The End of Luxury Hotels as We Know Them? A Hotel COO Explains What's Next.

0:00I'm Audrey Boersma, and you're listening to Sweet Success.

0:08You've just checked in to Sweet Success. Join me, Katie Cline, for exclusive conversations with hotel executives, hospitality leaders, and industry innovators. Together, we'll uncover the strategies and techniques these masters of hospitality relentlessly refine. Whether you're already in the industry or just starting out, tune in every week to unlock the secret to your sweet success.

0:38Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Sweet Success. I'm your host, Katie Klein, and today I'm thrilled to welcome Andre Boersma to the show. Andre is the Chief Operating Officer of Paradero Hotels, a hospitality brand redefining luxury through immersive design-driven experiences rooted in culture, sustainability, and a deep connection to place. With more than three decades of experience in luxury hospitality, Andre has held leadership roles with some of the most beloved brands in the industry, including Rosewood, One & Only, Discovery Land Company, and Viceroy. He's lived in stunning resort destinations from Mexico and the Bahamas to St.

1:20Lucia, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and more. Andre, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you, Katie. It's great to be here. I want to jump right into Paradiro because as I was saying to you before we started recording, I have been salivating over the images of the hotel. It looks absolutely incredible. So for someone who's not familiar, can you tell us a bit about Paradero Hotels? Well, first of all, Katie, you have to get down here to experience it yourself. Twist my arm. Okay. Absolutely. Paradero, that's been around since their early 20s. It's a Mexican hospitality brand built around one idea.

2:06And the destination is the luxury. It's not the hotel. Paradero Dos Santos, as I said, was opened in 21. And it was built on what was over foreign land on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, close to the tip of Baja California Sur. It's an adults-only property sitting on an intersection of five distinct ecosystems, desert, coastal, mountain, agricultural, and marine, obviously, just off the Pacific, offering what we today call an Experience Inclusive Day. where every guest's rate includes daily opportunities of programming, whether it's surfing, hiking, horseback riding, farm sessions, cooking classes, meditation, sound healing, and a host of many others.

3:17Here we don't sell a room. We don't sell a room. we are removing everything that spans between a guest and this extraordinary place that we we sit in and all of those experiences that you mentioned those are all included in the rate that the guests have already paid they're all included yes do as many or as few as you want that's the wonderful thing about Paraderos Santos. It's your choice. It's your freedom. I think that's really cool. And it speaks to a larger trend that we're seeing, which is really, I don't even know if you would call it a trend. People don't like feeling nickel and dimed.

4:02They want to arrive. They're okay spending more money than maybe they typically would. But once they're there and they see a resort fee or$10 for a bottle of water that's strategically placed besides the bed, it really upsets people so it sounds like you guys have noticed that and you're taking it one step further with those immersive experiences that obviously we know is such a buzzword in the industry right now that people want to travel and have these really special experiences while they're there true very true yes and we're we what our goal is to make the whole experience as frictionless as possible were guests.

4:48And can you give some more examples of the experiences? I know you touched on a few with the sound bath, but I really want to hear more about it because I feel like that really embodies the place like you mentioned earlier. Absolutely. So today, in addition to what I already mentioned, we also are, we have just launched what is our Paradero Unbound offering. And Paradero Unbound is not only including all these programming opportunities, but we're also including now all food and beverage, airport transportation back and forth, everything that you need from the state to, as I said, to reduce the number of transactions to one or two for the whole experience and making the experience as frictionless as possible.

5:36We also include a massage per person per night in the unbound, paradero unbound. And we also have temazcal, which is a Mexican traditional sweat bath with a shaman that takes our guests through the four stages, they call it through the four doors. And we also have all kinds of different type of motion and activity sessions offered by our fitness guru which go from yoga to floor pilates to, I already mentioned meditation, but breath sessions or any kind of spa treatment that you can imagine as well. It's really cool. I wonder your feelings on the words all-inclusive because obviously what you are offering sounds so much more than that.

6:35And what I particularly like about what I'm hearing is, as you mentioned earlier, it was all about the destination first and the hotel second and the experiences that you're offering would not make sense anywhere else than where your hotel is located which is is really like the antithesis of what the all-inclusive used to be and i'm talking probably 30 40 years ago where you would go to a big box hotel and you'd eat the same foods that you were eating at home and you didn't leave the hotel because it was scary outside of it. Now it's much more, no, come here, we'll take care of you, and we will make sure that even if you're not actually leaving the property, which I'm sure you have opportunities for them to do, you're still getting a really specific Mexican experience.

