This work is confidential
Enter passcode to continue
Back
Creating signature guest experiences for JW Marriott Venice
Date
2025-2026
Industry
Hospitality
Type
Customer Experience
Skills
Experience Strategy
Ideation
Roadmapping
Team
Meg Watkins
Back
Creating signature guest experiences for JW Marriott Venice
Date
2025-2026
Industry
Hospitality
Type
Customer Experience
Skills
Experience Strategy
Ideation
Roadmapping
Team
Meg Watkins
Overview
Set on the private island of Isola delle Rose in the Venetian Lagoon, JW Marriott Venice offers a secluded resort experience just a short boat journey from the heart of Venice. As the resort underwent a wider transformation across its brand, guest experience and physical spaces, we were tasked with translating the new positioning into the guest experience.
The challenge
Following the resort’s rebrand, the challenge was to elevate the guest experience through a series of ‘Signature Experiences’ that felt authentically rooted in the island, while working within the realities of the existing resort, its operations and spaces to be transformed. The project also required close collaboration with multiple stakeholders and alignment with other ongoing programmes.
Results
Eight distinctive signature experiences, fully developed with implementation considerations and rollout guidance for phased delivery across 2026 and 2027.
My role
Experience Strategist, working alongside the Brand Strategist to translate the brand positioning into the guest experience. Actively facilitated client ideation, prioritisation and implementation workshops.
Overview
Set on the private island of Isola delle Rose in the Venetian Lagoon, JW Marriott Venice offers a secluded resort experience just a short boat journey from the heart of Venice. As the resort underwent a wider transformation across its brand, guest experience and physical spaces, we were tasked with translating the new positioning into the guest experience.
The challenge
Following the resort’s rebrand, the challenge was to elevate the guest experience through a series of ‘Signature Experiences’ that felt authentically rooted in the island, while working within the realities of the existing resort, its operations and spaces to be transformed. The project also required close collaboration with multiple stakeholders and alignment with other ongoing programmes.
Results
Eight distinctive signature experiences, fully developed with implementation considerations and rollout guidance for phased delivery across 2026 and 2027.
My role
Experience Strategist, working alongside the Brand Strategist to translate the brand positioning into the guest experience. Actively facilitated client ideation, prioritisation and implementation workshops.
Uncovering opportunities in the guest experience
We experienced the resort as guests to uncover gaps and missed opportunities across the journey. The customer experience felt fragmented at times, with opportunities to better harness the island’s unique sense of calm, strengthen arrival and departure moments, and make greater use of its vast outdoor spaces. These insights shaped the opportunity areas taken into ideation.
Uncovering opportunities in the guest experience
We experienced the resort as guests to uncover gaps and missed opportunities across the journey. The customer experience felt fragmented at times, with opportunities to better harness the island’s unique sense of calm, strengthen arrival and departure moments, and make greater use of its vast outdoor spaces. These insights shaped the opportunity areas taken into ideation.
We spent three days staying at Isola delle Rose to understand the existing guest experience, build empathy and identify opportunity areas.
Mapping the guest journey
We mapped the high-level guest journey through the lens of our core family audience, focusing on their needs, emotions and behavours throughout the stay. Building on insights from the wider brand strategy, we considered how families currently spend their time both within the resort and beyond it, helping us identify opportunities where we could encourage retension on the island while addressing unmet needs.
Mapping the guest journey
We mapped the high-level guest journey through the lens of our core family audience, focusing on their needs, emotions and behavours throughout the stay. Building on insights from the wider brand strategy, we considered how families currently spend their time both within the resort and beyond it, helping us identify opportunities where we could encourage retension on the island while addressing unmet needs.
This high-level guest journey map was used as a tool to guide ideation, ensuring that ideas covered the end-to-end guest journey.
Facilitating a full-day ideation workshop
We brought together stakeholders from across the resort’s departments for a full-day ideation workshop, using the brand principles as a starting point. Through a mix of best-in-class examples, in- and out-of-category stimuli and provocations, we ran ideation sessions with the clients and identified emerging themes and strongest opportunities, which were developed into early experience concept cards.
Facilitating a full-day ideation workshop
We brought together stakeholders from across the resort’s departments for a full-day ideation workshop, using the brand principles as a starting point. Through a mix of best-in-class examples, in- and out-of-category stimuli and provocations, we ran ideation sessions with the clients and identified emerging themes and strongest opportunities, which were developed into early experience concept cards.
We guided stakeholders from across the hotel team through divergent ideation, identifying key themes and developing the strongest ideas into concept cards.
Developing ideas into Signature Experiences
The strongest ideas were iteratively shaped, challenged and developed into eight distinctive signature experiences. We considered each concept against desirability, distinctiveness, ownability and scalability, while exploring how they could work across the resort’s spaces and different stages of the guest journey. This helped ensure each experience could deliver meaningful value for both guests and the business.
Developing ideas into Signature Experiences
The strongest ideas were iteratively shaped, challenged and developed into eight distinctive signature experiences. We considered each concept against desirability, distinctiveness, ownability and scalability, while exploring how they could work across the resort’s spaces and different stages of the guest journey. This helped ensure each experience could deliver meaningful value for both guests and the business.
Idea longlist and emmerging concepts from the workshop were used to develop eight 'Signature Experiences'.
Prioritisation and roadmapping
The four prioritised experiences were developed into a phased roadmap, assessing their viability and feasibility alongside operational considerations and potential business value, including revenue opportunities. We facilitated conversations between stakeholders to align on implementation and rollout, while supporting the client in identifying the assets and requirements needed to bring each experience to life.
Prioritisation and roadmapping
The four prioritised experiences were developed into a phased roadmap, assessing their viability and feasibility alongside operational considerations and potential business value, including revenue opportunities. We facilitated conversations between stakeholders to align on implementation and rollout, while supporting the client in identifying the assets and requirements needed to bring each experience to life.
The final four prioritised 'Signature Experiences' were built out to assess viability and feasibility, including revenue potential, costs and alignment with wider business priorities.
