The brand

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa is a Texas destination resort near Austin’s Hill Country, tucked away on 405 lush acres along the banks of the Lower Colorado River. The AAA Four Diamond resort, featuring 490 modern ranch-style guestrooms and suites, is an ideal setting for exploring, relaxing, and connecting with nature.

The resort offers a variety of amenities that include the newly redesigned award-winning Lost Pines Golf Club Lost Pines Spa, an on-site water park equipped with a 995-foot lazy river, and Renegade Trailhead equestrian facility. Beyond golf, spa, swimming, and horseback riding, the resort features eight diverse restaurants and bars, including the newly opened Maude’s Bar & Terrace, the reimagined Maverick’s Roadhouse opening this summer, and Sushi by Scratch, an exclusive 10-seat omakase dining experience.

Encompassing more than 300,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, Lost Pines immerses guests in the natural beauty of the area, perfect for meetings, weddings, and life’s most memorable moments. From meet-and-greets with the resort’s alpacas, goats, and longhorns in the corral, to dynamic pursuits at the adjoining 1,100-acre McKinney Roughs Nature Park next door offering kayaking and rafting excursions as well as hiking and birding along 18 miles of nature trails, there is something new for every traveler to discover.

The challenge

Commercial Services is focused on segmentation diversity that withstands market fluctuations, grows market share, and draws on all lines of business. Compared to most resorts, Lost Pines is uniquely positioned to lead the market, thanks to extensive services and amenities that connect with any type of traveler. But, despite boundless growth opportunities, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines was challenged to reach the next benchmark of revenue results, without having a voice team with specific resort and destination expertise that provided a deeper connection for prospective guests. For the guest journey to reach its full potential, the leadership team knew they needed a team that could craft a compelling story to enrich the guest experience and a technology platform that could support the team.

The solution

Recognizing that guests value their time on vacation and are willing to spend more for experiences, the hotel’s Director of Revenue Management Michelle LaFuente, made plans to reinvent the reservation sales team on property. Her goal was to build a team of well-trained, passionate sales professionals who would secure long-term loyalty and drive direct bookings with higher overall revenue. To be successful, she also knew that she needed a platform that would support remote work, enhance the guest experience, increase incremental leisure revenue, identify personal preferences, streamline workflows, and provide analytics to track return on investment.

Revinate was the solution of choice because it complemented the strategy of Commercial Services and provided the tactical technology to support better guest interactions and coaching based on relevant and live interactions. Amanda Pomeroy, the VP of Revenue Management, at Ohana Real Estate Investors, supported the decision. She says, “I witnessed the power of Revinate at many of our other large-format resorts and knew Lost Pines had potential to drive a lot more direct revenue through voice.”

After a seamless implementation of Revinate’s Reservation Sales and Lead Nurture solutions, efforts turned to finding local, passionate professionals committed to Lost Pines guest experience. A key factor in the recruiting process was the candidates’ phone acumen and how they established a connection through voice alone. At the end of the process, three Reservation Liaisons were retained.

The Liaisons mission was to experience the resort as a guest would and learn about all the services, amenities, and destination. The onboarding and resort training created a bond within the team, instilling camaraderie and empowerment, even when they work remotely. Seven months later, they have proven the power of their voice and are building sales momentum each day for transient guests.

LaFuente gives credit to the management tools within the Revinate solution for helping the team ‌achieve success. She explains, “With access to call recordings and analytics we can quickly identify efficiencies and financial opportunities and coach more effectively. A Liaison hears rate resistance from a guest, where I hear the guest needs aren’t being met. When coaching is targeted, performance outcomes improve.”

The results

Despite being on Revinate for less than a year, it is proving to be a powerful revenue driver for the resort while building better connections with guests. With a team now focused on selling an experience rather than a price, average room revenue per lead has doubled. Amanda estimates the team will drive an additional 25% in incremental growth in the next six months. Amanda adds, “I am not surprised Revinate is working but I am surprised at how quickly it started to work.”

Today, the Lost Pines Liaisons Team facilitates and actively responds to the property’s vanity website leads and proactively reaches out to past guests. Revinate provides historical information that allows the Lost Pines Liaisons Team to have a higher probability of increased conversion. Amanda says, “With Revinate, our resort can finally create a proactive revenue strategy. At any time, Lost Pines Liaisons can streamline resources and proactively focus on any line of business. Lost Pines can more effectively create integrated sales and marketing campaigns and measure the outcome with data.”

Despite working remotely, Lost Pines Liaisons morale is sky-high. Not only are they fully engaged with ‌guests and each other, but they are actively involved in hotel operations, sales, and marketing. The results are improving almost daily, and with it, so does the team’s energy and commitment. Amanda notes Lost Pines Liaisons call-to-booking conversion is 60%, nearly triple that of the global contact center.

LaFuente sums up her experience with Revinate, stating, “Revinate allows us the opportunity to do a better job telling our story. Lost Pines can connect with guests in a more meaningful way, differentiating our resort. As a result, guests don’t focus on price. Rather, they focus on the memories they know they will find.”