7:22No doubt about it. We are, our primary purpose here is to introduce Baja Carivón Azur, the surrounding towns which is Dos Santos which is a Pueblo Magico translated to Spanish it's a magical town it's a denomination that's given by the government of Mexico to assert towns around Mexico for their beauty for what they offer and for their enchantment we don't only market Paradero as being close to Dos Santos we actually market Paradero as being part of Col Santos. And it's so important for our guests to feel the genuine energy and the soul of this artistic town, the agricultural fields that surround us.

8:21We're very different to what a lot of people know is the corridor of Cabo, which is only 45 minutes away. but we're in a completely different environment where this site is at the convergence of a 200-year-old desert cardon is a type of cactus the Sierra de la Laguna mountains the virgin Pacific beaches just minutes away from us working farming and of course the ocean that we can see directly from our hotel this convergence is is something that not many properties can attest to say that they have and we're very lucky to be surrounded by as i said you know in these different areas yeah so many different terrains coming together and you know the hotel has 35 suites really jaw-dropping just based on exactly what you said and it was actually named one of the best new hotels in the world by condenas traveler i just was wondering from your perspective seeing that having that moment of all of the hard work of everything you've brought together being recognized what did that feel like for the property well it definitely first okay i must say uh we've grown to 42 suites now so seven seats more amazing yeah it's it was just the the guests asked for it the demand was there And even though we're a very low-density property, we're in this property alone.

10:06It's in over 10 acres of land. So 42 suites and 10 acres of land represents only about 20 % hardscape. The rest that we do is all softscape and landscaping. But going to your point about the accolades, We were very fortunate to receive right from the get-go several accolades from different channels. And you mentioned Condonass Traveler and what this represented. Well, Paraderos Dos Santos opened in 2021. It was a hard time for travel. so the bet on restraint and getting it done paid off we built this property not on the coast line not on the beach i should say like most hotels or resorts in mexico would do we built it close to a town dos santos where most luxury travelers have never heard of it there's no beach club There's no golf course, no brand name behind us.

11:19Just this promise for experiences, not amenities, and the product being the luxury. So it went to show that the patience that we had gave us this opportunity to master what we needed to do for our guests and what our guests were looking for. and today this is evident with the high repeat guest rate that we have and the fact that the recognition kept coming as we've ensured. Yeah, I'm wondering if that felt like a gamble at the time because when you lay it out like that, you know, in a town no one's ever heard of, no brand name behind it, no beach club, no golf course, it sounds risky, but seeing what it has become, it feels so obvious.

12:15And then add on to the fact that, like you said, you opened 2021 on the heels of the pandemic. Was there ever a moment where you guys thought, is this going to work? Or did you just believe so intrinsically that it would, that there was no fear there? Well, absolutely. I know that the founders, Palabra Mugatmona and Joshua Kramer, definitely were questioning their decisions. But smartly, two smart young gentlemen just decided to push forward and believed in the product. And here we are today. Yeah. And at a time when we see a lot of brands going bigger, like you said, you have 20 % hardscaping of the property, just 42 rooms.

13:07Is that really key to your strategy or is there plans to grow further than that 20 %? Well, no, further than 20%, not at all. And it's definitely, it is the strategy. and being small or being 20 % versus 80 % it's not a constraint that we accepted it's part of the discipline it's part of Paraderos, part of Paraderos Dos Santos and it affords us the opportunity to really know our guests not only their names but the way they move during the day if they went surfing today or yesterday how their body feels, what they want to do, what type of individuals they are. And we can get our programming, give a genuine personal programming to our guests rather than just be operationally efficient, if that means.

14:10Yeah, yeah. I mean, personally, it feels so much more in line with the way I'm looking to travel, particularly for a trip like that. And I think that does speak to a broader growing trend of if you are actually taking a holiday, you're not going for a work trip or, you know, function, you're going for enjoyment, relaxation to learn about a new place. Everything that you're describing is really appealing to today's traveler. Travel has definitely changed, especially over the last three decades. Many unfortunate, life-changing things have happened in the world. And that just changed the psyche of many people that travel often.

