Kassandra McLaren on the 68% of Hotel Guests Most Properties Never Really Know

Kassandra McLaren did not take a traditional route into hospitality, which may be exactly why she sees the industry a little differently.

Her early career was rooted in experience, care, and communication, first at a children’s overnight camp, later helping veterinary teams think more intentionally about the client journey. Along the way, she became fascinated by a deceptively simple question: what makes people come back?

Today, as North American Partner for Monty, Kassandra works with hotels on one of the industry’s biggest blind spots: the difference between the person who books the room and the people actually experiencing the property.

One statistic has shaped how she thinks about that opportunity. McLaren says 68% of the guest data Monty captures comes from non-primary guests: the people staying, spending, celebrating, and forming opinions on property, but whose names are often nowhere in the hotel’s system.

Kassandra chats with us about how her unconventional path became an advantage, why she believes the front desk is often carrying too much of the guest experience, and what she has learned from building a voice in hospitality without following the traditional hotel career ladder.

You did not start in hotels. What first drew you to work centered around people and experience?

My first real job was at a children’s overnight camp, and looking back, it was hospitality in its purest form. My role was making sure people had an experience they would remember, not just one that was fine.

Camp also became a defining place in my life in more ways than one. It is where I learned how much I loved creating memorable experiences for people, and it is also where I met my husband, Ian.

Fine is forgettable. Memorable is what brings people back, and what they tell their friends about. That idea has stayed with me throughout my career.

Your path then took you into animal health. How did that shape your view of hospitality?

It may sound like a pivot, but to me it made complete sense. I was helping veterinary teams think about the full pet-parent journey, from first contact through the visit and follow-up.

What I found myself drawn to, over and over, was the front desk team. They were responsible for an extraordinary range of tasks. They answered questions, offered reassurance, managed emotions, created comfort, and often became the reason clients returned.

In so many veterinary hospitals, clients would say the reason they kept coming back was the front desk team. Not the doctors, even though the medical care was excellent. The front desk. Because it was about the experience.

That is where I see such a strong parallel with hotels. Almost every guest interacts with the front desk. They are often the first impression, the last impression, and the emotional center of the stay.

What pulled you specifically into the hotel world?

When the opportunity came to join Monty as North American Partner, it felt like a natural next step. It connected my interest in guest experience, front desk teams, and solving operational challenges in a new way.

What really stood out to me was the reaction from hoteliers. So many people I spoke with said they had never thought about these challenges this way before. That excited me, because I have always loved finding a different angle.

That was true in animal health too. I did not just build training programs. I gamified them. I looked for ways to make learning stick, help teams feel more engaged, and solve problems from a perspective people had not considered before.

What struck you most once you began talking to hotel teams?

How stretched they are. Almost every hotel I speak with is running with fewer people than they really need, and the front desk carries a huge share of that pressure.

A guest needs more towels. There is a leaky faucet. A room service order is delayed. These are not necessarily front desk problems, but they become front desk problems when there is no clearer path for them.

Your front desk should not have to be your help desk. If guest issues can be captured and routed to the right team, housekeeping, maintenance, F&B, the guest gets a faster response and the front desk can focus on what it is really there to do: create a great experience.

You talk about a major blind spot around guest data. What do you mean when you say the reservation list is not the same as the guest list?

The person who books the room is not always the only guest who matters. Think about who is actually on property: couples, friend groups, families, wedding parties, bachelorette weekends. In many cases, the hotel has one name attached to the reservation. Sometimes, especially with OTA bookings, they may not even have much information for that person.

But there are other people on property spending money, forming opinions, and potentially deciding whether they would come back.

That is where the 68% statistic is so important. Sixty-eight percent of the guest data we capture comes from people who did not book the room. They are physically there, but without a better way to identify and engage them, the hotel may never know who they are.

Why does that matter beyond marketing?

Because hospitality is about recognition. You cannot make someone feel seen if you do not know they are there.

Of course there is a revenue opportunity. If a group is on property for a wine trail weekend, you may be able to offer them a restaurant reservation, spa appointment, late checkout, or future direct booking opportunity. But to me, the bigger point is that hotels have a chance to build relationships with more of the people already experiencing the property.

The window is not only after checkout. It is during the stay, while the guest is actually there.

What has surprised you most about entering hospitality?

I have been happily surprised by how much the women in hospitality support one another. I was not expecting that, and I am completely here for it.

I entered hospitality about a year ago while also building my own business and helping launch something new in the market. That has been exciting, but also challenging. Imposter syndrome definitely comes up. I am constantly learning.

But the women I have connected with in this industry have been incredibly generous. Female Founders in Hospitality is actually how I first connected with you at hertelier. The Women’s Travel Freelancer Network, a consultants group I am a founding member of, has also been a real safe space.

Knowing how few women lead in hospitality, seeing that kind of support has meant a lot.

You came into hospitality from a nontraditional background. Has that felt like a disadvantage?

Sometimes, yes. I have had to prove myself many times. I have heard, “We already have reputation management tools,” or “How can this really help my front desk get fewer calls?” more times than I can count.

Building a network from scratch without a traditional hotel background has been an uphill battle. But my background also gives me a different lens. Fourteen years of training veterinary teams taught me a lot about service, communication, emotional intelligence, and the pressure on front-line teams.

I am also a philomath, which means I love learning. Knowing I am going to learn something new every single day is what gets me out of bed.

What advice would you give women whose careers have not followed a straight line?

Do not underestimate the value of the skills you built in other spaces. Empathy, communication, resilience, pattern recognition: these are some of the most transferable strengths in any industry, and they are often the ones women are quickest to dismiss.

A nontraditional path can be a real advantage. It just requires you to make the connection visible for others, because they will not always see it on their own.

Quick Fire with Kassandra

Morning routine: After fifteen years of leaving the house before 7 a.m. to teach fifth grade, my husband Ian now has a more flexible role and is with us in the mornings. We went from total chaos to less chaos: cuddles with the kids and a family walk to school. Getting to walk to school together is one of the things I am most grateful for.

Travel hack: Get your toddlers to love riding on suitcases. It does not have to be a fancy one, just anything that rolls. Teach them to hang on and you will get through airports and hotel lobbies with ease and a lot of fun.

Books and podcasts right now: I will not miss an episode of Armchair Expert. And for sleep, Nothing Much Happens and Stories from the Village of Nothing Much. I think I am more invested in the fictional characters than you are supposed to be, given that the whole point is to fall asleep.

Best advice you ever received: I heard Kelly Slater say, “Ride the wave you were given,” on Armchair Expert, and it hit me so hard it is now posted in my house.

When things get hard, and launching something new that asks hotel leaders to rethink familiar challenges is hard, I come back to that. It reminds me to stop wishing for different conditions and be grateful I am even in the water. I get to do this work, and I really, really enjoy it. That is the wave.