LUXURY HOTELS DON’T LEAVE
GUEST EXPERIENCE TO CHANCE.
NEITHER DO WE.
Co-Founder and Chief Applied Creativity Officer
Mike designs experiences that make guests feel before they even arrive.
His background in music and performance taught him how to orchestrate emotion: the anticipation before a note, the pause that makes people lean in. Those same cues shape how guests decide, book, and remember.
As The Essential Hotelier’s lead in behavioural insights, Mike blends sensory detail with strategy, turning psychology into design that moves people effortlessly from interest to action.
From booking flows to in-room moments, he ensures every interaction feels intuitive, immersive, and inevitable.
Mike Dell
Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer
Kim turns ideas into stories that move both hearts and numbers.
With roots in documentary filmmaking and brand strategy, she understands how emotion becomes behaviour. And how a well-told story can change what people choose.
At The Essential Hotelier, Kim leads strategy and positioning, helping hotels move beyond aesthetics to articulate what truly sets them apart.
Her work ensures guests don’t just see a brand: they sense it, remember it, and return for it.
Kim Bagayawa
Together, Mike and Kim’s strategic direction helped transform the Cayuga Collection’s sustainability philosophy into The Cayuga Way—a brand system adopted across eight hotels— and inspired the creation of the Wildlife Season narrative that redefined Costa Rica’s low season.
Our work begins where every unforgettable experience does—with people. Listening. Asking great questions. And a habit of noticing what others overlook.