14:58Yeah, and to that point, something that, again, is a bit of a buzzword, can cause a little bit of an eye roll from some people, is this concept of transformational travel. But I'm wondering your perspective on that. What does that actually mean? And how can you see a hotel like Peridaro delivering on that? You're so right, Katie. I don't like using that term transformational travel or transformational. The buzzword, as you say, I think is a version of a spa treatment with a manifesto. to me what we do is it's simpler but harder the real version it's simpler but harder the transformation happens when the guest the person when someone is fully present in an unfamiliar environment or unfamiliar element doing something that maybe they've never done before or doing in a different way and hopefully without the phone in their hand or one of these gadgets that we seem to have stuck to our bodies every day yeah um i use surfing as an example there's so many people that have heard about surfing they've seen surfing on the television or they've seen it you know on the beaches but they can never imagine self imagine themselves getting into a wave um and when you actually do it it just it's one of those moments i'm getting goosebumps just thinking of it how guests that have done it for the first time come and explain how they're feeling it breaks them open and liberates them and gives them this freedom even though they didn't even get up they caught the way and it's it's this energy that they feel and and and they carry that energy not only for the rest of the day but through their stay and and when they leave and it's just so nice to see i love the way you just described that because it's true whenever i see like transformational travel in a press release i really am like what does that mean i want to roll my eyes and this is coming from a former publicist you know i love a press release but you're right we've all had those experiences.

17:22I can think of many off the top of my head where you're leaving a trip or a hotel and you're in tears or you have goosebumps and you're thinking like, this has changed me. This has changed my life. And it sounds so superfluous to say what it's true. And I think that example of surfing really embodies what you said so beautifully, which is being able to be fully present in an unfamiliar environment. How infrequent is that for us these days? Exactly. Exactly. I mean, and it's not only surfing, it's the farming. Our guests go to the supermarket twice a week. They pick up their produce. They have no idea where it's coming from.

18:07They don't know where it grows or how it grows. They come here, they have the opportunity to actually put their hands in the dirt, in the soil, partly, where the vegetables are growing. Then they'll see the vegetables being harvested and taken to a restaurant where they're dining those same vegetables. And a lot of people, for some of it, it's hard to understand that the majority of the citizens of the world have never experienced that i have seen i'm going to share something that i maybe shouldn't but i've seen people come down to this part of the world and they see a mango tree full of mangoes and they ask are those coconuts and that is where it just wow i'm here to share a lot more than just you know high count high thread count sheets and amazing amenities that's not what we're here for yeah yeah honestly i was just away last weekend we rented a vacation rental with four other couples and their kids you know so 10 kids it was crazy and i realized for me you need to come here without the de-stress and recalibrate after that.

19:28Yes, I do. I do need to do that. Absolutely. There was a lot of bickering from the children, so that would be fantastic. But what I realized over that weekend is like when I am happiest, I am barefoot. I'm walking either through a grass or on the deck to a pool or ideally at a beach. I have time to cook because I think what you just said, being able to be in touch with our food and know where it came from and how it was prepared. And it goes so beautifully to something you said earlier, simple but hard, right? Really for a lot of us to be very happy, it's very simple what we want. That is very hard to do from a hotel perspective because it does the high thread count sheets and the air conditioning working, having the dinner come out quickly when you have multiple guests in-house and they're all arriving at the same time, it's not an easy thing to do.

20:25And I imagine being someplace fairly remote like you guys are adds a whole other layer of operational challenge. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. How do you combat that? How do you, you know, hire the right people, have the right things in-house, or even manage guest expectations where they think something should be easy and you could just Amazon it when it would be here, and that's just not the way it is where you're based, and that's what makes it so special. Well, I have to say we are very lucky. We are only an hour away from the international airport of San Jose of Cabo, so it's not that far away from true civilization.

21:08But when you get here, you feel, like you just said, that you're in a remote place and things are hard to come by. Obviously, yes, logistics and planning are essential for any property in the world, no matter where you are, to operate, to work properly, but especially in locations like where we are here on the outskirts or let's call it beyond Cabo. So planning, planning. And I also imagine the type of guest you are attracting is different intentionally. They are not first time to Cabo looking for a quote unquote Cabo experience. They know they're going to a different destination, even if they're flying into the same airport and they're looking for something different, too.

21:58Very true. How do you market the property appropriately so that you attract the right kind of guests so that when they arrive on property, they're so delighted by everything you're offering because you curated the right people to come through the door in the first place? so the best piece of marketing that we can ever ask for is word of mouth and the return guests that come in and fortunately for us they're not selfish and they spread the word they share it with their friends they share it with their family and we get the word of mouth this type of an experience is not easy for the provider us paradero todos santos to actually market and explain because the true sense of the whole experience is brought, is felt from within.

