What JW Marriott and Hilton can teach us about culture, data, and success in modern hotel openings
New hotel openings in the digital era demand a new balance between brand identity, technology, guest expectations, and data-driven strategy. Few leaders have navigated this transformation as directly as Dolores Castillo, whose career includes launching flagship properties, guiding sales integration during major mergers, and leading commercial teams across borders. Her experience reflects not only the pace of change but also the renewed focus on guest wellbeing, commercial clarity, and the human role behind digital transformation.
Takeaways
Market clarity drives success during hotel openings, especially in digitally enabled launches.
Guest expectations now prioritise
wellbeing, personalisation, and sustainability, influencing every commercial touchpoint.
Brand unification depends on culture and identity, not only on systems or technology.
Data supports decisions, but intuition and relationships remain essential in commercial leadership.
Cross-border hospitality requires cultural intelligence, especially in client communication and negotiation.
What makes a hotel opening successful today?
Hotel openings set the tone for long-term performance. They shape how teams work, how markets respond, and how guests engage from day one. When those openings occur in an environment driven by digital touchpoints, real-time feedback, and fast-moving channels, commercial clarity becomes even more important.
Hotel openings in the digital era
You have played a key role in launching and positioning flagship properties, including the JW Marriott Guadalajara and Hilton Guadalajara Midtown. What are the key success factors when opening a hotel today, especially in a digitally driven environment from day one?
Undoubtedly, having a real and objective understanding of the market the product is aimed at is essential. This is what allows you to find the right value-price balance, which opens the doors to compete at the correct level and reach the ideal customer. This highlights guest satisfaction based on the property’s unique advantages, while offering content that keeps you on-trend and delivering positive ROI.
Wellbeing, personalisation, sustainability, and technology now define what guests value most. These elements must be clearly communicated to achieve the right value-price balance. Dolores Castillo
The new era of guest expectations
Today’s guests seek more meaning, more value alignment, and more well-being throughout their stay. Digital channels influence these expectations, but the core drivers remain human. Dolores contextualises this shift through her own brand experience.
The evolution of guest expectations
Throughout your career, you’ve worked with iconic brands like Starwood, Marriott, and Hilton. How have guest expectations evolved, and how do you align your commercial strategy to respond to these changes?
In recent years (I would say post-pandemic), there have been major shifts in how guests perceive services in luxury hotels. After this life experience, value began to be understood differently. Well-being, approached through hospitality, has taken priority: working while also exercising, eating healthily even when travelling, taking time for oneself, sustainability, and initiatives aimed at meeting these expectations. Technology as the foundation for communication with the rest of the world and personalisation of services are also elements that must define a hotel’s offering. These must be clearly communicated to, again, achieve the commercial value-price balance.
Unifying brands, systems, and cultures
Few moments test an organisation as much as a major merger. Dolores experienced this firsthand during the Marriott–Starwood integration, one of the largest in hospitality history. Her experience shows how identity and culture shape commercial success.
Brand unification insights
With your experience leading sales integration during the Marriott–Starwood merger, what lessons can other hoteliers learn about unifying brand identities, systems, and cultures?
As I mentioned earlier, being objective in differentiating products and consequently identifying the ideal client and their needs and expectations is the guiding principle in ensuring each brand meets its promise. Today, there are complete brand-identity guidelines that begin not in commercial strategy but at the heart of each hotel. Some brands operate with ‘associates,’ others with ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ or ‘team members.’ It is through them and through pre-established standards that systems and, above all, cultures can be unified.
Information is power, but intuition and interpersonal relationships can add as much value as data in commercial decision-making. Dolores Castillo
From intuition to data-driven decisions
Data is more accessible than ever, yet hospitality remains rooted in relationships. Dolores explains how these elements combine to drive commercial success.
Balancing Data and Intuition
What role do data and automation play today in supporting your commercial decision-making compared to earlier stages in your career?
