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of the fastest-growing areas in hospitality, not just from the growth of properties but also from the investment perspective.
HOTELS: You have more than 30 years of experience in hospitality and previously helped build AMResorts. What lessons from that experience have influenced how you are approaching this project? Coll: The biggest lesson is that growth only works with win-win operations and the right distribution. Those two things were very important to us. At AMResorts, we focused on building brands from scratch and developing disciplined operating systems, delivering consistency across every property and maintaining standards. All of that created confidence among owners and loyalty from guests.
We are following basically the same philosophy: operational excellence, financial discipline and long-term value creation. We really believe brands create demand, but operations create reputation. That is the core of what we do.
HOTELS: What excites you most about this particular project? Coll: We want to show that this property is as good as— or even better than— many other JW Marriott hotels in the world. The fact that it is allinclusive is irrelevant. It’ s not something that is just a trend that everybody is doing now.
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JW Marriott Costa Elena features eight dining venues. Pictured here is Namuyaki, which blends Japanese culinary traditions with Costa Rican influences.
It has been around for a long time. We started the luxury trend in all-inclusive, but now all the brands are perfecting the concept and bringing the experience they have developed over many years.
HOTELS: How has the definition of luxury allinclusive evolved over the past decade? Coll: When we started in all-inclusive, it was basically Club Med and a couple of other brands. Today, the only difference between a traditional luxury hotel and an all-inclusive luxury hotel should be that the latter is prepaid, so you don’ t have to pull out your wallet or pay the bill at the end of the
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day. The service, the level of the restaurants and the level of food and beverage should be exactly the same.
HOTELS: Running an allinclusive resort requires a different operational mindset than a traditional luxury hotel. What separates the best operators from the rest? COLL: A traditional hotel primarily optimizes room revenue. That’ s what they’ re focused on, and even the KPIs are focused on optimizing room revenue. In an all-inclusive, we optimize each part of the guest journey. Every meal, beverage, activity, wellness experience and guest interaction
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The hotel offers a range of family-focused offerings through Family by JW, including a kids’ club and nature-inspired activities.
contributes to the transaction.
The best operators don’ t manage departments independently. They orchestrate one seamless guest experience through coordination, forecasting, labor management, F & B controls and a strong service culture.
It’ s like an orchestra and having to understand how everything works and how everything interacts. The guest has already prepaid for everything. Now you have to focus on service and the spirit of the experience.
Last, guests are more or less captive. Everything that happens is going to be part of their experience when they get back home.
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September 2026 hotelsmag. com 73 |