22:54The guest feels it. They leave with it and they think about it and they relish over their time with us and they just look forward to coming back. As you know, we're an adults-only hotel, but we're actually now building a second hotel because our guests have asked us, we want to share this with our children. We want to share this with our extended family. So we're building a hotel close by, which offers one, two, and three-bedroom villas. Wow, beautiful restaurant, cozy mall, swing pool, kids' club. No electronics in the kids' club. Sorry, guys. But we have horses free, ponies free, all kinds of different things to do here for the extended family as well.

23:51So, Paradeno Dos Santos will continue to operate and offer the experiences to the adults only, but we'll also have a new opportunity for extended families at the end of this year, actually. Oh, wow. That's really soon. And that's so exciting and such a great example of really listening to your customer. I know I've seen that with other hotel brands I've worked with where you might start by marketing to an adults-only crowd or a younger crowd. And then as the guest changes in their life, they're like, just because I now have kids doesn't mean I don't want to come back. Or maybe I can come once every few years to the adults-only option, but I could come every year if I could bring my children.

24:37So this parent is very, very excited to hear about that too. And we've gone one step further as well. As I mentioned earlier, we built Paradeo Dos Santos on 10 acres. We actually now have 60 acres. So we're building the Paradeo community, which includes the original hotel, the villa hotel that I'm just talking about, but we also have a residential area and we have Paradeo homes. this is because again listening to our guests oh my god I'd like to live here part of the year or the full year in this type of environment experiencing the activities daily experiencing the whole ecosystem that Paradero is situated in on a daily basis so that's what we've now extended into the holes wow that's really exciting it's It's amazing and very popular.

25:37Is that more of like a timeshare product or is it hotel rooms that people then own? How does that work for prospective owners? So the hotel, pardon me, the paradero homes is full ownership. And the homeowners have the opportunity, if they so wish, to put them into a rental program with us. so when they're not occupying their home, we can rent it out on their behalf. We manage the home. We take care of all processes, whether it's from the reservation mates to insurance to everything administrative. So it's a very seamless experience to own a home here at Paradero. Well, it's also so great, especially for international owners.

26:27You know, a lot of what you just described can be off-putting to people who want to buy a place in Mexico but are worried about, well, how will I manage it and how would I handle prospective renters, et cetera. And having that all in-house, it makes it so seamless. Very true. And it's a Turing key experience from the beginning and through the time of build and then through the time of occupancy. It's very easy. When we were talking earlier about not only the experiences you offer, but, you know, the reason people continue to come back, there's two more buzzwords, dare I say, that I kind of hear come through.

27:09And one is wellness and one is sustainability. And I'd love to hear your take on those as well. Of course. Well, wellness to me is all encompassing. It's not only about nutrition. It's not only about exercising and making sure that you're going to the gym three, four times a week or on your walks. It's actually, to me, wellness is even more. It's community engagement. It's the environmental connection that you have. It's the freedom of choice. being able to choose oh today i'll go horseback riding and then i'll go for an afternoon surf or i'll go do a sunset uh beach evening or you know i do a temazcal just that freedom of choice and being able to do it and having at your fingertips as well to me as well now sustainability a buzzword without a doubt but the founders Josh and Pablo when they first started Paraderos dos Santos it was not something that they thought as an additional item, oh we have to be sustainable, no it was actually part of the initial thought process they actually chose this particular piece of land for many reasons can you believe they they look at 800 to a thousand different properties throughout mexico before they came to choose this one wow i already mentioned special reasons the ecosystems and so on that we're surrounded by but they actually took this piece of land that was over farmed so what does that mean there's no more nutrition in the land the land has actually become let's use the term dead land so they intentionally take it and they start regenerating re-nurturing the land by this 80-20 concept doing regenerative farming practices which is in Mexico it's called MIPA and it's translated to no-till farming And then they decide to use this brutalist architecture, which rather than working against the desert, it works with the desert, the climate and everything that grows around it.

29:53And then, you know, when you have all of this put together, the guest doesn't experience amenities. They experience, you know, the coherence of the whole area of the architecture, the cactus, the ocean, the mountains. And that's what people remember. That's exactly what they remember. And it goes so beautifully to what you just said about wellness, too, where it's all inclusive, all encompassing. It's not just we'll only clean your towels every seven days and we have a refillable water bottle in the room. Like you said, that's more amenity-driven, tick the box, trying to prove you're something versus looking at this quote-unquote dead land and saying, how can we bring it back to life and make this hotel, this property, actually all in celebration of the place?

