I'm sure our listeners have as well. If they want to find out more about Meadowood, napa Valley or connect with you directly, how best should they do so?
Speaker 1:If they would like to connect with me, I'm always available on my LinkedIn at just Jeff Wogapolin, and then go to Meadowoodcom or our Instagram or our own LinkedIn page for more information on us.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, jeff. Well, I'm glad you made the connection. I'm really glad that we made this time to speak now and certainly I wish you every success in the year ahead and look forward to keeping in touch.
Speaker 1:All right, great. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for joining us on this latest episode of our special hospitality series in partnership with our friends at Forbes Travel Guide. I hope you've been enjoying our Leaders Behind the Stars season two. We have one more episode to bring you next week and we're going to have three extraordinary individuals joining us for this conversation. So make sure that you are registered on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified next Thursday when that episode goes live. And also, as I mentioned at the beginning, we're posting clips and highlights on all our social channels, both at Forbes Travel Guide and at Travel Trends Podcast. So be sure to check out LinkedIn, youtube and Instagram as well for highlights from all of these conversations. And I just want to say thanks again to Jeff and Scott for joining us for this conversation. It was great to meet you both and I look forward to seeing your continued success and hopefully being back for season three next year in Monaco. But we'll talk about that next week and until then, safe travels.