Information is power, and access to unlimited data is now available. Regarding revenue management, trends, and hard data on who, how, where, and when undoubtedly provide strong support and guidance for accurate decision-making. However, I believe that in the commercial sphere, intuition and interpersonal relationships can add as much value as statistical analysis.
Cross-border commercial strategy
Global brands operate across multiple cultures, and commercial teams must adapt. Dolores describes the nuance required when managing markets across the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.
Navigating regional differences
You’ve led commercial teams responsible for national and international markets. What are the main differences in approach when targeting clients in the United States versus Mexico or Latin America?
Market adaptation and even internal adaptation in the sales approach are essential. The objectivity of a North American client, who looks for yes/no answers and costs, contrasts with the Latin culture, where everything begins with greeting and courtesy (without undermining the value of each proposal). This creates a blended approach which, when used effectively, can become a competitive advantage. However, communication is key to helping internal teams understand the value this blend of approaches can bring to potential clients.
Developing teams in a changing industry
Multigenerational teams bring varied strengths and communication styles. Dolores emphasises how leaders must adapt their approach.
Team development in modern hospitality
How do you train and guide commercial teams to adapt to constant changes in technology, guest behaviour, and the competitive landscape?
We are working in a moment where teams are multigenerational, and therefore communicate differently. I believe leaders today must be aware of this and personalise their communication with team members. Certain concepts must be communicated homogenously: brand values, shared objectives, market trends, and company goals. Clear, objective, personalised communication is the key to developing a team.
Reframing sales and marketing
The final theme touches on a growing misconception: that commercial strategy can be reduced to data analysis.
Understanding the role of sales and marketing
What are some of the biggest misunderstandings hotel owners or operators have about the role of Sales and Marketing in revenue generation today?
Today, some companies are close to shifting the Sales & Marketing role entirely toward a pure revenue analyst role. While the Commercial Director’s primary focus is revenue generation, their function in achieving this is to be present with clients. Building close relationships to understand expectations and trends. However, some operators expect most decisions to be based purely on statistical analysis, forgetting the human factor, which will continue to be essential in achieving revenue targets.
Final words
Across her reflections, Dolores offers a cohesive vision of what defines modern hospitality leadership. She emphasises that successful hotel openings in the digital era depend on strong commercial foundations, deep market understanding, and clear value-price alignment. She highlights how guest expectations have shifted dramatically toward wellbeing, personalisation, and sustainability, and how these priorities must be communicated with intention. Her experience also shows that unifying brand identities during large-scale transformations requires cultural alignment before technological alignment, as people shape platforms and not the other way around.
Dolores stresses that while data and automation enable more accurate decision-making, intuition and interpersonal relationships remain equally valuable. She draws an important distinction between regional markets, noting that cultural intelligence enhances commercial effectiveness across borders. As teams become increasingly multigenerational, she argues that personalised communication is essential for alignment and development. Finally, she reinforces that the role of Sales and Marketing is far more than data interpretation; it depends on presence, relationship-building, and a balanced approach that respects both numbers and human insight.
Her perspective forms a clear message: in a world shaped by technology, hospitality continues to succeed through the thoughtful integration of digital tools with cultural understanding, human connection, and strong commercial clarity.
About Shiji Group
Shiji is a global technology company dedicated to providing innovative solutions for the hospitality industry, ensuring seamless operations for hoteliers day and night. Built on the Shiji Platform—the only truly global hotel technology platform—Shiji's cloud-based solutions include property management system, point-of-sale, guest engagement, distribution, payments, and data intelligence for over 91,000 hotels worldwide, including the largest hotel chains. With more than 5,000 employees across the world, Shiji is a trusted partner for the world's leading hoteliers, delivering technology that works as continuously as the industry itself. That's why the best hotels run on Shiji—day and night. While its primary focus is on hospitality, Shiji also serves select customers in food service, retail, and entertainment in certain regions. For more information, visit shijigroup.com.