30:52Right, exactly. Exactly. I don't call Paradero a hotel. I know it is a hotel, but I don't call Paradero a hotel. To me, Paradero, it's a refuge in the desert of Baja California Sur, where our guests come to stop, to start. What do I mean by that? They come here to escape, to stop hearing the noise, and to start listening. they come here to stop feeling that anxiety of daily living and be grounded and i can use so many more examples but i i think you get the gist of where i'm going that they start to start i not only get the gist but i just need 10 minutes to pack a suitcase and i will be there because i I think that is so, it's sad in a way, isn't it?

31:57That that is so appealing. And right away when you said that, I got exactly what you meant. And I feel like so many of us in our day-to-day lives are just go, go, go, go, go. And the next thing to the next thing to the next thing. And so having a place that you can do that. And that's why I really like all the programming that you're bringing in too, because I think we're at decision fatigue as well. A lot of us, most of us. and to arrive on property. It's just another way that you're making your guests feel so taken care of, which is you don't need to think about it. This is what's being offered today.

32:31And you can just choose. Are you in the mood? Do you want to come? Does that feel exciting to you? If not, that's okay. There's also a million other things you can do to just rest and recharge. Or not do anything. Or not do anything. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. What are your growth plans for the brand? I mean, we've heard about the 60 acres and what you're developing there, but will there be Paradero elsewhere in the world or is it really rooted in where you are right now? We are looking at different opportunities. We have no intention of growing the portfolio but just to grow the portfolio. We'll do it when we find, whether it's a piece of land or an existing property, that has the same type of voice that Paradero Toto Santos has today.

33:27And that's core. That's what Paradero Hotels is about. And we're not going to dismiss that at all. That's very exciting. We will watch this space and see. But you have so much going on in the existing property and in the existing acreage that it sounds like there's no shortage of exciting stories to tell. We have Lots Mornica. I'm wondering, just given your amazing career and having worked for so many incredible brands in so many incredible places, when you think about the future of the travel industry, do you have any predictions for what's to come? I don't have a crystal ball. But I think, I truly believe that the amenities that hotels and resorts today offer will continue, but the transformation economy, and here we have that word again, will replace the amenities.

34:29Travelers, as you very well said, are looking more and more for property. by what they become, what they experience there, rather than what they're given there. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And it goes back to what you said earlier about thread count. I do think even if we go back just five years or so, really even to when Instagram became so ubiquitous, there was a bit of posturing that was happening when it came to travel of just wanting to see and be seen at a certain place with a certain name and i think we're starting to move away from that and it's really like you said how are you feeling at the end of that trip that's going to dictate what you say to your friends and if you decide to come back again i also truly believe that the inclusive or the fully immersive model it's been around for years but different markets and it's definitely going if I may say up market and I'm not talking about the wristbands and the fake version all of them have a place in this world right but I'm talking about the friction free luxury where everything that's meaningful is included right and to your point, decision fatigue is evaded as it's the new enemy of rest, really, right?

36:04Yeah. Yeah. Andre, I want to ask you the last three questions that I ask every guest. And the first is, what was the best hospitality experience that you have ever had? That's not fair, Kate. We're spoiled in this industry, so it's fun to make my guest pick just one. Yeah. Well, there's so many amazing experiences that I've had throughout my lifetime that have been very fortunate. To single one out, it's really not easy. But I have to share, now that I'm sitting here and talking exactly about Paradero Dos Santos, I have to go back several years ago when I was involved in one of these legendary brands that are so successful.

36:54and doing the right thing as well in their segment of the market. I actually, I traveled out the coast of Hiram, Bahakali, Fornesur, for a long weekend getaway. And at that moment, I didn't realize that this small family-owned and operated beachside hotel that I went to get away from Cabo to would introduce me to the best frictionless and re-energizing spirits that today is what we are doing here and replicating. So I actually did this many, many years ago, but I didn't realize it then. And I always thought, you know, I'm involved in ultra-luxury hospitality, hospitality but this experience i've never forgotten and i and i think that defines what hospitality is about their amazing hospitality what was it about that experience that stuck out so much and still makes you think about it so many years later again seamless frictionless I just we just drove in walked in there was nothing to sign uh welcome back I have your favorite ceviche ready for you because they made amazing ceviche can you imagine they had fishing boats just down the beach from them fish came in ceviche guacamole a nice cold beer after a three hour drive to get there they knew exactly what I was looking for and what I needed and what I wanted without having to ask.

