When Daniel del Olmo talks about hospitality, he doesn’t begin with revenue per available room, pipelines or brands. He begins with people—and with a childhood shaped by cultural immersion. The CEO and president of Sage Hospitality Group sat down with Hotel Management to reflect on his new role.
Born and raised in Belgium to a Spanish father and Italian mother, del Olmo grew up inside the world he now leads. His father worked in hospitality, and from the time Daniel was two years old, his parents brought him along on their travels. Those early years, crossing borders and cultures, cemented a world view that still anchors his leadership philosophy.
“I was incredibly blessed,” he said. “Very early on, I learned the impact of understanding other cultures, getting to know people and realizing that while we may look different, we aren’t that different at all.”
What stood out most wasn’t the hotels or destinations, but a deeper realization about human commonality: Connection is the real currency of hospitality. That belief became the defining thread of a nearly three‑decade global career.
A Career in Chapters
Del Olmo sees his professional life in three distinct chapters.
With no hospitality degree available in Belgium at the time, del Olmo took the closest route he could find: Applied economics, followed by an MBA. In 1997, he launched his hospitality career in Miami with Meliá, beginning what would become nearly three decades in the industry — a career he describes as “very non-linear,” stretching across technology, global brand building, strategy and operations.
The first decade, he said, was all about learning to understand the audience. “The more you know about your audience, the better you can serve them … whether it’s customers or B2B partners.”
The second chapter played out inside a large public company, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, where he helped expand a business from a primarily domestic, franchised model into a global enterprise, moving from economy and midscale into upscale and upper-upscale. There, he immersed himself in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, integrations and brand management.
One of his defining lessons from that period was the difference between building strategy in a vacuum and building it collaboratively with a broad leadership group.
The past decade of his career has centered on operations, people and organizational culture—a period that cemented his belief that “a culture of accountability drives results.”
Stewardship, Not Succession
Today, as the third CEO in Sage Hospitality’s 42-year history, del Olmo sees his role less as a position and more as a responsibility. He joined Sage in January 2020—the eve of the most disruptive period the hotel industry had ever seen. But he found immediate alignment with then‑CEO Walter Isenberg and Co‑Founder Zack Neumeyer.
“When I joined Sage in January 2020, Walter and I quickly determined that our values were completely aligned,” he said. The company’s purpose—“enriching lives, one experience at a time”—was not just a corporate statement; it mirrored his own worldview. “That really resonated with me. That’s how I’ve been living my life,” he said.
Succession at Sage Hospitality had been years in the making, even before he formally joined the company. Del Olmo’s responsibilities expanded gradually — overseeing operations, finance, development, commercial strategy, and Sage Studio, the company’s in-house brand and experience agency, and Sage Investments before serving as co-CEO with Walter.
“That time allowed me to earn trust,” he said. “With our board, our owners, our partners, our teams. Trust is earned, and it takes time.”
At the internal Sage Leadership Festival held earlier this year, de Olmo officially took on the role of CEO and president. “I am here to serve our associates so they can be their best selves,” he said.
Sage employees—nearly 7,000—helped validate the culture he was stepping into. The company can brag of a 99 percent retention rate, a 30 percent boomerang rate and a 4.4 score on Glassdoor. “Culture and performance are not a tradeoff,” del Olmo said. “They reinforce each other.”
He rejects the idea that he holds the title of CEO. “I don’t see one CEO,” he said. “I see hundreds of CEOs. Each one of our leaders is stewarding this organization.”
Del Olmo’s leadership philosophy is shaped by two mentors—his father, who greeted every hotel employee with equal respect, and former Wyndham CEO Eric Danziger, who taught him the value of teams made of “different minds, but like hearts.”
He has also implemented practices to bring presence into leadership, including focused meditation before executive meetings and retreats at the company. “When you walk into a meeting, there are thousands of things on everyone’s minds,” he said. “That little practice of mindfulness goes so far.”
Being present—at work and at home—is something he continues to work on. “If you ask my wife and my children, I still have a lot of work to do,” he laughed.
Experiential Hospitality
While “experiential hospitality” has become a buzzy industry phrase, del Olmo believes most organizations misunderstand it. At its core, experiential hospitality is about emotion. “People think of beautiful hotels, design, programming, partnerships,” he said. Instead, he believes it should follow Maya Angelou’s famous quote: “People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”
This year, Sage hosted Brené Brown at its leadership festival this year, where she told the team something that del Olmo said reframed his understanding of culture: “The opposite of belonging is fitting in.”
“Fitting in is forcing yourself to be something you’re not,” he explained. “Belonging is when you show up as yourself, and the organization celebrates you. That’s what allows our people to create real experiences—not pretend experiential hospitality that looks good on the surface.”
Where Sage Grows Next
From a segmentation standpoint, Sage is leaning into luxury and upper-upscale, on both the branded and independent sides. Sage’s next phase is already well underway, backed by a $7 billion development pipeline that includes its second Ritz-Carlton.
Geographically, Sage’s focus remains on the mainland United States, in markets with strong fundamentals and demand — particularly where the company already has a presence, such as Denver; Washington, D.C.; and Portland, Ore. He describes Sage’s approach as “hub and spoke”—“Wherever we have strong talent, we want to create opportunities for them nearby,” he explained.
Embedded within the Sage platform are several distinctive platforms:
- Sage Studio, its in-house branding and experience company, which acts as a “tip of the spear” for concepting and positioning.
- An ownership stake via Sage Investments, which has led to Sage having some level of co-investment in roughly a third of its portfolio—a structure that, in del Olmo’s view, sharpens Sage’s ability to “think like owners and act like partners.”
- Sage Restaurant Concepts, a now 20-year-old standalone restaurant company that powers much of the experiential soul of its hotels through food and beverage, wellness and entertainment activations. Sage is partnering with culinary heavyweights—Michael Mina, Richard Sandoval and José Andrés among others—to bring high-profile restaurant concepts into its hotels while maintaining consistent operational execution. “These concepts are integral to experiential hospitality,” del Olmo reaffirmed.
The Next Chapter
Del Olmo describes Sage Hospitality’s future through three pillars:
1. People and culture. It is Sage’s number one strategic priority—and del Olmo’s personal passion. “Great talent attracts great talent,” he said.
2. Innovation and creativity. From wellness reimagined as a lifestyle, not a service, to immersive dining and cross‑industry cultural partnerships, innovation will continue to shape Sage’s identity. “Wellness is becoming a lifestyle. Dining can be immersive. Creativity must be intentional.”
3. Original experiences. Del Olmo is attuned to what he sees as a rising global desire for original experiences. He references organizations like The Moth and music and storytelling collectives that are redefining live cultural experiences. He believes many of those ideas can be pulled into hospitality, created with partners, guests and local communities.
These pillars all tie back to Sage’s purpose: “Enriching lives, one experience at a time.” With a culture‑first ethos, a deep investment in experiential creativity and a willingness to evolve while honoring Sage Hospitality’s legacy, del Olmo is setting the stage for the company’s most defining chapter yet.
“My ambition is to position Sage as the industry’s most sought‑after experience company,” he said.