38:44And again, it was that experience of everything being seamless and not having to be concerned about if I don't get up by nine, I'm going to miss breakfast. No, I'm going to be ready whenever you wanted breakfast. You'd get up and they'd be, what are you having today? What would you like? Things like that. On the opposite side of that glorious experience, what was the worst hospitality experience you've ever had? I've experienced some unfortunately really bad hospitality moments in my lifetime as well. And I don't want to generalize it, but hospitality you don't only see in hotels. You see it in all different kinds of industries.

39:35And I'm going to answer this being very generic. I don't want to be specific, but I think that if there's one industry that needs dramatic improvement in what is hospitality, it's hospitals. Wow. I was not expecting you to say that, but that makes a lot of sense. Well, I say that because I've unfortunately had family members in and out of hospitals that I've been and have seen and I've felt and I've experienced, you know, three o 'clock in the morning when the patient has finally got to sleep and is resting and someone comes in and turns the lights on and starts making noise just because they need to do something.

40:23Stop it. you know that's just one example but yeah anyway i would have expected you to say airlines because they come up a lot in this section but you are so right honey i've had similar experiences where yeah you're like rest is integral to healing and yet that just all goes out the window because your shift says it's time to go in and check these vitals right now you're not really putting the people first. Final question for you. What does hospitality mean to you? And is there anyone, it could be a person in your life, a brand that you think has truly mastered it? There's so many incredible hoteliers in this world.

41:08So many incredible brands that have achieved and continuously achieved day in, day out, a really, really high level of hospitality. No doubt about it. And I could name several. But I think hospitality is, it's not possible to master it. And I say that because to me, hostility it's a way of life it comes from the heart and it's something that continuously is evolving and strengthening through the passion of serving others and you get to a certain stage and can you do better always, can you do more always, can you give more, always so So that's my answer. Andre, thank you so much for spending time with us today.

42:13And I look forward to hopefully sharing a ceviche with you at Periduro sometime soon. Katie, look forward to having you here and thank you for the opportunity. All right, everyone. It's time for today's sweet summary where I break down the key insights and actionable takeaways from today's conversation. If you've been listening to this show for a while, you probably know I hate a buzzword. And that's why I really appreciated this conversation with Andre. He didn't just throw around words like luxury, wellness, sustainability. He actually defined what they mean in practice. Let's start with what he said right at the beginning.

42:52The destination is the luxury. I always laugh a little when hotel brands claim that their differentiator is that they bring the destination to life. But at Paradiro, that philosophy genuinely shapes every decision they make. After touring somewhere between 800 and 1 ,000 sites, the founders intentionally chose this specific location because it sits at the convergence of mountains, desert, coastline, agriculture, and marine ecosystems. They believed the destination itself was compelling enough to attract their ideal guest. They didn't need a famous brand, a beach club, or a golf course to do it.

43:35Every activity, excursion, and piece of daily programming is designed to deepen that connection rather than distract from it. Then there's wellness. I loved how Andre said wellness isn't a spa treatment wrapped in a manifesto. It's freedom of choice. It's being able to be fully present in an unfamiliar environment. and it's allowing guests to choose what they want to stop doing just as much as what they want to start doing. And finally, sustainability. As Andre pointed out, sustainability isn't an amenity, it's a philosophy. The founders built it into Paradero from day one, beginning with their decision to purchase over-farmed land with the goal of regenerating it.

44:21They chose to develop just 20 % of the property, not because regulations told them to, but because preserving the remaining landscape would create a better experience for guests and a healthier ecosystem. It's reflected in everything they do from allowing guests to farm food themselves, and yes, even educating them on the difference between a mango and a coconut. Everything about Peridaro screams intention, from the land they bought to what they built and equally what they chose not to build. It's a great reminder that sometimes the best hospitality isn't about adding more, but simply having the confidence to do less.

45:05Like Andre said, it's simple, but it's hard. And that concludes another episode of Sweet Success. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please subscribe, rate, and review the show. We all know how important those five-star reviews are. I also want to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you for tuning in. It means the absolute world to me. And I'd love to hear from you. If you have ideas for future guests, new topics to cover, or even just want to say hi, don't be shy. Message me through our website, sweetsuccesspodcast.com or on social media at sweetsuccesspodcast. That's sweet like hotel suite.

45:42Once again, I'm your host, Katie Klein, and I'm super excited to see you all next week.